JPDCL withdraws power curtailment schedule amid infrastructure improvements

JAMMU — Managing Director JPDCL, Vikas Kundal on Wednesday issued a public notice in which the curtailment schedule has been withdrawn with immediate effect.

The public notice issued by the MD JPDCL reads, “In view of the improvement in power infrastructure by way of capacity addition and repair of 2x50MVA, 132/66KV power transformer at Grid Station Samba and 10MVA, 33/11kV power transformer at Miran Sahib, the curtailment schedule for summer 2024, issued by Chief Engineer (Distribution) JPDCL vide No: CEJ/TS-II/906-20 dated: 27-05-2024, stands withdrawn.”

“JPDCL will provide 24×7 power supply in smart metered areas and up to 20 hours power supply in other areas. However, JPDCL will have to resort to distressed curtailments in order to safeguard the critical power infrastructure as and when required,” the notice said.

It also requested the general public to exercise prudence in electricity usage due to the soaring demand for electricity driven by the unprecedented rise in temperatures and the severe heat wave. “The public is further advised to pay their electricity dues in time through online/offline mode.”

The Managing Director JPDCL also visited the State Load Dispatch Corporation office and reviewed the availability of power for the Jammu region and said that with the purchase of an additional 200 MW of power, JPDCL shall be able to supply smooth and uninterrupted power to the smart metered areas and also provide relief to the rural areas by reducing the curtailment hours.

He was accompanied by Chief Engineer Distribution Manhar Gupta, Chief Engineer System and Operations Rajan Gupta, Executive Engineer IT&C Anil Verma and Executive Engineer, ED-II Ashok Chibber among others.

MD JPDCL issued on-the-spot orders that maintenance and repair works should be planned in such a manner that there should be no inconvenience to the general public and there should be no long-hour outages even in rural areas. He also issued instructions that no shutdowns should be allowed in the peak summer season.

During the visit, it was informed that 160 MVA, 220/132 KV auto-transformer at Gladni grid has also been brought into the circuit by JKPTCL today and the transformer is now running in parallel with 400 MVA auto-transformer bank. This will help in reducing the infrastructure challenges for JPDCL and issues of forced curtailment due to temperature rise of transformer shall subside with this step.

The Managing Director Vikas Kundal exhorted the staff to come down heavily on the illegal hooking and conduct regular inspections to provide relief to honest consumers. He reviewed the SCADA system installed at Gladni grid and complimented the fact that such technological advancements are being used to monitor and control systems at the parent grid which feeds power to maximum areas of Jammu region.