Delhi govt plans new substation, battery backup to secure VVIP power supply in Civil Lines

The Delhi government is planning to strengthen power supply in the Civil Lines area which houses Raj Niwas, the chief minister’s residence and the Vidhan Sabha, through a new sub station and a battery energy storage system, officials said on Friday.

The move aims to bolster contingency arrangements for VVIP feeds (Civil Lines Grids) and reduce dependency on the 400 kV Mandola source, officials said.

The matter was recently discussed in Delhi’s Operation Coordination Committee meeting where uninterrupted power supply to VVIP establishments was flagged as critical.

“Uninterrupted supply to Raj Niwas, chief minister’s house, Vidhan Sabha and other VVIP installations is very critical. It is imperative to establish an alternate source to ensure reliable supply in case of any critical contingency affecting the primary source,” a senior government official said.

Discom TPDDL has requested the Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) to provide an alternate source at Timarpur 220 KV substation via 220 KV Sarita Vihar substation, noting it would significantly improve network resilience and ensure reliability of power supply, officials said.

The DTL is also planning to establish a 400 kV substation at Gopalpur to reduce dependency on the 400 kV Mandola substation.

Outages at the Mandola substation directly affects power supply in parts of north Delhi, the metro network, and the Inter Bus Terminus at Kashmere Gate, they said.

In August, several parts of North Delhi including the Civil Lines area plunged into an outage affecting nearly eight lakh residents, due to a sudden load drop of 550 MW in the incoming supply from 220 kV grids.

Several areas of North Delhi, in June last year, also faced outages for varying lengths as the substation of power grid in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh’s Mandola caught fire.

Delhi receives 1200 MW of power from the Mandola sub-station operated by Power Grid Corporation of India.

The OCC has also advised TPDDL to plan for a battery energy storage system (BESS) to provide backup supply in the VVIP network during emergencies. The Delhi government is further preparing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for early restoration of power during major outages, officials said.

Also Read: Delhi CM meets Maulana Azad Hospital doctors, slams AAP over infrastructure gaps in campus

The Committee has directed discoms BYPL and TPDDL to ensure back-feeding arrangements for the 33 kV Sabzi Mandi substation to maintain supply to essential feeders through Wazirpur and Devnagar substations in case of a complete shutdown.