The Planning Commission is going to approve the recommendation of the Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit for setting up an 'islanding facility' for the national capital to insulate essential services from any disruption in power supply. On Thursday, the planning body's deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia supported the city's demand for setting up a separate grid for Delhi on the lines of islanding in Mumbai.
At a meeting between Dikshit and Ahluwalia, various issues including the islanding of power supply in Delhi were discussed. After the meeting, Dikshit said, 'The Planning Commission has agreed to implement the islanding of the Delhi state.' Ahluwalia agreed with her. Sources said that both had detailed discussions and Ahluwalia supported the 'islanding' of vital installation of Delhi so that any grid failure in future did not affect normal life in the city.
Earlier, addressing a meeting of chief ministers of northern states, which was chaired by the union power minister Veerappa Moily, Dikshit said that 'islanding facility' was necessary to protect the city from any failure of the grid. If such a facility is set up, then Delhi, in case of technical problem in the Northern Grid, will be able to draw power directly from selected power-generating stations by cutting its transmission network from the National Grid.
Dikshit said that Delhi could adopt the model of south Mumbai, where the islanding facility was already fuctional. Officials in the Delhi Power Department say that the city currently has a generation capacity of around 1,200 MW and once the 1,500 MW Bawana power plant starts functioning at the optimum level, the city can easily put in place the islanding facility.
At a meeting between Dikshit and Ahluwalia, various issues including the islanding of power supply in Delhi were discussed. After the meeting, Dikshit said, 'The Planning Commission has agreed to implement the islanding of the Delhi state.' Ahluwalia agreed with her. Sources said that both had detailed discussions and Ahluwalia supported the 'islanding' of vital installation of Delhi so that any grid failure in future did not affect normal life in the city.
Earlier, addressing a meeting of chief ministers of northern states, which was chaired by the union power minister Veerappa Moily, Dikshit said that 'islanding facility' was necessary to protect the city from any failure of the grid. If such a facility is set up, then Delhi, in case of technical problem in the Northern Grid, will be able to draw power directly from selected power-generating stations by cutting its transmission network from the National Grid.
Dikshit said that Delhi could adopt the model of south Mumbai, where the islanding facility was already fuctional. Officials in the Delhi Power Department say that the city currently has a generation capacity of around 1,200 MW and once the 1,500 MW Bawana power plant starts functioning at the optimum level, the city can easily put in place the islanding facility.