Suburban power demand will double by 2030: IIT study

MUMBAI: Despite efforts to reduce power consumption , increasing daily power demand of Mumbaikars in suburbs alone will almost double from the current 1,697 MW to 3,284 MW in 2030. Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra ), the main supplier in suburbs will havetolaydown an additional 670 km of wire network with advanced transformers in the next five years . The exercise would cost over Rs 700 crore .

These are the findings of a study by a team of professors and students of electrical engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology , Bombay . Professor Shriwardhan Soman , who led the team , said that given the increasing demand , there was a need to set up an alternative network of wires to meet contingency supply .Hesaidthe 670-km wiring alone would cost around Rs 507 crore .

According to him ,citieslikeNewYorkhave three parallel wire setups , which ensure continuous supply even in the case of two big failures in the network one after another . He added that the biggest advantage Mumbai has over other cities is that we have an underground power network , which is more reliable .

The study was ordered by RInfra five months ago , the final draft of which will be presented to the company . Lalit Jalan , CEO & director , RInfra said , “The tie-up with IIT Bombay is to adopt cuttingedge technology based on advanced research which will have potential to overhaul the power distribution business in the country .”