LAHORE, June 27: The Lahore Electric Supply Company is trying to be as innovative as possible to deal with the current distribution crisis, claims Lesco chief Akram Arain. Talking to Dawn on Monday, he admitted some severe problems in the distribution system. “People are suffering because of these distribution problems, and one can only feel sorry for the situation,” he said.
But, people should also know the reasons behind the crisis, he said, and added: “There are three main problems causing current crisis in distribution; continued trippings, fluctuations and failures. The system is aging and is in need of massive overhaul. It is overloaded because people are not ready to reveal their power needs, thus worsening the situation. Kite flying and heat have pushed the system over the edge.”
He said: “The company is trying its best to keep distribution system in running condition, but it could only go up to a point. There is no money to undertake such a huge task. Even if money is made available, the entire manufacturing sector cannot meet the demand for equipment needed for the overhaul. If one opts for international tenders to purchase equipment, it is a time-taking process which may take up to one year to get equipment. If both money and equipment is somehow made available to the company, it does not have required manpower to carry out the job. The workmanship in company is further complicated by the fact that the entire system had been built on piecemeal basis. Equipment have been bought from different countries at different times. Arranging spare parts for these gadgets is a hell of a job.”
He said one could imagine the kind of ‘heroic’ job Lesco staff was doing in the absence of money, equipment and manpower for executing its overhauling plan.
The 80 grid stations in Lesco areas could take a load of 4,200MW but distribution network could support only 3,000MW, he said, adding the company had to upgrade the system and take it to 4,000MW, for which it had already approved a Rs17 billion plan to improve the system by 20 per cent — almost 600mw in the next five years, Mr Arain said.
One has to keep in mind that all grid stations in the city had been working at around 95 per cent of their capacity, which meant they were already being tested beyond their capacity. There was no space available in the city to construct new grid station. The company has been left with no options but to replace current 26MVA transformers with new 40MVA transformers. This would increase grid stations’ capacity by 40 per cent and bring relief to consumers, he said.
The company had already identified four more sites — Sheranwala Gate, Sabzazar, Gulberg and cantonment — in the city for constructing grid stations, he added.
He said consumers were not helping Lesco either. Over 75 per cent fell in single phase (one kilowatt load) category. This sanctioned load allowed only 10 bulbs of 100 watts. Most of these consumers had now installed air-conditioners and rigged Lesco’s load calculations. He urged the consumers to help company and declare actual load so that proper planning could be made and executed.