THE MAHARASHTRA State Electricity Transmission Company would prepare a detailed scheme for the repair and renovation of the interconnected transmission lines from the extra high voltage substations at Lonikand, Chakan and Talegaon which are more than 45-50 years old, said Anil Kolap, Director Operations, MSETCL. He visited Pune on Thursday to take a review of the situation following the power outage in the city that lasted 6 to 8 hours.
“We will also have to replace some insulators that are used in the transmission lines apart from taking up a thorough periodic routine wash using soap water or if required, chemicals will be used,” Kolap said.
The technical glitch due to insulator ‘decapping’ or failure in the 400 KV transmission line supplying power to Chakan and Lonikand sub stations had led to outage in several areas of Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and rural parts of the district on Wednesday.
MSETCL officials said that apart from preventive maintenance, insulator and transmission line cleaning, steps will be taken to ensure that such outages do not occur. Following the outage that took place in Mumbai on October 12, 2020 due to cascade tripping, MSETCL officials had taken up the replacement of some of the insulators at Talegaon-Kharghar and Talegaon-Kalwa–Mumbai transmission lines.
“After the power outage in 2020, cleaning and maintenance work was undertaken on a priority. Insulators were replaced and using the latest technology in cleaning methods these lines were saved yesterday from developing any faults,” Kolap added.
Similar work costing an approximate Rs 8-9 crore will be planned in Pune region towards the repair and maintenance of insulators. The focus will be on preventive maintenance instead of patch by patch work, Kolap said.
Officials, however, admitted to a certain degree of surprise as they least expected line tripping, especially at areas like Lonikand and Chakan, which normally do not face heavy spells of rain or foggy weather conditions.
Electrical tripping could have also taken place owing to smog (fog and pollution), the meteorological department has also informed, officials said. While fog and resultant dew can make the transmission lines moist, atmospheric pollutants can further layer the lines with dust resulting in short circuits leading to tripping, MSETCL officials said. “There could also be other factors like algae formation. However, in due course, the insulator gets contaminated and either has to be removed or then subjected to a routine or chemical wash,” Jayant Weekey, Chief Engineer, MSETCL Pune Zone said. A detailed scheme will be prepared to identify unattended areas and locations in Pune region, officials added.
