City's first 220kV gas-insulated sub-station finally operational

After several delays, the 220 kV Gas-Insulated based substation (GIS), built at a cost of ₹65 crore, initially slated to be commissioned within 15 days by power minister Harbhajan ETO on May 3, was finally made operational on Sunday, overshooting its deadline.

- Rishika Kriti

LUDHIANA:

According to officials of Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL), all construction and technical work had been completed in the first week of May.

However, the commissioning was delayed due to pending regulatory approvals from the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) and the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC), both of which were required to energise the substation.

Earlier this year, the substation was slated to be commissioned by March end. However, the timeline was pushed to May due to ongoing work at the Dhandari substation yard which is being executed in five phases. Officials said the first and second phases were scheduled for completion by April 6 and April 30, respectively.

Since the GIS substation primarily sources power from Dhandari, the circuit shift process could only begin after the completion of the second phase.