At a time when the demand for power is projected to rise to 1,000 billion units by 2012, India does not have a higher-range transformer testing facility and manufacturers like state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) get their equipment tested in the Netherlands.
“The unavailability of a testing facility for transformers can severely impact the transmission targets for the current Plan period,” said K Ravi Kumar, chairman and managing director of BHEL, which occupies about 40 per cent of the domestic power transformer market.
A transformer plays a key role in maintaining the voltage level in transmission, which in turn affects the current available to consumers. While Indian companies like BHEL are manufacturing power transformers up to 400 Kv class, a shift to the planned 800 Kv category transformers will require adequate testing facilities.
The absence of a proper transformer testing facility in India is on account of who should make the investment. “The problem is whether such a facility should be established by budgetary support or as a commercial venture,” said Power Secretary Anil Razdan.
Also, employees of a state-run testing facility resist attempts to convert into a corporate structure, as employees want to avoid greater accountability, said a senior power ministry official.
At present, all high-capacity transformers (above 90 milli volt ampere) installed in India are sent to KEMA, the Netherlands-based electrical equipment testing organisation, before being commissioned.
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“This (sending to KEMA) leads to an average delay of 5-9 months in the commissioning schedule,” said Kumar.
India’s only testing facility — Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), Bangalore — can be used only for routine testing of transformers. “Our transformer testing facilities are limited only to 90 MVA levels,” said CPRI Director-General PK Kognolkar.
Commenting on the lack of a testing facility in the country, Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh said, “All the high-capacity transformers have to go to the Netherlands for testing. We had set up CPRI in 1960, and today 400 Kv and 765 Kv transformers have to go to the Netherlands for type testing. It’s a ridiculous situation.”
India’s ambitious plans to ramp up its power generation capacity manifold the near future to cope with the average 14 per cent annual increase in the demand for power will require commissioning of heavy-class transformers. However, the absence of a testing facility might become a serious hurdle for these plans by raising doubts over quality of the transformers to be installed.
Earlier this year, a 400-Kv transformer made by BHEL at the Bamnauli substation in Delhi had caught fire and failed, causing huge damages to the associated power systems. In a report, the Central Electricity Authority, the apex power sector planning body, had found out that the transformer was not tested on certain parameters due to unavailability of testing facilities, which led to the failure.
“No short-circuit test had been conducted on the transformer due to non-availability of indigenous testing facility,” the report said.