Seminar on 'Capacity Building Programme for Procurement of Power

摘要

A Seminar on 'Capacity Building Programme for Procurement of Power by Zonal Railways as Deemed Distribution Licensee' was held in NCR Hq. in Subedarganj, Allahabad; on 4 May, 2018, organized by REMCL (Railway Energy Management Company Ltd). The seminar was Chaired by GM/NCR Shri M.C. Chauhan. In his inaugural address, GM welcomed all the participants of the seminar in the holy city of Allahabad having unique confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. He said that the concept of 'Open Access' in Indian Railways has opened new vistas for procuring power at an economical rate from power generating agencies through transmission lines either owned by the railways or others. Reminiscing on the history of Open Access in Indian Railways, he said that the topic of Open Access had always been very close to his heart and that he felt happy and satisfied that the same was drafted and piloted by him for draft electricity bill, early on in his career in the capacity of Director (Electrical Engineering), Railway Board. Recounting the experience GM/NCR said that "Intensive discussions were held with the Ministry of Power and Shri Gajendra Haldia, the architect of Electricity Act. 2003 and finally the Indian Railways was granted the status of deemed licensee for open access". It is noteworthy that North Central Railway has been a pioneer in constructing its own transmission lines and availing the NTPC power through open access between Sahibabad and Kanpur even before the implementation of the Electricity Act, 2003. Out of the total annual traction energy consumption of 1650 million units on NCR, amounting to 1100 crore, 990 million units (60%) has been availed through open access leading to sizeable monitory savings in the Financial Year 2017-18. Further, NCR is going to provide 'ABT meters' at 14 Traction Substations for availing power through open access by June 2018, which will help in reducing the traction energy bill further by 20%. Concluding his address, GM/NCR thanked CEO/REMCL Shri Sudhir Saxena, for keeping the workshop in NCR.