THTALKS: Underground sub-stations in Bengaluru among plans for safe power infrastructure

Underground sub-stations are among the new measures being planned by the Energy Department to strengthen the existing electricity infrastructure in Bengaluru, said Minister K.J. George, while answering questions from readers on THTalksBengaluru.

“While we want to increase the number of sub-stations, we are facing problems in Bengaluru as there is hardly any land available in the city. That is why we are planning for sub-stations to go underground like in other countries such as South Korea, so that we can also have the latest equipment which is much smaller,” he elaborated.  

Speaking of a similar project, where high-tension (HT) cables are being laid underground by Bescom, the Minister said that almost 96% of the work was completed in sub-stations like Nagarabhavi and Peenya.

He said that the work at other sub-stations will also be taken up soon and that it would be ensured that all the electricity cables in Bengaluru go underground. 

Responding to queries about transformers taking space on footpaths, Mr. George said that out of 2,500 transformers which were identified to be posing hazards to pedestrians, 2,300 had already been shifted.

He also said that if any other parties, like apartment complexes have encroached upon footpaths for their transformers, then even they would be identified and shifted soon. 

Mr. George said that that in a meeting on Monday, he requested Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta to speak to the Central officers and the Union Ministry of Power regarding the Yelahanka combined cycle gas power plant to solve the problems between GAIL and Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) related to gas prices.