Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 16 August 2025
The Andaman & Nicobar Administration has announced fresh measures to tackle the ongoing power shortage in South Andaman, reaffirming its commitment to minimize inconvenience to consumers. The announcement was made through a recent press release.
According to the release, the Hon’ble Lt. Governor has given in-principle approval to the Electricity Department’s proposal for in-house augmentation of 15 MW DG sets. This includes installation of generation capacity of about 9 MW at Chatham Power House and 6 MW at Phoenix Bay Power House. The tendering process for procurement of these DG sets will be initiated shortly.
At present, Sri Vijaya Puram is facing power shortages due to the closure of one of the hired power plants at Chatham. As an interim measure, the UT Administration is exploring the possibility of enhancing generation from existing DG power plants in the region to help ease the acute crisis.
The Administration acknowledged the support and patience of the general public and representatives during this period of forced power cuts. It also emphasized that the decision to pursue in-house augmentation was taken in view of rising electricity demand and the slow pace of renewable energy project implementation.
While diesel-based augmentation is being carried out as a short-term measure, the Administration reaffirmed its long-term goal of “de-dieselization” of power generation within the next three to four years. It assured that all renewable energy projects would be rigorously pursued and closely monitored to achieve this target.
