BSES Rolls Out Smart Substation and ‘Solarise East’ to Power a Greener Delhi

On a breezy Sunday morning at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, officials from BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) cut the ribbon on two projects that could reshape how electricity flows through East Delhi. The first is a sleek, pad‑mounted smart substation tucked into the cramped lanes of Gandhi Nagar. The second is a neighbourhood‑focused campaign called ‘Solarise East’, designed to fast‑track rooftop solar under the PM Surya Ghar Yojana.

Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra and Delhi’s Power Minister Ashish Sood stood beside senior BYPL executives – Amal Sinha, Abhishek Ranjan and Santosh Kumar – as they announced the initiatives. A small crowd of MLAs, the Deputy Mayor, the District Magistrate, local residents and representatives of market associations watched the ceremony, reflecting the collaborative spirit the projects hope to inspire.

“Good governance isn’t just about solving today’s problems,” Sood said, his voice echoing across the campus. “It’s about preparing for tomorrow’s opportunities.” He highlighted the capital’s record‑high peak demand of 8,748 MW this summer and the government’s Rs 1,427 crore push to modernise the grid, positioning the new substation and Solarise East as vital steps toward a reliable, affordable, smart and green power future.

The Gandhi Nagar substation is, in a word, clever. Where space is a premium – narrow streets, bustling markets, and almost no vacant land – BYPL installed two 1,000 kVA pad‑mounted units that together add roughly 380 kVA of capacity. The whole set‑up occupies about 80 % less footprint than a conventional substation, thanks to a sealed, metal‑enclosed, plug‑and‑play design that bundles transformer, Ring Main Unit and low‑voltage panel in a single frame.

Beyond its compact size, the smart substation is wired into BYPL’s SCADA system. Motorised feeder remote terminal units let operators monitor and switch circuits from a control centre, isolating faults on one of the ten low‑voltage feeders without cutting power to the entire area. In practice, that means fewer homes lose electricity during maintenance, and quicker response when something does go awry.

‘Solarise East’ runs on a different but complementary wavelength. It encourages households and small businesses to install rooftop solar panels, tapping the PM Surya Ghar – Muft Bijli – Yojana and the Delhi Solar Policy. The programme promises subsidies, technical support and a community platform where neighbours can share experiences and troubleshoot together.

Both projects embody what Delhi’s officials call a “Viksit Delhi” – a city that’s not only growing, but doing so sustainably. BYPL plans to roll out seven more pad‑mounted substations in the coming months, while the Solarise East team hopes to see thousands of new rooftop systems lighting up the eastern districts, cutting bills and carbon footprints alike.