Sidrapong Hydel Power Station
The fateful meeting of the Municipal Commissioners of Darjeeling held on the 11th February, 1896 presided over by Mr. R. T. Greer, I.C.S.the then Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling and the Chairman of Darjeeling Municipality, resolved to set up a Hydro Power Station to light up Darjeeling town by seeking a loan of Rs. 1 lakh (Rs. 100,000) from the Government. A site for the power station was selected at the foot of the Arya Tea Estate at Sidrapong, what was then a fine orchard of the Maharajah of Burdwan and considering the importance of the scheme in the public interest, Maharajahdiraja Sir Bijoy Chand Mahatab Bahadur, G.C.I.E.K.C.S.I., I.O.M. was pleased to make it over the municipality. The work for the installation of power station started immediately. The machines and equipment came from Britain. There being no proper road communication all the equipment, machinery and construction materials had to be transported manually—a Herculean task, quite inconceivable in the present day.
The first plant consisted of two 65 kW Crompton-Brunton single-phase, 2300 volts and 83.3 hertz alternators coupled with two Gunther’s Turbines. India’s first Hydro-Electric Power Station with 2× x 65 kW capacity was commissioned on the 10th November 1897 by C. C. Stevens, the then Acting Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. It is a noteworthy fact that the first power utility run on commercial basis for use of general public in India was developed in public sector under state patronage. The total initial cost of installation of this power station had been only Rs. 1.2 lakhs (120,000 rupees).
For the first few years Darjeeling Municipality had to run Sidrapong Hydel Power Station at a loss, there being not many taker of electrical energy then. But as the demand started growing one 135 kW set was added in 1905 and a third 135 kW set was installed in 1909 in the same power house. The place being too small a new power house was built in 1916 at a higher location, now known as Jubilee Power House. In this way the total capacity of the station grew from 130 kW to 1000 kW. But owing to the limited supply of water the generation could not be increased to match the growing demand of the town and of the neighbouring tea gardens to run their factories with electricity. Various schemes were prepared to install larger power station elsewhere. In 1914 the late George P. Robertson, the then Municipal Engineer, while out on survey in this connection was drowned in the Great Rangeet River.
In the meantime the demand for power grew rapidly. The old single phase system of supply being out-dated, unsuitable for a modern supply system and wasteful, the Municipal Commissioners resolved in a meeting held on 9 June 1931 to replace all the old machines and recondition the system of supply from single-phase 83 Hz to three-phase 50 Hz.
In 1931, in place of old 7 machines in single-phase system with a total capacity of 1000 kW, five 200 kW units in the new 3 phase system were installed, of which one at the Lower Power House. Since water was found insufficient to run 4 sets of 200 kW each in the present power house, one 200 kW set was later in 1942 shifted to a still lower location at Singtam (Darjeeling Singtam) Power Station, which may be called third stage of Sindrapong since it runs in tandem with Sidrapong Power House utilising the discharge water from its tailrace. The present installation, therefore, consists of 3 sets of 200 kW at Sidrapong Power House besides one DC Hydel Generation set of 20 kW for auxiliary power
The first plant consisted of two 65 kW Crompton-Brunton single-phase, 2300 volts and 83.3 hertz alternators coupled with two Gunther’s Turbines. India’s first Hydro-Electric Power Station with 2× x 65 kW capacity was commissioned on the 10th November 1897 by C. C. Stevens, the then Acting Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. It is a noteworthy fact that the first power utility run on commercial basis for use of general public in India was developed in public sector under state patronage. The total initial cost of installation of this power station had been only Rs. 1.2 lakhs (120,000 rupees).
For the first few years Darjeeling Municipality had to run Sidrapong Hydel Power Station at a loss, there being not many taker of electrical energy then. But as the demand started growing one 135 kW set was added in 1905 and a third 135 kW set was installed in 1909 in the same power house. The place being too small a new power house was built in 1916 at a higher location, now known as Jubilee Power House. In this way the total capacity of the station grew from 130 kW to 1000 kW. But owing to the limited supply of water the generation could not be increased to match the growing demand of the town and of the neighbouring tea gardens to run their factories with electricity. Various schemes were prepared to install larger power station elsewhere. In 1914 the late George P. Robertson, the then Municipal Engineer, while out on survey in this connection was drowned in the Great Rangeet River.
In the meantime the demand for power grew rapidly. The old single phase system of supply being out-dated, unsuitable for a modern supply system and wasteful, the Municipal Commissioners resolved in a meeting held on 9 June 1931 to replace all the old machines and recondition the system of supply from single-phase 83 Hz to three-phase 50 Hz.
In 1931, in place of old 7 machines in single-phase system with a total capacity of 1000 kW, five 200 kW units in the new 3 phase system were installed, of which one at the Lower Power House. Since water was found insufficient to run 4 sets of 200 kW each in the present power house, one 200 kW set was later in 1942 shifted to a still lower location at Singtam (Darjeeling Singtam) Power Station, which may be called third stage of Sindrapong since it runs in tandem with Sidrapong Power House utilising the discharge water from its tailrace. The present installation, therefore, consists of 3 sets of 200 kW at Sidrapong Power House besides one DC Hydel Generation set of 20 kW for auxiliary power