Educational institutions and their students are having a hard time due to the prolonged unscheduled power cuts the state is experiencing once again.

Schools and colleges that now need to depend more than ever on their gensets for electricity are complaining of a sharp rise in their monthly expenditure owing to the recent hike in the price of diesel used to run them.

And many schools are shutting the labs used by science students for experiments to save on electricity and cut costs.

Some colleges have, however, changed their schedules to suit the power cuts. Colleges run by the Alpha group in the city, for instance, have shifted their science lab sessions from regular college hours to the evenings or even Sundays, according to Mr S. Alfred Devaprasad, the group’s president and chief executive officer.

“We have asked our students to stay back in the evenings for their lab sessions and even arranged special buses for them at this time. But our maintenance costs have still risen by 250 to 300 per cent,” he complains.

Private engineering colleges too say their operation costs have shot through the roof on account of the power cuts.

The chairman of one such college says the operation of over a 100 computers and the numerous instruments in labs, which needs uninterrupted power, has taken a hit on account of the long hours of load shedding. “Our sophisticated instruments are being damaged by the power cuts,” he laments.

Schools where students are no longer being allowed to use their labs are giving them full marks for their practical examinations so that they don’t lose out in the process, says Mr K.R. Nandakumar, secretary of the Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary, Matriculation and Higher Secondary Schools’ Association, who explains that school students are anyway suffering because they find it difficult to study for their quarterly examinations due to the 14-hour unscheduled power cuts.

One parent, Mrs J. Salini from Thiruninravur says her daughter is having a hard time preparing for her quarterly examination owing to power cuts.

“She finds it hard to study by candle -light and the mosquitoes add to the discomfort. Even if we do install an inverter it will be enough to only power a tube-light for four hours,” she says.

A school student, Satish, feels the city should be spared power cuts after dark so that students like him can prepare for the next day’s exam.

Non-conventional sources power universities

Some of the top higher education institutions in the state have found out an alternative to conventional power, as it has become difficult for them to rely on TNEB for uninterrupted power supply.

VIT University has installed a big solar antenna, which would capture sunlight to produce electricity, Bannari Amman group of institutions in Erode uses electricity produced from a co-generation plant in their sugar unit and city-based Rajalakshmi institutions are embarking on major wind and solar power production plants and reverse refrigeration process to become self-reliant in power.

According to Mr G.V. Sampath, vice-president (operations), VIT University, due to the present prolonged power cuts, they have installed a big solar power antenna, solar panels to power streetlights and hostel lightings, besides a biomass plant to provide electricity for other small facilities.

“We also plan to instal a 1 megawatt solar power plant and, later, we will scale up our production to make us self-reliant. We will instal solar panels on the rooftops of our buildings, and as we have several buildings on our campus, it will be sufficient for us,” he said.

Ms Thangam Meganathan, chairperson, Rajalakshmi group of institutions, said even though they use diesel generators, it becomes difficult for them to power the whole college campus and hostels.

“With the recent hike in diesel price, it has become difficult for us to fuel the gensets, so we are planning to shift to renewable sources of energy like wind and solar as it will make us depend less on conventional power,” she added.

Streetlights can help save 110MW

With the state reeling under severe power crisis, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd plans to save at least 110 MW a day in the city through its various energy conservation measures.

Concerned over the energy wastages due to factors like early switching on and late switching off of the streetlights, Tangedco wants the local bodies including Chennai corporation to take steps to stop such unwanted waste of power.

There are around three lakh streetlights maintained by local bodies in the Chennai North and South circle of Tangedco.

“We receive lot of complaints on streetlights being switched on very early even before sunset in some areas. Delay in switching off lights also results in unwanted waste of electricity.

Hence we will be asking the local bodies to ensure timely switching on and off of streetlights,” a senior Tangedco official said.

Tangedco said that instructions had been given to carry out streetlights maintenance work only after sunset. “Normally the streetlights will be repaired during the daytime with the lights on,” he said. “We will be able to save 10 MW through this measure,” he said.

“Whatever amount of energy saved in the city will be distributed to districts reeling under over 10 hours of power cut. It will be a relief to them,” the official pointed out.

Meanwhile, city hoteliers want Tangedco to reconsider its direction to star hotels and restaurants to use generators in the evening hours to meet their power requirements.