Mumbai: State run and private sector power utilities have prepared their individual action plans to tackle the situation that will arise in their states after people voluntarily switch off lights for nine minutes on April 5 in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call.
The Tata Power in its advisory to consumers in Mumbai said,’’ If consumers choose to switch off their lights, then in the interest of maintaining grid balance, consumers are advised to keep on appliances such as fans, ACs and refrigerators. Main switches and common lights of residential apartments and housing societies should not be switched off and all the capacitors at consumer end should be kept off.’’
Maharashtra Power Minister Nitin Raut has directed the power department and generation, transmission and distribution utilities to take all precautions to avoid grid collapse in the wake of dip in power demand on Sunday. In the event of any eventuality, Raut said the state can ramp up 2,585 mw generation from hydro power projects in the state to maintain grid stability.
The Maharashtra State Transmission Corporation (MahaTransco) has projected that there will be a sudden drop of 1,700 to 1,750 mw power demand in the state which will lead to increase in system frequency. ‘’Reduction in the load may result in high system voltages across 400 kV and 765 kV in the Maharashtra system which may further result in increased voltages in the lower network.
In order to mitigate the scenario and operate Maharashtra power system in safe, stable and secure manner, the MahaTransco has asked all generating companies to verify high and low frequency trips setting along with time delay setting if any and communicate the same to the state load dispatch centre (SLDEC). All distribution companies have been asked to ensure no switching on and off of the distribution feeders and issue an advisory to consumers to switch off only the lighting load and continue the other domestic loads normally.
Further, the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (APTRANSCO) has asked all thermal generating stations to be prepared to operate their units below technical minimum limits by taking oil supports if need arises. The hydel generating stations must ensure availability, of all the units and the wind generating stations must absorb the reactive power in order to maintain the voltage within limits.
The distribution companies are asked to advance their agricultural loads which are normally incident at 21.00 hrs by half an hour by 20.30 hrs.
The Uttar Pradesh State Load Dispatch Centre has said that all reactors in Uttar Pradesh Power Grid be kept in service and all capacitor banks must be kept out of service. It has estimated 3,000 mw of sharp load reduction in the state.
