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Sunday black-out may slash power pull by 10%: Expert
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SME Times News Bureau | 04 Apr, 2020
A leading energy expert on Saturday said that the Sunday evening 9 p.m.
blackout "could result in an estimated 10 per cent reduced demand for
power", which can be effectively handled by the national power grid and
load despatchers.
"Normally, the grid operators are always
well-prepared to handle any such sudden drop in power demand. Since the
COVID-19 lockdown, the demand has already dropped by more than 20 per
cent, and the Sunday blackout may result in a further drop of roughly
8-10 per cent," said Pramod Kate, head of Vyankatesha Engineers &
Consultants.
Last year in April (2019) the national power demand
was 168,326 MW, but in April 2020, it dropped to 125,870 MW owing to the
national lockdown, he added.
"On Sunday at 9 p.m., only the
house lights are likely to be switched off for a brief duration. All
other gadgets, equipments would continue as usual, so there will not be
any drastic drop in demand for power. According to tentative estimates,
the total drop in demand may be around 8-10 per cent which the grid can
easily manage," Kate told IANS.
Kate -- a retired Executive
Engineer with the Mahagenco -- said that grid stability must be
maintained whenever there is a sudden increase or fall in demand, and if
this is not done, power stations would trip and restarting them can
take a lot of time, several hours.
Maintaining the grid stability
is the responsibility of the Power System Operation Corporation Ltd.
(PSOCL) through its National and Northern Regional Load Despatch
Centres, both based in New Delhi, plus Eastern Regional Load Despatch
Centre in Kolkata, Western Regional Load Despatch Centre in Mumbai,
Southern Regional Load Despatch Centre in Bengaluru and North-Eastern
Regional Load Despatch Centre in Shillong.
"They are tasked to
monitor and maintain grid frequency even if the demand drops suddenly.
They are usually well-prepared to handle any such sudden drop in demand,
especially for tomorrow for which they have been preparing since the
past two-three days," Kate said.
The expert's comments came in
the wake of Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut's apprehensions that a
sudden blackout on Sunday (April 5), it could hit the power-grid with
trippings.
Expressing caution over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
appeal to all people in the country to switch off lights for nine
minutes at 9 p.m. on Sunday, Raut said that the current lockdown since
past nine days already changed the state's power equations pertaining to
power generation and supply.
While the state's power demand has
come down heavily from 23,000 MW to 13,000 MW daily, the industry
consumption is zero and only the domestic and emergency demands are
being catered to.
"If there is a sudden further drop in the
demand in case people switch off their lights at a single moment, power
stations may go on high frequency. It could result in feeder trippings
in the grid," Raut said in a statement late on Friday night.
The
PM's call for a nine-minute blackout and light lamps or candles,
generated a huge debate on its pros and cons, besides kicking up a
political row.
In Maharashtra, the ruling Shiv Sena, Nationalist
Congress Party, Congress, Samajwadi Party, All India Kisan Sabha and
others have attacked the move bitterly, terming it as a 'stunt' and
'event' by the PM in the face of the COVID-19 catastrophe confronting
the country.
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