There will not be any problem during blackout: POSOCO CMD


PTI | Bhopal | Updated: 04-04-2020 20:28 IST | Created: 04-04-2020 20:19 IST
There will not be any problem during blackout: POSOCO CMD
Baba held a video conference with electricity facilitators across India to deal with the nine-minute blackout at 9 pm tomorrow, when the power demand is expected to fluctuate, posing threat to electricity grids. Image Credit: ANI
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POSOCO CMD KVS Baba on Saturday assured that there will not be any problem during the blackout tomorrow, saying all the states have drawn plans to tackle the situation. Baba held a video conference with electricity facilitators across India to deal with the nine-minute blackout at 9 pm tomorrow, when the power demand is expected to fluctuate, posing threat to electricity grids.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked citizens to switch off lights for nine minutes at 9 pm on Sunday and light candles and torches to "challenge the darkness” of the coronavirus crisis that has forced a three-week country-wide lockdown. We discussed the ways how to reduce power production when the electricity demand dips and increase when the energy demands rise, Baba said.

Of course, the demand will dip during the blackout and will jump thereafter at 9.09 pm, one of the persons who took part in the meeting told PTI. The Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) CMD held a meeting with concerned officials of state load dispatch centers of India, Regional Load Dispatch Centres, and National Load Dispatch Centre from 11.30 to 3.30 pm to know the preparedness for the blackout, he added.

It was agreed upon that the power production will be brought down at 9 pm on Sunday when the demand will dip and increase when it will rise, he added. And for this, all the states have firmed up their plans. There will not be any problem during the blackout, he said.

On July 30, 2002, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Gujarat, Goa, and Chhattisgarh had plunged into darkness when Mumbai-based Western Region Grid had collapsed. At that time, Madhya Pradesh had been blamed for overdrawing excess power from the grid, bringing down drastically its frequency.

A grids frequency is treated ideal between 49.9 and 50.05 Hertz. The possibility of grid collapses rises when frequency nosedives due to excess withdrawal of power compared to its availability in the system.

In contrast, frequency shoots up when excess power is available compared to less demand in the system, due to which sometimes there is a risk of collapse of the grid, power expert RK Verma said. Former Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company Chairman and Managing Director RK Verma said there is nothing to panic about, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made the announcement two days ahead of the blackout.

Right now due to the lockdown, the power demand is significantly less. "The industrial demand I think was just 20 percent, of its total capacity across the country given that the production houses are shut or working with Skelton workforces," Verma added.

Secondly, he said, during the nine minutes of the blackout, all electrical appliances should not be switched off at one go. Refrigerators and air-conditioners will be operating at that time. So, the frequency of the grid will not go up drastically with fewer withdrawals. Moreover, the grids were safe due to modern technologies nowadays, he added.

There are five grids in India all of them are interconnected to wheel power from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Verma said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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