Power Crisis Hits Northern India Amid Rising Demand

The northern region of India experienced multiple power outages on Monday as electricity demand soared to 89.4 GW, creating a 16.5 GW supply gap. States affected included Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, and others. The outages were caused by the tripping of major HVDC links and generating units. Efforts are underway to restore power.

The northern region of India faced significant power outages on Monday as electricity demand surged to 89.4 gigawatts, resulting in a supply shortfall of 16.5 gigawatts, according to a report by the Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre (NRLDC).

States such as Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir were heavily affected. A critical incident occurred at 13:53 when both bipoles of the +/-800 kV HVDC Champa (WR) - Kurukshetra (NR) tripped, causing a load reduction of 16.5 GW. This event led to widespread low voltage across the region, culminating in the outages.

NRLDC, a branch of the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) under the Union Ministry of Power, reported that prior to the tripping event, the northern region was importing 15,500 MW and meeting a demand of 89,410 MW. Efforts to restore power commenced immediately, with system load nearing normal levels by 14:30 hours. All transmission elements, including the affected 765 kV lines and hydro and thermal generating units, were restored by 16:00 hours.

Chairman of the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), Shailendra Dubey, has called on the government to take immediate action. Dubey urged for the heatwave to be declared a natural calamity and recommended measures such as adjusting office timings and implementing peak load restrictions for industries.

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