Northern grid crisis stemmed

Power generated per day has increased to 509 mn units, claims ministry.

The power ministry claims to have resolved the precarious situation facing the northern grid by stabilising the frequency on the grid at around 49 Hertz. The ministry's confidence stems from its meeting with the northern states' officials on the matter.

Supporting his claim about an augmented generation scenario in May, Power Secretary RV Shahi pointed out that the power generated per day had climbed up from 406 million units on May 4 this year, to 509 million units on May 8.

In comparison, data from the power ministry reveals that power generated per day in April was around 430 million units.

The ministry said the instances of low frequency had also been curbed. "In the last few days instances of low frequency, below 49 Hz, have reduced to less than 20 per cent of the time in a day.

On May 9 there was low frequency for only 10 per cent of the day," Shahi told Business Standard. In April, for more than 60 per cent of the day, the frequency was below 49 Hz in the northern grid.

The secretary attributed the reason for reduced frequency dips to generation support from hydroelectric power generation projects and improved grid discipline by Uttar Pradesh.

"Nathpa Jhakri in Himachal Pradesh is supplying almost 1,600 Mw as compared to its 1,500 Mw capacity. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation's project at Salal in Jammu and Kashmir is supplying adequate power and the generation availability has increased," Shahi adds.

Between May 4 to May 8, there was low frequency of below 49 Hz for 30 to 35 per cent of the time in a day. "On May 7, the grid had this low a frequency for only 12.6 per cent of the time. On May 8, it was for 13 per cent of the time.

The total demand in the northern grid is around 24,000 Mw, of which the ministry claims to meet 93 per cent. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has asked the National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) to bring online all units dedicated to supply power to the northern grid by May 15.

The company has assured the regulator that it will meet the deadline. NTPC has 6,120 Mw generation capacity dedicated to the northern grid, of which only 4,820 Mw is presently being generated.