To avert a total breakdown of the grid system and prevent a major blackout in future, the northern grid States have formulated a 12-point plan including installation of automatic demand management schemes.
At a recent meeting held at the Power Ministry, the plan was agreed upon by a dozen States, including major offenders Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi were also part of the agreement.
The Northern Grid had collapsed on July 31 impacting nearly 300 million lives.
It was decided that the northern grid States will prepare their islanding schemes in consultation with the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and the Northern Region Power Committee within the next 3 months and ensure their implementation within the next 6 months.
An independent third party audit of the protection systems will be carried out within one month and the Regional Power Committees (RPCs) will monitor the same, it was decided.
All the utilities will also adopt good operation and maintenance practices and random checks of these will be carried out by the RPCs. States will prepare plans in long term, medium term and short term for procurement of power, and carry out network and demand management in accordance with the Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC).
States will carry out periodically system studies for operation planning and Transfer Capability determination; they will take all steps for strengthening and upgrading the State Load Dispatch Centres (SLDCs). The States requested that the Union government draw up a scheme for supporting them in strengthening their SLDCs and for capacity building.
They resolved to adhere to the Indian Electricity Grid Code and take all requisite measures for its effective enforcement.
