As many as eight States in North India suffered their worst power outage in a decade when the electricity grid collapsed in the early hours of Monday. Though essential services were put back on stream in a few hours, it took more than half a day for the authorities to fully restore supply to Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chandigarh. Worse, the northern grid, along with the grids of the east and the northeast, buckled again on Tuesday. Like other parts of the world, India has experienced major power outages before. But unlike elsewhere, where grid collapses are usually caused by freakish acts of nature, the latest darkness at noon in India is the result of poor long-term planning and abysmal lack of grid discipline. Several reasons have been attributed for the sudden collapse, but the most likely seems to be the perennial problem of overdrawing by one or more States. On Monday, the authorities had to requisition power from Bhutan, and draw from the western and eastern grids to maintain essential supplies in Delhi for instance. That it should have failed for the second consecutive day is shameful.
A three-member panel has been set up to get to the bottom of this mess and will report back in two weeks. But the broad reason for the breakdown is not a mystery. The Power Grid Corporation has consistently been complaining about the lack of discipline among States in the northern grid. However, beyond the immediate mechanics of getting States to share the electricity shortfall during peak times lie two problems that can only be solved in the medium to long-term. States have to do a lot more to augment their baseload generating capacity. Some 10,000-20,000 MW of nuclear power may become available by 2020 but conventional thermal will have to bridge the gap in the near-term. At the same time, we need to augment our peak-load generation – the lack of which, at this time of reduced rainfall, contributed to the latest grid collapse. This means accelerating the commissioning of gas-fired thermal stations and ensuring adequate supply of gas, as well as giving a big push to nonconventional energy sources. State governments need to understand that they should either find the funds to invest in power generation, or make it worthwhile for the private sector to set up new plants that can feed into the grid in order to cope with rising demand. Unfortunately, most of the power-deficit States have been delinquent in expanding their generating capacity and in cutting down transmission and distribution losses. These are long-term issues that India ignores at its peril.
Keywords: Power blackout, northern grid failure, eastern grid, power failure, Power Ministry, North India power supply, electricity transmission
it's human characteristics to take action only when it's needed. we are
not taking serious action regarding electricity is because we(urban
mass) are having it . but when the time come when we would seriously go
a very shortage of electricity , than we would be bound to establish
nuclear power plants . and than at that time there would no issues in
establishing it as it is now being played politically at jaitapur .
Mr. Trilok Singh !
You offer valuable insights that appear not to have made it into the policymaker's arsenal - renewables and decentralisation of power generation. In the US & Germany, many states subsidise & install solar panels for households and small businesses. Power generation - as opposed to power consumption - is
incentivised. Energy produced in excess of what the owner needs is fed back to the grid and the owner is paid for it. Thus, households and businesses often become
net suppliers of power reducing the strain on both power plants and distribution
grids.
India should evaluate the economics & operational feasibility of renewable based, decentralised power generation models. Whilst no panacea, renewables could
offer clean power sources that could wean some consumers off diesel & reduce
demand on power stations. And perhaps find immediate applications such as in
traffic Delhi’s traffic lights. Hopefully policy makers will give the green light !
I think now we can understand the plight of the people with no
electricity for decades..We are only talking about the failure of grid
delivering electricity to Delhi as the title suggest "POWERLESS
DELHI".What about the millions of people devoid of electricity we dont
have any article about them are they not part of our country or our
country only comprises of DELHI alone....
If the transmission/distribution losses are below 15% in the civilized world, this figure comes up to 50% in India. Now we know that if up to 35% of electricity is stolen, it results in blackouts. What if they steal more than 60% of electricity?
Centre has no power both politically and electricity wise. Now only state leaders like Mamata, Akhil yadav, Pawar, Jayalalita, Naveen, Modi and Nitish have all the power and Centre is helpless.
With time, the reasons for the grid collapse will become clear. In the first event, the failure of the 400kV Bina-Gwalior link appears to have caused a cascade failure that resulted in a supply-demand mismatch of 32GW. The questions to ask here are: (1) Were contingency/reliability studies conducted in advance for this failure, and if not, not, given that this line fed the important Agra-Bareilly transmission corridor? (2) Why were the guidelines from such studies not put into practice? (3) Why was there not controlled load-shedding, and islanding? (4) Structurally, what teeth does NRLDC have with errant states that overdraw, even when the frequency has fallen to 48.8Hz? (5) What accountability is there with SEBs that overdraw especially with low frequency? What penalties should hey face? (6) What structural changes should result from this grid collapse event so that future failure modes can be prevented (given that we cannot overnight correct the supply/demand mismatch issue)?
Mr. Trilok Singh !
You offer valuable insights that appear not to have made it into the policymaker's
arsenal - renewables and decentralisation of power generation. In the US &
Germany, many states subsidise & install solar panels for households and small
businesses. Power generation - as opposed to power consumption - is
incentivised. Energy produced in excess of what the owner needs is fed back to the
grid and the owner is paid for it. Thus, households and businesses often become
net suppliers of power reducing the strain on both power plants and distribution
grids.
India should evaluate the economics & operational feasibility of renewable based,
decentralised power generation models. Whilst no panacea, renewables could
offer clean power sources that could wean some consumers off diesel & reduce
demand on power stations. And perhaps find immediate applications such as in
traffic Delhi’s traffic lights. Hopefully policy makers will give the green light !
I agree entirely with Trilok Singh and his comment above!
India is in the world news for the wrong reasons. The massive power outage is being termed as the biggest in history. It is the politicians who are letting down India. They are responsible for ramapant corruption, poor governance, and for following populist policies with complete discard for economics.
I agree, Mr. Singh. Solar power generation on a personal level w/ surplus going back to the grid is much encouraged in my home state of Florida. I am in the process of putting together panels to power most, if not, all of my own home, with excess integrated back into the grid (although the power company buys the excess at a lower rate than they sell power). I have been lucky to have had the opportunity to spend 2 months in India touring New Dehli, Jaipur, Agra, Manali, Mumbai & Goa. The equilateral position of much of your country receives adequate sunlight to power today's grid-tied solar systems. It could be integrated on a personal, commercial, or governmental level. Thanks, Jeremy from Florida (working temporarily in Ohio)
A strong democratic country --- now the name has been slowly changed to blind democratic country in many areas like true politics, power generation distribution and detecting false connections...
so, indian government need to take a initiative to supply solar panels to state governm. for domestic and Governm.. buildings to generate and use their own solar power .
this could be the only possible and low expense solution till against costly setting of thermal factory and nuclear factories.
The power outage is shameful. It gives India the dubious distinction of having the worst power outage in world history. The massive power outage is a reflection of what is wrong with the country: "the populist tone of much of its politics, rampant corruption and poor management in its government and public sector, weak law enforcement, and a maze of regulations that restrict many industries" as an article in the Washington Post put it.
People should stop protesting nuclear power plants, and instead work
for strong safety regulations there. They should also cut down on
consumption. And, the Government should stop giving free electricity to
farmers. The people too have a responsibility towards our Nation. You
can't just blame everything on the Government and feel all self-
righteous.
Hope at least now Government gives priority to FDI on infrastructures to benefit all
sections of the people. The government should concentrate more on FDI in hydel
power to tap the huge potential in North East, rather than in multi-brand retailing,
which additionally affects the livelihood of millions of traders and 'kirana' shop
keepers as well. Grid discipline in effect means "sharing poverty of power." When
"might is right" is the attitude of States in overdrawing power, cascading effect in
grid collapse is bound to happen like when every motorist jumps the red light,
total traffic jam occurs on all connecting feeder roads as well.What is now required
is to vest absolute authority with Power Grid Corporation of India to cut off power
supply to an erring State after 2 or 3 warnings, without any reference to either
chief minister of the concerned State or the central power minster or Babus. The
issue is totally non-political.
The union government is to blame because,it is not allowing individuals to
generate the solar energy for their house holds and to sell the surplus into the
grid as is a practice in the USA and the european countries.Besides every city
corporation should invest in the generation of power,if needed with the help of
private investors.The production and supply of power should be a states business
.A person sitting in Delhi cannot rule over the fate of 1.2 billion population.The
federal system of government has to take place of union control of the lives of
people living in far-flung areas.
Taking this as a wake up call, we must increase our power generation substantially thro' solar, nuclear, gas-based systems with available high technology in the world.
The disaster is blamed on "overdrawal". Some "experts" have speculated that the overdraw was due to farmers turning on their irrigation pumps. Why should they start doing it at 2:00 AM, or at 1:00 PM? The weather in the affected areas was also not that hot, and there was no likelihood of excessive power usage in residences. Therefore, is it possible that the grid failure, at least the first one, was due to UNDERDRAWAL? Someone who was following the news closely told me about a report that the frequency of power transmission had actually gone too high -- 50.4 Hertz -- which is possible if the load is too low, not too high. Only an inquiry by EXPERTS, without political interference, will reveal the truth.
Other than politicians the people are also to be blamed for this
tragedy. Our people only care for themselves and their family most of
the power thefts occur in India and citizens are responsible for that.
The only way to avoid excessive usage is making people pay for what they
use.
Central Government should take necessary action against culprits not by just forming a three member committee and giving them two weeks time. They should ask resignation for the higher authorities who are responsible for it.
States must take some responsibility and should act sensibly when it comes to drawing power supply as grid collapse of such magnitude can prove disastrous and put life of many people in jeopardy. There is a strong need for a strict administration in this regard which is often lax causing such mayhem. Strict regulation over over-drawing of power from national grid as well as Control systems (automatic demand management systems) in this regard must be put in place. But one thing we need to learn from this is that our cities need proper planning when it comes to distribution and transmission of power for instance railways and metros must have their own power grid, likewise street lights, traffic signals and other essential sectors eg. Hospitals should have separate grid so that in case of unprecedented failure they don’t get affected. And finally on top of everything we need to expedite the process of setting up of power plants whether it is nuclear or gas fired or from renewable source (solar plants), by clearing pending proposals and averting politically influenced public opposition so that power generation can be augmented in India and we don’t have to face such ignominy.
When there is a resistance to Nuclear Energy, how can be sure of 10,000 - 20,000Mw of Nuclear Energy...
And terms like TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION LOSSES soaring as high as 20
pct are nothing more than a euphemism for BIJLI CHORI..! Its time we stop
hiding the reality under these technical veils and start working on the
very basic but nevertheless..the biggest reasons for power crisis !
3 member committee, when they will complete the job, submit the
report, recommend remedial action and so on.Committe forming is a
regular , usual step whenever a calamity happens. That is the end.
Do'nt the concerned people - Power Grid corp, State power boards,
power ministry know the importance of generation,
transmission,consumption management.Such a vast country, didn't have
modern means to find out the fault. Government knows who is the
culprit in overdrawing, illegal theft - why they are not able to do
anything. Such a thing do not happen often in other bigger countries,
which consume many times more electricity than us. If this happens in
China, many concerned officials would have committed suicide. Here
they will be getting promotion and elevated to higher positions. That
is India. Can go to moon, mars and sun, have developed more modern
missiles, people of empty dreamers and visionaries. When will we
improve our basic things? Media play balanced act they hide more than
expose
private sectors should have their own power plant for their industries
and corporate and govt. should keep a proper check on them.the collected
money can be utilized as a electricity fund and more and more non-
conventional sources should be used.another breakdown throughout the day
can be shameful for the capital.
This awful power grid failure should act as the wake up call for the slumbering and dithering
govt to reform the power sector on an urgent basis. Main issues are well known I.e., lack of
adequate power generation capacity, lack of adequate supply of coal and gas fuel,
antiquated transmission infrastructure, and rampant power theft. India needs to increase coal
production by making it easier access to coal mines by streamlining regulatory clearances
and allowing increased participation of private sector in coal mining. India needs to raise the
generation capacity and modernize transmission infrastructure. As much as India is adding
to renewable power generation capacity such as solar and wind, India also needs to add
more nuclear power plants given the massive capacity addition possible with each NPP. All
these improvements will require massive investment, resulting rise in power tarrifs and the
need to enforce the law to curb power theft. But are the Indian people ready for the cost?
Delhi is powerless is a known fact. For they want only political power
in UP and Centre. They are not worried about the people suffering
without power for their daily routine. India will surely become
superpower in 3025.Moreover the alleged indiscipline of the SEBS emanate
from the Central politicis.
Now with free markets, this will be a major source of concern for
Foreign Investors. No wonder long term planning is lacking. We have more
cellphones than maintained toilets. Public safety is lacking in every
sense and every passing day issues of higher magnitude are masking the
issues of lesser magnitude - in terms of fatality or affected numbers.
This all boils down to addressing problems at the grass root levels
before them blowing over like this major one.
Normally we get a shock when we come into contact with uninsulated live wire. For a change, total power failure simultaneously in about 21 northern states of India, caused by electricity grid collapse,has shocked the whole nation. Lack of proper long-term planning, failure to adhere to grid discipline and inadequacy in electricity production are said to be the reasons for the sudden collapse. Everything points to human delinquency. In this context, the editorial "Delhi is powerless"( August 1) assumes great significance. There is imperative need for early implementation of requisite short/ long term measures to prevent recurrence of such major failures.
Literally Delhi is powerless. It dont have the drive to think long term. Increasing and improving the power generation capacity should have be done keeping in view of future increased demand. Doing some thing when there is a problem is not planning. That is fire fighting. Do we have a plan to control population growth? Do we have a plan to modernise railways and meet the travel needs, safety, comfort of passengers? Any plan for improving water resources, harvesting? Any plan to ensure all citizens are covered of assured medical facility? Any plan for employment generation? It is the government's duty to take actions so that we dont go out a sustainable population growth. Becuase of the actions of a section of society those who are having smaller families suffer too. We are in shortage of everything except humans.
Overdrawin occusrs only because there is now an energy scarcity bordering on energy famine. This is the result of a decade of neglect. It was predictable and predicted.
It is a damning indictment of the whole process of planning that after 60 years, even the national capital Delhi is periodically left gasping for both power and water.
Technical solutions exist as Gujarat has demonstrated. But Delhi is run not by scientists and technical professionals but by politicians, economists and bureacrats. If this continues, the situation will be no better, perhaps worse in another 60 years.
This news bring shame to India in world's eyes ... I don't think any
outside investor in a right mind can invest in India. If given the
chance, even Indians would not invest outside than here.
really it is shamfull that light of whole 7 state of country had gone in
a seconad and taken many hours to repair really it shows the reality of
indian electrical system that how recklessly they are.
Just as several North Indian States were being plunged into darkness with the collapse of
the electricity grid, the Union Minister for Power, Mr.Shinde, was being elevated to the Home
Minister's chair. The Power Ministry on its part put the whole blame on affected State
governments. When anything untoward happens in any part of the country, the blame goes
to state governments. Why do we then need a Central government?
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