Power firms jointly averted 'blackout' after storm last Friday

A possible northern grid failure and resultant total blackout in the aftermath of thunderstorm in Delhi NCR region last Friday was averted by joint efforts of power generation, transmission and distribution companies, a discom operating in the region said.
"Combined efforts of Delhi distribution, transmission and generation companies and Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre saved Delhi from black out and Northern Grid from failure post one of the deadliest storms which hit the national capital on Friday, last week," Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) said in a statement today.
NTPC and state-run Pragati Power Corporation are major supplier of electricity to Delhi NCR region.

State utility Delhi Transco Ltd is enganged in transmission of power to distributors TPDDL and BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna in the National Capital.
A massive thunderstorm coupled with high-speed dusty winds hit Delhi NCR on May 30 throwing life out of gear as it crippled road traffic, metro services, flight operations and power supply network.
Most areas in the city plunged into darkness as the storm which struck at 4:58 PM uprooted trees snapping power lines in several areas.

"Before the storm the total load of Delhi was 5,200 MW and during the storm it gradually fell within a few minutes at the rate 200 MW per minute to 1,200 MW," the statement said.

In TPDDL area, the load fell from 1,350 MW to paltry 300 MW due to major failure in the transmission network which included Delhi Transco Limited's 400/220 KV network which links Dadri, Mandola, Bawana, Bamnauli and Narela areas in Delhi, it said.
"The crisis was averted due to effective disaster management system, contingency planning, inter-grid connectivity and running the network on emergency mode and coordination between the Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre, transmission, Delhi distribution and generation companies," Praveer Sinha, CEO & ED, TPDDL said.
"It could have snowballed into the July 30 and 31, 2012 like situation, the biggest ever power failure in Indian history, three inter-state transmission networks collapsed together disrupting the daily lives of half of India's population, spread across 22 states in Northern, Eastern, and Northeast India.