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The power situation in the country could be rapidly deteriorating. Heavy overdrawing by States in the northern and eastern regions to tide over an unforeseen coal shortage, coupled with outages at key stations, is beginning to threaten grid operations at a time when electricity demand nationwide is surging due to the festival season.
On Friday, the grid frequency across much of the country stayed well below the permissible limit of 49.5 Hertz for a large part of the day. The grid frequency dipping below the stipulated limit signifies that some of the States are drawing more power than they should, thereby jeopardising overall stability. During mid-afternoon, the frequency dipped to a low of 48.74 Hz as States in the North, mainly Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, were overdrawing heavily. This script has been playing out consistently over the past few days, sending grid managers into a tizzy. The permissible frequency band for grid operations in the country is 49.5-50.2 Hz.
The triggers include a combination of events: Heavy overdrawing by the northern States, along with freak accidents — a coal wagon derailment and damage to a fly ash-related structure — that have derailed output at two major stations of NTPC Ltd. Floods in States in the eastern region have further affected coal output. Plus, the ongoing coal shortfall due to a strike at Singareni Collieries has already dented production at several southern and western region stations.
“Southern region States have largely adhered to the grid frequency norms despite rampant shortages, while the New Grid is seeing rampant indiscipline by some constituents,” an official involved in the exercise said. The grid operators have now filed a petition against Uttar Pradesh for what they call flagrant violations of grid discipline in the past few days.
In all, 6,000-8000 MW of thermal capacity is estimated to have been affected due to the coal strike and the shortages at NTPC stations, while there has been a drop of another 100 million units in hydro generation due to the receding monsoon. This could spell trouble, especially as the all-India demand generally peaks in October.
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