Power supplied to northern grid through two major links which were weak due to upgradation/repair : Agra-Gwalior, Zerda-Kankroli

A high load in these links (>1000MW) prompted failure of these particular links

Power was hence wheeled through east (a long circuitous route) increasing the load in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh

This led to drop in frequency and the radial lines (distribution system) should have been ideally cut off from the grid. Political pressure prevented this

Large set of lines between Balia in Bihar, Gorakhpur in eastern UP and Lucknow simply tripped and shut themselves down and islanding

Crucial Ranchi-Sipat link between the eastern and western regions was down

Intotal 38 links were down resulting in shutting down of generation plants

The Western Grid could also have suffered a collapse but as it islanded itself, the frequency there rose sharply, indicating excess supply of power (since customers in the north were not available)

Cascading effect has lead to collapse of grid (shutting down of power generating stations which lead to no power in transmission and distribution networks)

DARK NIGHT RISES

THE DARK NIGHT RISESDARK NIGHT RISES

Led to 14,000 MW generation loss 684 million people from 21 states & UTs affected More than 100 Delhi Metros stalled Traffic signals go on the blink Services of about 300 trains were severely

affected Forced offices, factories and hospitals to shift to

emergency generators The water distribution system, major water

treatment plants across the states came to a halt.

200 coal miners got trapped in Burdwan, West Bengal.

Power Ministry constituted a committee, to look into the reasons that lead to grid failure which is yet to submit its report.

The committee comprises CEA Chairperson, CMD Power Grid Corp, CEO POSOCO (Power System Operation Co Ltd), Chairman MERC ( Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission) and IIT-Kanpur representatives as members.

>Upgradation of transmission lines >Creating redundant lines >Cross integration of grids in all the

regions >Smart grid application >Development of renewable energy to

meet the peak demand >Government should try to enforce the

laws very strictly like in USA and UK.CERC should enforce stricter action for both underdrawal in case of high frequency and overdrawal in case of low frequency

>Uneven regulation : Maharastra being the major load

center (18000MW , half of the WR REGION DEMAND) follows the marginal cost based settlement (Inter ABT penalizing on overdrawing when freq >50.2 Hz) where as rest of the states follows Inter ABT/UI mechanism based on frequency(where power is free at freq > 50.2 Hz). This create a unidirectional situation. For eg at freq >50.2 Hz, WR Region being a major load center do not participate in balancing the grid frequency and NR/ER will overdraw , thereby constraining the Inter Regional Lines flows. ( The same thing happened on 30 /31 July 2012). So, to create a balance in the system a proper push and pull is required.

Questions?