North India heading for major power crisis

19.29 IST 01st May 2001

Northern India is heading for a serious power crisis with peak shortages exceeding 20 per cent putting tremendous pressure on the system.

ASSOCHAM has suggested to the Power Minister to constitute a high-level monitoring cell to keep vigil so that impending crisis could be averted as the pressure might lead to another collapse.

It says there is an urgent need to address the problems of low frequency operation of the regional grid due to mismatch in power availability and demand, lack of spinning reserve, lack of adequate redundancy in the transmission system, low voltage at nodal grid points due to inadequate capacitor installation and inadequate relief from the under frequency relays at the pre-set frequency levels.

During the April 2000 to April 2001, the Northern Region as a whole experienced energy and peak shortages of 6.7 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively, the Chamber said. During the same period, the different states of Northern region experienced energy and peak shortage varying from 1.8 to 14 per cent and 0 to 21 per cent respectively, it said.

The Chamber has also suggested an initiation of preventive measures to ensure grid discipline by States by restricting their drawals from the grid in accordance with their allocated quota and grid requirements.

-UNI

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 01, 2001