HYDERABAD: The Southern Regional Load Despatch Centre (SRLDC) is taking all precautions to ensure normal functioning of the power grid during the nine-minute blackout on Sunday, a call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At a meeting held by the SRLDC officials with the power officials of all the southern States on Friday, the States assured that they can manage the situation.
“The power grid will not face any problem because of the blackout,” SRLDC executive director Abhimanyu Gartia told Express over phone.
He said given the smart grid, the sudden fall or increase in power demand in those nine minutes was manageable. The SRLDC is expecting that there would be a sudden fall of 2,500 MW during the nine minutes. But, the power generating stations of all the States assured that they would increase the hydel generation.
All the hydel power stations in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu would increase the production.
N Sreekumar, an expert on the power sector, said, “People should not switch off their main meter. If they only switch off the lights, there will be no major load on the grid. Blackout all across the country for such a short time may harm the grid. But if only the lights are switched off, it does not matter much. Lights are not the main contributor to household demand,” he said.