Modi’s call to ‘dispel darkness’ has electricity engineers worried
CHENNAI: The nine-minute plunge into darkness on Sunday is posing a big challenge for TANGEDCO engineers, who have to deal with possible voltage fluctuations and instabilities in the power grid because the entire country is likely to switch their lights off and on almost together during that span of time.
Tangedco officials dealing with load management say they have taken precautionary measures. On Saturday, a press release from the State government said all necessary measures have been taken to support the activity on Sunday. On Friday, the state transmission company, TANTRANSCO, asked all its executive engineers to be prepared.
They were asked to be present in their respective headquarters from 8pm to 10.30pm on Sunday and keep an eye on essential equipment like capacitor banks. “It is true that certain imbalance will be created in the grid. But we are trying to bring down generation so as to match the reduced demand. This way frequency fluctuations in voltage can be kept at a minimum. All employees in the generation process have already been given instructions,” said a senior official.
What the experts say
On the other hand, some experts said the PM’s request has put the entire electricity sector in a grey area. The immediate concerns are sudden blackouts and brownouts (partial blackouts), damage to distribution equipment like transformers, revenue loss to discoms and extra expenditure to maintain these equipment.
“This is an unnecessary exercise that could have been avoided.
Sudden reduction in generation can cause power blackouts. While major metro cities will be unharmed, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and villages will face the real brunt. The stress on distribution sector will be massive too. Revenue loss during these nine minutes coupled with maintenance expenses are concerning factors too,” said K Vishnu, a expert in the electricity field who is working with Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group.