The Power Minister, Mr Sushilkumar Shinde, on Monday asserted that India is well-equipped to handle accidents such as tge complete collapse of Northern Grid that lead to darkness across north India since 2.35 a.m. The Northern Grid caters to nearly 28 per cent of India’s population.
Mr Shinde said that when a similar crisis happened in the US in 2008, it took them four days to resume supplies. The US also sought help from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.
“This type of a grid failure has happened after over 10 years. When such a power failure happened in 2001, power could be restored only by 4 p.m. on the next day. However, things have moved faster this time,” Mr Shinde told newspersons.
At around 11a.m., 60 per cent of power supplies were restored. The supplies are expected to be normal by 3-4 p.m.
Though the main reason for collapse of the grid is yet to be ascertained, suspicion is that some States may have subscribed to more leading to such a scenario.
“The normal frequency at which electricity is transmitted through the Northern Grid ranges from 48.5 to 50.2 Hz. At the time of the collapse around 2.35 a.m., the grid frequency was 50.46 Hz, a few notches above normal. This could have tripped the supply,” Mr Shinde added.
Mr Gopal Saxena, Chief Executive Officer of BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, that supplies electricity in Delhi, said that it is remarkable that plants are up and running within just six hours of disruption.