NEW DELHI: A major power crisis was averted early on Tuesday as Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and Northern Region Load Despatch Centre (NRLDC) officials worked overnight to prevent a grid collapse following a sudden 8,000 MW drop in demand which happened as all the Northern States had shut down in the wake of the storm that came past midnight. Ironically, the situation created a problem of plenty for a grid which normally has to contend with short supply.

With the demand for power dropping sharply from around 22,500 MW at 10 p.m. on Monday to less than 15,000 MW at about 3-30 a.m. on Tuesday, the frequency -- which is considered normal between 49 and 50.5 hertz -- shot up to over 51 hertz, PGCIL Chairman R.P. Singh said.

So while over the past fortnight there has been much wrangling over some States overdrawing power from the grid, on Tuesday it was lack of demand which caused a near collapse. "The sharp reduction in demand could have caused a grid collapse but the engineers and officials worked hard to prevent it and brought the grid back to normalcy,'' Mr Singh said.

During the crisis period, Mr Singh said the hydro, thermal and gas-fired plants in the region were directed to reduce generation and 800 MW of power which was being received from the eastern and western regions was immediately diverted by way of exports to the central and southern region. Thereafter, many hydro stations were "backed down'' and water was spilled from the 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri plant in Himachal Pradesh and some other plants to "maintain grid security''. It was the cooperation by all the states and utilities which saved the day, Mr Singh said.

It was pointed out that the storm which led to a decline in demand had originated in Jammu and Kashmir and moved to Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. To avoid breakdowns all these states had shut their distribution networks. Though Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, which are major power consumers, did not follow suit, the action by the four other states was enough to send alarm bells ringing.

Power officials said while the Northern Region has a peak hour demand of around 26,000 26,000 MW, it comes down to about 22,000 MW during off-peak hours. And since the supply of power is usually in the range of 19,000 to 22,000 MW.

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