The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : State grid back to normal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 14, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

State grid back to normal

Special Correspondent

Four of the five tripped units resume power generation after repairs

HYDERABAD: The State's grid on Saturday regained normalcy as four out of the five tripped units of the Simhadri, Vijayawada and Kothagudem stations, resumed generation after repairs bringing back 1,000 MW out of 1,300 MW lost.

As a result, power supply improved but still fell short of demand.

The shortage has been caused by drastic fall in hydel generation following closure of the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar stations, and reported sowing of a third crop in Nellore, Prakasam Anantapur, Chittoor and Medak districts. Agriculture demand which normally claims 40 per cent of the power generated, has not fallen to zero as expected after closure of rabi but remained at 12 per cent.

Continuing the normal cut in the rural areas, the Transco is bracing itself to meet the situation during the critical months of May and June by building up storage in Srisailam. Water is being pumped back into the reservoir with the help of reversible turbines so that generation can be made during emergencies.

The southern states had a narrow escape from a major power breakdown on Friday when the five units tripped in the State. The abrupt stoppage of generation from 1,300-MW capacity threatened to push the line frequency in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Pondicherry, down below the safety level -- 49.2 cycles per second. But, the Southern Load Despatch Centre, Bangalore, which operates the southern grid, averted the catastrophe by immediately pumping 500 MW of power into the grid from the western region.

The State itself was overdrawing 585 MW around that time from the system. The frequency, as a result, remained above 49.2 cycles. Otherwise, all power stations in the South would have tripped. For the help made by SLDC and for the overdrawal, the Transco, however, has to pay Rs. 4.5 per unit.

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