The
Minister of Power , Sh V Moily held a meeting in the capital today, with the Chief
Ministers and Power Ministers of the North Indian States affected by the power
grid collapse on 30th and 31st of the previous month .
The States that had been affected were Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand,
Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh ,Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.The text of the Minister’s
speech is given below.At the end of the deliberations the Centre and the
concerned States agreed to abide by a 12 Point Resolution which would ensure
that such breakdowns in the Power Grid do not recur again.
Earlier in the day Power Secretary, Sh.P Uma
Shankar held detailed discussions with
Chief Secretaries and Power Secretaries of the concerned States on the 12 Point
Resolution to ensure future compliance by States.The text of the 12 Point
Resolution is given below.
Later
in the day the Power Minister briefed the media about the deliberations leading
to the unanimous 12 Point Resolution.The Minister also announced to the media
the Notification for Constituting an Expert Committee to enquire into the Power
Grid Disturbance on 30th and 31st of July 2012.
Speech of the Minister of
Power
Power is
a crucial and core infrastructure sector which is required to catalyze the
economic growth of the country. Various policy initiatives have been taken up
by the Government for set up large capacity addition in generation and
transmission.
2. During the 11th Plan a record capacity addition of
about 55000 MW was achieved along with about 70000 Circuit kilometers of
transmission lines and over 1lac 53 thousand MVA of transformation capacity.
For the 12th Plan we are targeting capacity addition of over 85000
MW of and about 1 lac circuit kilometers of transmission lines along with over
2 lac 70 thousand MVA of transformation capacity.
3. Other Policy initiatives being taken by the Government of India
concern addressing the much required reform process, restructuring of the Power
Sector and introduction of competition with the objective of bringing about an
efficient as well as financially sustainable power infrastructure for the
country. Both public and private sector participation are being encouraged.
4. However there are a number of issues which need to be addressed
by us all in an integrated manner. These relate to managing load demand and
sustaining the available transmission and distribution infrastructure till such
time adequate surplus power and related infrastructure capacity is set up. The
two recent incidents of grid failure on 30th and 31st of
July 2012 have brought this concern to the fore.
5. As we all know, in order to facilitate transfer of power from
the generation to the load centers, the National Grid is being continuously
strengthened with the primary objective of enabling integrated operation of the
National and Regional grids so as to enhance the overall operational
reliability and efficiency of the entire electric transmission network spread
across the country.
6. While a Committee comprising independent experts under
Chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority has been appointed to look
into the causes of the incidents and give recommendation of measures to be
taken to prevent such incidents in future, it is important that we deliberate
upon the future strategy we need to adopt and actions we need to take to
prevent the happening of such incidences ever in the future. It is for this
reason that I have requested your presence here so that we can deliberate
jointly and arrive at possible solutions to the problems witnessed recently.
7. There are a few key areas that we need to look at closely. These are proper grid defense planning, load
management, enforcement of grid discipline, appropriate strengthening of State
Load Dispatch Centres, etc.
8. Grid Defense Planning is an extremely important part of Grid Operations
and the States must attach priority to this. Inspite of all precautions taken,
there can be tripping of generators, loads & the transmission elements and
suitable defense mechanisms must be in place to prevent any kind of cascading
effect and to restrict & localize the impact of such tripping incidents.
Implementation of Effective Islanding Schemes, Operation of the Under Frequency
Relays and df/dt Relays, Demand disconnection and System Protection Schemes are
critical for maintaining Grid Security in case of contingency scenario.
9. Load
Planning is essential to be able to meet
the consumer demand in a secure and reliable manner. Planning of power
procurement is essential for each utility to serve the estimated load.
Procurement of power could be done either through long term, medium term or
short term contracts. The total portfolio includes estimates of own generation,
allocation from central sector generating stations and purchases from outside
the state. Major part of portfolio must be procured through the long term
contracts and seasonal demand could be handled through short term contracts.
Despite the availability of long & short term contracts in the market, I understand
that some states resort to persistent over drawal often endangering the
stability of the transmission system. UI should not be used as a reliable
source; it is at best a balancing mechanism that can work within a limited
boundary. I am told that a few states
overdraw as they find it convenient not to pay immediately. I would feel that this behavior is
irresponsible as it not only violates the grid code, it overlooks the interest
of the other constituents. I would urge
you to review this and ensure that
appropriate demand planning and management must be in place for reliable
and secure system operation.
10. Grid
Code provides the rules for operating
the Grid. The Electricity Act envisages SLDCs as apex bodies to ensure
integrated operation of the power system in the respective areas of
jurisdiction. The functions are to be discharged in a manner so as to ensure
independent, neutral, fair, effective and efficient operation of the SLDCs with
transparency and fairness. All users are required to abide by the principles
and procedures defined in the Grid Code in order to maintain the integrated,
secure and reliable operation of the Grid.
11. The
phenomenon of persistent over drawl from the grid despite full knowledge of
SLDC is a breach of confidence in the grid management structure. Surely SLDCs do not work in isolation. SLDCs also know the risks. Yet, despite
repeated information and instructions from RLDCs the over drawl was resorted
to. You would appreciate that SLDC is
the brick on which the structure of national grid is based. There is no way to run a national grid if
SLDCs do not subject themselves to strict adherence to Grid-code. We have unwavering faith in your ability to
control SLDC. I am sure we will all
agree to maintain the structure of national grid and ensure that there is no
grid disturbance.
12. Empowerment
of the Load Dispatch Centers which are at
the nerve center of Power System Operation in India is extremely essential. The primary
functions of System Operators working in the SLDCs/RLDCs/NLDC include
Maintaining secure and reliable operation of the power system, operational
planning, protection coordination, and such related activities for ensuring
reliability of the power system. They are also responsible for Market Operation
functions which involve generation resource scheduling, managing renewable
energy sources, providing common and equal information access to all market
players, facilitating open access, and other related activities. Capacity
building at SLDCs must be carried out in all areas covering human capacity
building by way of training and certification, automation and equipping them
with proper tools to facilitate the discharge of their functions. Power System
Operators working in the SLDCs must be trained and re-trained for capacity
building. In addition to this, proper system for documentation and record
keeping should be in place. The highly specialized and technical nature of LDC
function necessitates a suitable compensation and incentive structure to
attract and retain best talent to the field.
13. Restoration System is required to quickly restore the power system in
case of any contingency. Security of the grid is of paramount importance. In an
integrated power system, disturbances of major / minor nature can occur under
various contingencies. Such disturbances can result in collapse of a part of
the system or sometimes entire system, requiring restoration of the affected
system in the minimum possible time. It is therefore necessary to have a well
laid down restoration procedure under various conditions of partial black out
and /or total black out of the system. Essential loads such as traction, mines,
nuclear units etc need to be restored on priority. Communication with
generating units / SLDCs/ Substations is essential for speedy restoration. All
the operating personnel of State Load Dispatch Centres and the officials
involved in grid operation should be thoroughly conversant with the restoration
procedure.
14. Having briefly mentioned
some of the key issues, I would now like to invite your views and suggestions
to help us address this challenging problem of managing the country-wide
transmission network.
Thank you.
-------------------------------
12 Point Resolution
1.
Adequate defense plans and protection system shall be put in place to
ensure integrated operation of the National/ Regional Grids in adherence with
the Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC). All the states shall ascertain
preparedness of power system defense plans and cooperate at the Regional level
for coordinating their Protection systems.
2.
Defense plans of the states must include islanding schemes, under frequency
relays, rate of change of frequency relays, special protection schemes and automatic
demand management schemes. The defense plans shall also include
restoration procedures that shall be updated and reviewed regularly.
3.
States will prepare their islanding schemes in consultation with PGCIL, CEA and
NRPC within the next 3 months and ensure their implementation within the next 6
months.
4.
Independent third party audit of the protection systems shall be
carried out within 1 month and the Regional Power Committees (RPCs) shall
monitor the same. PGCIL would fund and
carry out the audit in the first instance.
5.
All the utilities shall also adopt good operation and maintenance practices and
random checks of these shall be carried out by the Regional Power
Committees.
6.
States shall prepare plans in long term, medium term and short term horizons
for procurement of power, network and demand management in accordance with the
Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC), which shall be reviewed by the RPCs.
7.
States shall carry out periodically Power system studies for operation planning
and Transfer Capability determination. PGCIL would assist the states in this
regard.
8.
States shall take all necessary steps for strengthening and upgrading the State
Load Despatch Centres and training of system operators. There should be
manpower capacity building by way of training and certification.
9.
The personnel manning the LDC control rooms should be equipped with proper
tools to facilitate the discharge of the functions. Appropriate compensation
structure, including Certification linked incentive scheme must be designed to
attract and retain best talent in the field of system operations.
10.
The States requested that Government of India may draw up a scheme for
supporting the states in strengthening their SLDCs and for capacity building.
11.
POSOCO would evolve a contingency load shedding protocol, especially when non
frequency related load shedding is required.
12.
All States resolved to adhere to the Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC) and
take all requisite measures for its effective enforcement. It was agreed that
all instructions of NLDC / NRLDC will be implemented immediately by SLDCs
without waiting for further instructions from any other authority.
UM