CEA asks discoms to curb outages amid record power demand outlook | Today’s news
New Delhi: Amid projections of record power demand, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has asked distribution companies (discoms) to form emergency response teams and draw up summer action plans to deal with power outages and avoid load shedding during peak periods.
In the advisory, the CEA said that during the peak power demand season, instances of load-shedding — suspension of electricity supply in certain areas when demand exceeds availability — are reported in several parts of the country.
“Based on experience across the states, a significant portion of summer load shedding is not due to a lack of generation, but due to distribution grid constraints, transformer failures, overloaded feeders, insufficient preventive maintenance, delayed expansion and poor visibility of emerging areas of load growth,” he said.
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It is certain that there is enough power on the grid, but consumers continue to suffer outages due to constraints in the distribution network.
“Despite overall adequacy of generation resources and grid power availability, several states continue to experience consumer outages and load shedding during the summer months. Field experience and operational feedback suggest that a significant portion of such outages originate from constraints in the distribution network,” wrote Ghanshyam Prasad, chairman, CEA, in an advisory issued to discoms.
Driven by constraints
Load-shedding and outages are caused by constraints such as overloading of distribution transformers and feeders, insufficient transformation capacity in substations, delayed system expansion, aging equipment failures, bottlenecks in the local grid and insufficient preventive maintenance, Prasad said.
Peak power consumption reached a record 270.8 GW in May. CEA estimates peak demand this year at 272 GW.
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The CEA suggested that every discom should complete a “summer readiness review” by February every year, which should include assessment of grid capacity, identification of distribution transformers over 80% loaded, feeders over 80% loaded, power transformers over 75% loaded and low voltage areas.
All annual preventive maintenance of 33 kV (kilovolt) substations, 11 kV feeders and distribution transformers should be completed before the start of summer, CEA said. Power distribution companies must not postpone critical maintenance during the season except in exceptional circumstances, he added.
Emergency response
The CEA also directed that specialized emergency response teams be constituted to restore power supply as soon as possible within the applicable norms and regulations.
“These teams can be located at strategic locations, equipped with adequately trained manpower, vehicles, tools, test equipment and necessary safety equipment including PPE, fall arrest system etc. along with adequate inventory of critical spare parts,” it said.
Further, CEA has asked discoms to implement outage management systems to ensure faster fault location and reduced recovery time.
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Prasad, in a communication to state power and energy ministers, emphasized that distribution companies need to move from a largely reactive approach to dealing with outages after they occur to a proactive approach based on scientific planning, predictive analytics, preventive maintenance and pre-preparedness for seasonal demand growth.
The consultancy proposes a systematic assessment of the network load, preliminary planning of expansion works, preventive maintenance of critical assets, data-driven monitoring of the distribution infrastructure and strengthening of emergency response mechanisms.
