Keep necessary lights on, else there may be grid failure: Dr Nitin Raut
   Date :04-Apr-2020

Dr Nitin Raut_1 &nbs
 
 
Staff Reporter :
 
Dr Nitin Raut, Energy Minister of Maharashtra and Guardian Minister of district, on Friday urged the people to keep necessary lights on while responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for shutting off lights in households for nine minutes at 9 pm on April 5 (Sunday). If there is a sudden drop in electricity consumption, it may lead to grid failure, he added.
 
In a press release issued on Friday evening, Dr Raut said that if people switched off the lights in their households at a time for nine minutes throughout the State and country, it may cause technical snag in the power distribution system. At present, the power demand of Maharashtra has come down from 23,000 MW to 13,000 MW as the industry load is nil owing to lockdown in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak. The demand of 13,000 MW is for essential services and domestic consumption.
 
If there is sudden drop in this demand, all the power stations may go to high frequency and this may cause unnecessary feeder trippings, he stated. If there is widespread tripping in Maharashtra, it may result in multi-State grid failure, which may affect essential services and hospitals, he added. According to Dr Raut, after the tripping, a power station may take up to 12-16 hours to be back in service. Hence, people should give a proper thought to the Prime Minister’s appeal and keep necessary lights on. They can light up lamps or candles. Necessary instructions have been issued to Maharashtra Government run power utilities namely Mahagenco, Mahatransco, MSEDCL, and Maharashtra State Load Despatch Centre to take due care on April 5 night. The people also should take necessary care, he added.