Energetica India Magazine -October 2020

Cascade Tripping at Substation of MSETCL Line Tripping Led to Grid Failure: Tata Power Praveer Sinha-led utility giant Tata Power said that the power failure was attributed to cascade tripping at state-run trans- mission company MSETCL’s sub-sta- tions and transmission lines leading to grid failure at Mumbai that resulted in power outages on October 12, 2020. The company said in a statement that, the inconvenience caused to the Mum- bai consumers was due to the MSETCL transmission system failure which led to cascading impact on all the downstream suppliers of electricity including Tata Power and BEST. However, to study the power breakdown which halted the Mumbai city, the Power Ministry sent the team of central officers led by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to Mumbai. The company said that it is supporting the central team by providing informa- tion and data related to the chain of events which transpired on the day of the outage. On the day of the power outage, the company in its statement said that as per its preliminary assessment of the situa- tion, many parts of Mumbai experienced an unforeseen electricity failure in the morning due to tripping of MSETCL’s 400 KV transmission system at Kalwa, which supplies power to Mumbai and adjoining areas. There are 4 incoming Ckt /lines to MSETCL Kalwa receiving stations for further transmission of power to Mumbai. Out of these 4 lines, MSETCL’s 400kV Pune-Kalwa line was under forced shut- down since October 10, 2020. On October 12, 2020, early in the morn- ing MSETCL had taken emergency shut- down on another 400 KV Kalwa- Padghe line -1 to attend to fault and was expect- ed to be revived by 09:30hr, but MSETCL could not revive it. As per the chain of events, with 2 lines out of service, the 3rd line tripped at 09:58 hrs 400kV Kalwa-Padghe-2 car- rying 644 MW power to the city tripped. This led to over loading of 4th ckt and subsequent tripping at 10:05 which led to sudden load drop and power outage in Mumbai system. TPDDL to Continue Supply Power to 65,000 Street Lights, Post Delhi Govt Directive to Clear Dues After Delhi government directed Del- hi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) to clear pending payments, Tata Pow- er-Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL) has put off its plans to stop power supply for nearly 65,000 Street Lights in the state. Tata Power-DDL is one of the major power distribution companies in North and North West Delhi. The decision was taken during a meet- ing by the Delhi Government, after the power distribution (Discom) compa- ny threatened to cut power supply for 65,000 street lights over non-payment of approx Rs 22 crore pertaining to maintenance charges of more than 65000 street lights by DSIIDC to Tata Power-DDL. As per the Delhi Govt directive, Rs 8.72 crore will be paid immediately and the rest till March 2021 based upon the agreed terms and conditions. Post government order, Tata Power-DDL said that it will continue to maintain the streetlights as usual. Earlier, the company had issued a statement by saying that “we all know that street lights act as a deterrent to crime and promote a sense of security among communities. However, due to the outstanding payments from the last 32 months, Tata Power-DDL is unable to maintain these street lights installed in several unauthorised colonies in North and North West Delhi from tomorrow i.e. October 15, 2020. This may lead to unsafe conditions for lakhs of residents, especially senior citizens, women and children.” According to the Discom, the mainte- nance of street lights in unauthorized areas costs the company approx. Rs 70 lakhs per month and the continuous non-payment of the invoices raised by it resulted in an accumulation of huge arrears. On the matter, Tata Power-DDL, CEO, Ganesh Srinivasan, also clearly said that “Tata Power-DDL has always fo- cussed on assuring the best of services to its consumers while prioritizing their safety. The non-payment of dues is severely hampering the regular main- tenance of the street lights which will cause inconvenience to the consum- ers as well as other citizens. In such a scenario, it becomes imperative for the authorities to provide us the nec- essary support in maintaining these street lights, otherwise these areas will witness darkness, making them unsafe for public. I strongly appeal to the gov- ernment to intervene and help resolve the issue by directing DSIIDC to release the due payment at the earliest.” TPDDL also said that, in past few months, it had written several letters to all concerned authorities including Power Ministry, Department of Urban Development, GNCTD for intervention for timely resolution of the issue and im- mediate release of payment. NEWS GRID/ TRANSMISSION 60 energetica INDIA- October_2020