The power ministry on Tuesday said that overdrawing states from the northern region (NR) should behave or face power cut by the regional load despatch centre (RLDC). The RLDC has been authorised to take necessary steps in this regard so that rampant overdrawal of power is curbed and grid discipline is maintained.
The ministry has also asked plants operating on liquid fuel and gas to operate and not to remain idle especially when there has been a surge in demand and also a reduction in hydro-power generation following an onset of winter.
The ministry has called upon state-run GAIL India to explore option of procurement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the spot market up to March 2008 so that power plants either closed down or running below their capacities can function fully. The decisions were taken at a meeting convened by power secretary Anil Razdan with the NR states.
Maharashtra had recently raised the issue of continuous overdrawal by NR states endangering the north, east, west grid.
?NR states have been told to strictly follow grid discipline or else be prepared to pay hefty penalties. Gas-based power plants have been asked to maximise generation. GAIL India has been requested to make efforts for sourcing LNG in the spot market till March 2008. Besides, the power ministry will hold fortnightly review to assess the situation. All efforts will be made to maintain the grid discipline,? Razdan told FE.
As reported earlier, the northern regional load despatch centre (NRLDC), operated by PowerGrid Corporation of India Ltd, has approached the central electricity regulatory commission (CERC) to review the unscheduled interchange charges to curb overdrawal of power by NR states.
NRLDC argued that due to the overdrawal by the utilities from the northern region, system frequency is continuously below 49 Hz for significant part of the day and was below 49 Hz for 24% of the time on November 13 in the western region.
