PremiumWith a growing number of power sector personnel testing positive for covid-19, the government is pulling out all stops to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply across the country, two government officials aware of the preparations said
With a growing number of power sector personnel testing positive for covid-19, the government is pulling out all stops to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply across the country, two government officials aware of the preparations said.
A standard operating procedure has been put in place for all central power projects to prepare for peak summer demand. Also, an aggressive vaccination campaign is on for inoculating central power sector personnel, with 60% of people above 45 years already vaccinated.
Power and new and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh on Thursday conducted a review meeting, attended by officials from the two ministries and heads of central public sector units (PSUs) such as NTPC Ltd, NHPC Ltd and Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd.
This comes amid oxygen supply running low at many hospitals and the severe second wave exposing India’s creaking health care system, with acute shortages of oxygen, vaccines, testing kits, hospital beds, and intensive care units (ICUs).
The Union power ministry is working in close coordination with the states for facilitating round-the-clock electricity supply from state sector projects as well. Of India’s installed power generation capacity of 379.13 gigawatts (GW), the central and state sector projects account for 96.18GW and 103.62GW, respectively. “Central sector power PSUs have a large workforce, and they are getting infected by the virus. Constant reviews are taking place with a focus on avoiding any foreseeable impact on power supply," one of the two officials cited above said on condition of anonymity.
The plan includes vaccinating everyone above 45 years by April end and the remaining on a mission mode, once everyone above the age of 18 years become eligible for the vaccine from 1 May.
“We are working to ensure that the number of infections among power sector professionals doesn’t surge. Thankfully, with hydropower projects being located in far-off places, there is a limited number of infected personnel there," said the official cited above.
Queries emailed to spokespeople for power ministry, NTPC, NHPC and Power Grid Corp. were not immediately answered.
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Premium Premium “The plan is to limit the number of infections among the power sector professionals. The situation is presently under control, and we don’t want the number of cases to spiral," said the second official cited above, who also did not want to be named.
India has a complex interconnected power grid requiring close coordination between grid operators and power project generators across coal, gas, hydro, nuclear and green energy sources run by the Centre, states and the private sector. It is state-owned Power System Operation Corp. Ltd (Posoco), which manages these complex functions through the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC), Regional Load Dispatch Centres (RLDCs) and State Load Despatch Centres (SLDCs)—often drawing comparisons with an air traffic controller. The country has 33 SLDCs, five RLDCs (for the five regional grids that form the national grid) and one NLDC.
India’s peak electricity demand fell during the first wave, with commercial and industrial demand taking a hit after many factories closed. However, domestic consumption, which generates comparatively lower tariffs, went up. With the revival of economic activity, the demand since then has gone up, with the country registering a record high of 189.6GW in January. The demand is expected to get impacted given the lockdowns imposed by the states.
Of India’s total electricity demand load pattern, industrial and agricultural consumption account for 41.16% and 17.69%, respectively. Commercial electricity consumption accounts for 8.24%.
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