9 pm 9 minutes: Power demand down by 32 Gw, grid remains unscathed
As Indians switched off lights for nine minutes at 9 pm on Sunday to show solidarity amid lockdown, power demand went down by close to 32 gigawatt (Gw). Official estimates indicated that power demand during the nine minutes was down to 85.3 Gw from 117 Gw earlier. Post the event, power demand restored to 110 Gw.
The power grid at national and at regional level did not face any glitch, as was being feared. The grid frequency remained normal at 49-50 gigahertz, indicating no major fluctuation in the grid.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged people to switch off lights for 9 minutes at 9 pm on Sunday and light candles, torches, or mobile flashlights outside their house to show solidarity for each other during the Covid-19 lockdown.
