Grid managers seamlessly handles 32GW fall and rise in demand within 20 minutes on Sunday

Engineers at electricity load despatch centres managed a total power demand dip of almost 32 GW between 8.49 PM and 9.09 PM, on Sunday, nearly three times the estimated fall by the national power gridNSE 1.03 %. Power demand fell as citizens responded to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s call of switching off lights and lighting candles to express their support for the battle against COVID-19 pandemic.

Just as citizens started switching lights back on, power consumption started rising. Power minister, RK Singh, tweeted: “Demand in the grid came down by 32000 MW within a few minutes but the frequency and voltage were maintained within the normal range. Demand went down from 1,17,300 Megawatts at 20:49 hrs to 85300 Megawatts till 21:09 hrs; Then it started increasing. Frequency was maintained within a band of 49.7 to 50. 26 Hz, which means the voltage was kept stable.”