Lights out call: Hydro power saves grid from collapse

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘9 minutes lights out’ call at 9 pm on Sunday virtually had the entire power sector on its toes.

Shailendra Dubey, Chairman of the All India Power Engineers Power Federation (AIPEF), said: “There was an unprecedented load crash of 31,089 MW, which is about 27 per cent of total load at the national level and power engineers worked overtime to see that frequency and voltage were kept within limits and the power did not go out of control.”

Dubey termed the phenomena as unprecedented in Indian power sector’s history. “Power engineers and employees across the country have spent three sleepless nights and untiring efforts to ensure secure and reliable operation of grid,” he said.