Uttar Pradesh withdraws 1,000 MW power from northern grid.

Uttar Pradesh withdrew 1,000 MW power from the northern grid on 2 July night, bringing back the spectre of a grid collapse that happened twice in 2012 and had plunged north, west and eastern parts of India into darkness. The move came a day after Akhilesh blamed the Centre for not allocating enough power from the Central pool to the state.

According to Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC), the massive overdrawal was done from 2 July midnight till 5am on 3 July to meet the rising demand. NRLDC data shows that against the scheduled limit of 4,750 MW, UP withdrew over 5,750 MW power till 4am. After that, it dropped to 5,500 MW but again rose up to 5,750 MW at 5am. It plunged sharply after 6am and remained below 4,750 MW till 10am, when overdrawal started going up again.

In fact, the average overdrawal from the grid was 480 MW on 2 July. Same day chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had asked the centre to provide more power to UP given its large population size. In his letter to PM Narendra Modi, Akhilesh Yadav reminded him of coal shortage that has been hampering power plants in UP.

Sources in Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited confirmed that overdrawal was resorted to depending upon the frequency. 'The high frequency in the grid allowed us to resort to overdrawing,' said a senior UPPCL official. UPPCL managing director AP Mishra said the average drawing of power from the grid was within the margins. 'We have been maintaining the grid discipline as far as possible,' Mishra told TOI.


ET