INTRODUCTION

• A power grid is an interconnected network of transmission

lines for
supplying electricity from power suppliers to consumers. Any
disruptions
in the network causes power outages. India has five regional
grids that
carry electricity from power plants to respective states in the
country.
• Electric power is normally generated at 11-25kV and then
stepped-up
to 400kV, 220kV or 132kV for high voltage lines through long
distances
and deliver the power into a common power pool called the
grid.
• The grid is connected to load centers (cities) through a sub
transmission network of normally 33kV lines which terminate
into a
33kV (or 66kV) substation, where the voltage is stepped-
down to 11kV
for power distribution through a distribution network at 11kV
and
lower.
• The 3 distinct operation of a power grid are:-
1. Power generation
2. Power transmission
3. Power distribution.
 OPERATION OF POWER GRIDS

• Electricity generation - Generating plants are located near a

source of water, and away from heavily populated areas , are
large and electric power generated is stepped up to a higher
voltage-at which it connects to the transmission network.
• Electric power transmission - The transmission network will
move the power long distances–often across state lines, and
sometimes across international boundaries, until it reaches
its wholesale customer.
• Electricity distribution - Upon arrival at the substation, the
power will be stepped down in voltage—to a distribution
level voltage. As it exits the substation, it enters the
distribution wiring. Finally, upon arrival at the service
location, the power is stepped down again from the
distribution voltage to the required service
 STRUCTURE OF GRIDS

• The structure or "topology" of a grid depends upon the geology of

the land available. The other constraints are of budget, requirements
for system reliability, the load and generation characteristics.

• The cheapest and simplest topology for a distribution or

transmission grid is a radial structure i.e. a tree shape where power
from a large supply radiates out into progressively LV lines until
destination is reached.

• The power network, is the distribution network of 11kV lines or

feeders (that carry power close to the load points) downstream of
the 33kV substation.

• At these load points, a transformer further reduces the voltage

from 11kV to 415V (LT feeders) to individual customers, either at
220V (as 1-phase) or at 415V (as 3-phase).

• A feeder could be either an overhead line or an underground cable.

In urban areas, owing to the density of customers, the length of an
11kV feeder is up to 3 km, while in rural areas it is up to 20 km.

• Most transmission grids require the reliability of mesh networks

however the expense of mesh topologies restricts their application
to transmission and medium voltage distribution grids.

• Redundancy allows line failures to occur and power is simply

rerouted while workmen repair the damaged and deactivated line.

• Types of transmission lines:

 NEED FOR POWER GRIDS IN INDIA

• Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical

energy, from generating power plants to electrical
substations located near demand centres and it is different
from the local wiring between HV substations and customers
(which is typically referred to as electric power distribution ).
• A key limitation in the distribution of electric power is that,
electrical energy cannot be stored, and therefore must be
generated as per the requirement. Hence a sophisticated
control system is required to ensure that the electric
generation matches the demand.
• If the demand for power exceeds the supply, generation
plants and transmission equipment can shut down which, in
the worst cases, can lead to a major regional blackout, such
as occurred in the July 2012 in India.
 POWER GRIDS REGIONS IN INDIA

• There are five power grid regions in India. they are-

• Northern
• Western
• Southern
• Eastern
• North-Eastern.
• Out of all these Regions the NR, ER, WR, and NER are
synchronized which is known as NEW Grid.
• Whereas SR is not synchronized with the rest of the regions
with AC lines and hence could run on a slightly different
frequency. SR is connected with WR and ER with HVDC links
only.
 WHAT IS POWER GRID FAILURE

• In India electricity is transmitted at a frequency of 49-50 Hz.

When the frequency reaches its minimum or maximum level,
there is a risk of failure of transmission lines.
• Thus, the breakdown of transmission lines due to over or
under frequency is called Power Grid Failure.
• The role of Load Dispatch Centre's is to maintain the
frequency between minimum 48.5 to maximum of 50.2 Hz.
The National Load Dispatch Centre is also responsible for
maintaining the Overdraw done by states.
• When the states overdraw power crossing their limits, the
same also becomes the cause of grid failure, due to excessive
load on the transmission lines.
 HISTORY OF MAJOR POWER GRID
FAILURES THROUGHT THE WORLD

Article Millions of Location Date

people
affected
July 2012 India 670 India 30–31 July
blackout 2012
2005 Java-Bali 100 Indonesia 18 Aug. 2005
blackout
1999 Southern 97 Brazil 11 March 1999
Brazil blackout
2009 Brazil and 87 Brazil, 10–11 Nov.
Paraguay Paraguay 2009
blackout
Northeast 55 the United 14–15 Aug.
blackout of States, Canada 2003
2003
2003 Italy 55 Italy, 28 Sep. 2003
blackout Switzerland,
Austria,
Slovenia,
Croatia
 2012 BLACOUT IN INDIA – WHOLE INFO

• Introduction
The July 2012 India blackout was the largest power outage in
history, occurring as two separate events on 30 and 31 July
2012. The outage affected over 620 million people, about 9%
of the world population, or half of India's population, spread
across 22 states in Northern, Eastern, and Northeast India.
An estimated 32 giga watts of generating capacity was taken
offline in the outage.

• History of electrical infrastructure in India-

• The Indian electrical infrastructure was generally
considered unreliable. The Northern grid had previously
collapsed in 2001.
• 27% of power generated was lost in transmission or stolen,
while peak supply fell short of demand by an average of
9%.Hence the nation suffered from frequent power outages
that could last as long as 10 hours.
• About 25% of the population, about 300 million people,
had no electricity at all.
• The power generating stations are hooked onto an
interconnected network of transmission lines and
substations. These generating stations supply electricity
through these transmission lines.
• The companies responsible for distribution take the power
coming through these lines and forward it to the consumers.
This is how electricity reaches millions of homes.
• The stability of the grids depends on a delicate equilibrium
of demand supply chain. The amount of load is directly
proportional to the amount of power generated.
• When the equilibrium between power generated and
consumed gets disturbed and the load becomes more, it
leads to tripping of the line
 REASONS FOR POWER GRID FAILURE

• In the summer of 2012, leading up to the failure, extreme

heat had caused power use to reach record levels in New
Delhi leading to coal shortages in the country.(as fossil fuels
stocks are rationed by government and are imported
offshore.)
• Due to the late arrival of monsoons, agricultural areas in
Punjab and Haryana drew increased power from the grid
(Farmers using energy intensive water pumps for irrigation)
• The late monsoon also meant that hydropower plants were
generating less than their usual production and hence the
load on thermal power plants increases to support the
demand of load.
• Illegal utilization of electricity is also a major reason for
power grid failure.
• India's basic energy shortage is compounded by the policy
of selling electricity to consumers at politically correct prices
i.e. sometimes cheap and even free to voters. Here the
government-owned distribution monopolies have failed. This
loss estimates up to 1% of gross domestic product in the
country.
 STATE AFFECTED BY GRID FAILURE

• States on the Northern grid: Delhi, Haryana, Himachal

Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand
• States on the Eastern grid: Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West
Bengal
• States on the Northeast grid: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim.
• Lack of information at the base station (33kV sub-station)
on the loading and health status of the 11kV/415V
transformer and associated feeders is one primary cause of
inefficient power distribution. Due to absence of monitoring,
overloading occurs, which results in low voltage at the
customer end and increases the risk of frequent breakdowns
of transformers and feeders.
• In fact, the transformer breakdown rate in India is as high
as around 20%, in contrast to less than 2% in some advanced
countries
 CURRENT SCENARIO

• In the absence of switches at different points in the

distribution network, it is not possible to isolate certain loads
for load shedding as and when required. The only option
available in the present distribution network is the circuit
breaker (one each for every main 11kV feeder) at the 33kV
substation.
• However, these circuit breakers are actually provided as a
means of protection to completely isolate the downstream
network in the event of a fault. Using this as a tool for load
management is not desirable, as it disconnects the power
supply to a very large segment of consumers.
• In the event of a fault on any feeder section downstream,
the circuit breaker at the 33kV substation trips (opens). As a
result, there is a blackout over a large section of the
distribution network. If the faulty feeder segment could be
precisely identified, it would be possible to substantially
reduce the blackout area, by re-routing the power to the
healthy feeder segments through the operation of switches.
 PREVENTIVE MEASURES

• Prior disaster-proofing-
• Before the grid collapse, the private sector spent $29 billion
to build their own independent power stations in order to
provide reliable power to their factories. The 5 biggest
consumers of electricity in India have private offgrid supplies.
Indian companies have 35 GW of private off-grid generation
capacity and plan to add another 33 GW to their off-grid
capacity.
• Some villages that were not connected to the grid were not
affected, such as Meerwada, Madhya Pradesh which has a 14
kW solar power station built by US-based firm for $125,000.
• Aging power equipment –
• older equipment have higher failure rates, leading to
customer interruption rates affecting the economy and
society; also, older assets and facilities lead to higher
inspection maintenance costs and further repair/restoration
costs. Hence they need to be changed.
• Obsolete system layout – older areas require serious
additional substation sites and rights-of-way, that cannot be
obtained in current area and are forced to use existing,
insufficient facilities. So amendments need to be made in this
area.
• Outdated engineering – traditional tools for power delivery
planning and engineering are ineffective in addressing
current problems of aged equipment, obsolete system
layouts, and modern deregulated loading levels. So it needs
to be reformed.
 SOLUTIONS

• An integrated network of micro grids and distributed

generation connected via a superior smart grid technology
which includes automated fault detection, islanding and self-
healing of the network was proposed as one of the solutions
to prevent another widespread outage i.e.
1. Decentralization of the power transmission distribution
system is vital to the success and reliability of this system.
Currently the system is reliant upon relatively few generation
stations hence they are susceptible to impact from failures.
2. Micro grids would have local power generation, and allow
smaller grid areas to be separated from the rest of the grid if
a failure were to occur. Furthermore, micro grid systems
could help power each other if needed
3. Generation within a micro grid could be a downsized
industrial generator or several smaller systems such as
photo-voltaic systems, or wind generation. When combined
with Smart Grid technology, electricity could be better
controlled and distributed, and more efficient.
4. A smart grid is an electrical grid that uses information and
communications technology to gather and act on
information, such as information about the behaviors of
suppliers and consumers, in an automated fashion to
improve the efficiency, reliability, economics, and
sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity.
Features of smart grid-
• The smart grid will make use of technologies that improve
fault detection and allow self-healing of the network
ensuring more reliable supply of electricity, and reduced
vulnerability to natural disasters or attack.
• Next-generation transmission and distribution
infrastructure will be better able to handle possible
bidirectional energy flows, allowing for distributed
generation such as from photovoltaic panels on building
roofs, but also the use of fuel cells. a smart grid aims to
manage these situations.
 OTHER FEATURES OF SMART GRID
ARE –

• Higher efficiency and Load adjustment

• Sustainability
• Market-enabling
• Demand response support
• Integrated communications
• Sensing and measurement
• Smart meters
• Phasor measurement units
• Advanced components
• Smart power generation
• Improved interfaces and decision support.
• A National Grid would also serve as solution in preventing
any power outage in future.