Power station units trip, leads to cuts
TNN, Mar 18, 2010,
NEW DELHI: This could be the start of yet another painful summer for Delhiites. The city suffered a generation loss of close to 700 MW on Wednesday evening when a unit each of Dadri power station and Badarpur plant tripped. The loss in generation resulted in loadshedding on a rotational basis.

Delhi Transco officials said the shutdown of a 490 MW unit of Dadri and a 210MW unit of Badarpur power station forced Delhi to rely on the Grid. ‘‘Delhi was overdrawing up to 200 MW during peak evening hours. But the city has to be doubly careful as overdrawing from the Grid beyond the permissible limit can invite a hefty penalty as the CERC has tightened Grid guidelines,’’ they said.

Fortunately for city residents, the crisis took place when electricity demand in Delhi is still at a manageable level. Had the crisis taken place in peak summers, then it would have been deja vu for the city which went without electricity for several hours in sultry June last year. Even though the demand load in Delhi is up to 3,000 MW, the sudden loss in generation from two power stations led to two to three hours of power cuts across Delhi.