2-hour blackout in State, many districts still in darkness

A massive power breakdown across the nation on Tuesday hit Odisha as well. While power supply was restored to major cities and towns within a couple of hours, Angul and Dhenkanal __ two major industrial and thermal power hubs of the State __ were ‘blacked out’ due to collapse of the Eastern grid.

“Power supply was immediately restored to the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar followed by Railways by drawing power from the Western grid and the hydro power stations of the State,” State Energy Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak told this paper. The other districts which were groping in the darkness till late in the evening were Bhadrak, Balasore, Keonjhar, Marurbhanj, part of Jajpur and Kendrapara.

The State managed to supply nearly 1800 MW as against evening peak demand of nearly 2900 MW by maximising hydro power generation. While the State was availing 1,100 MW from different hydel units, the captive generating power plants were supplying more than 400 MW. The State-run Ib thermal power station in Jharsuguda district was providing 340 MW.

“The State supplied start-up power to NTPC’s super thermal power stations at Kaniha, which got tripped due to the grid collapse,” the Minister said. Two units of NTPC’s stage-I and six units of stage-II (each unit with a generating capacity of 500 MW) and six units of Talcher Thermal Power Station (TTPS), with generating capacity of 460 MW, went out of the grid, triggering crisis.

“The grid will stabilise only when the NTPC and TTPS units become operational,” Nayak said, adding there is no other alternative to meet the crisis situation. The Minister further said that normal power to the affected areas will be possible only after resumption of power generation from NTPC and TTPS units. While the State gets its share from NTPC’s Kanhia unit, the TTPS is fully dedicated to the State.

Sources in the Odisha Power Generation Corporation Limited (OPTCL), the State transmission utility, said that the grid collapsed at about 1 pm when the Northern grid tripped for the second time on Tuesday. The other eastern States affected by the grid collapse are Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar.