Of the 68 lines of the Northern Grid that tripped due to the fierce storm Friday causing load interruption, 49 have been repaired and power supply restored gradually in all the states, the union power ministry said Saturday.Power Minister Piyush Goyal reviewed the situation along with officials of the ministry, Delhi power distribution companies and Power Grid Corp, among others.The restoration of lines in Delhi was taken up on a war footing, the ministry said."Presently, about 3,800 MW load is being met. There is a load restriction of about 200 MW in Pappankalan, Gopalpur and Rohini areas of Delhi," the statement added.
The Northern Grid experienced a heavy demand crash Friday due to rain, thunderstorm and wind speeds exceeding 75 km per hour in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand regions."As a result, 68 AC transmission lines including one HVDC bi-pole tripped. The load loss was at the rate of 200 MW per minute resulting in a Northern Grid load loss of about 8,000 MW, including 3,500 MW in Delhi," the ministry said.Assistance has been provided to Delhi through the Emergency Restoration System (ERS) for early restoration of affected lines especially three 220 kV lines -- Mandola-Gopalpur, Bamnauli-Pappankalan and Bawana-Rohini -- which affected the power supply in northern Delhi, the statement added.The ministry said all states and generating stations had been alerted about the likelihood of the storm based on Met office weather reports, and advised on corrective action.