THE POWERGRID CORPORATION OF INDIA

1. The Company

Powergrid Corporation of India is a Government of India undertaking. It is the central transmission

utility of India and owns one of the largest transmission networks in the world. Today, Powergrid

occupies a unique place as a ‘Change Agent’ and a ‘Facilitator’ in the Indian power sector.

The company came to existence in September/October 1989. It was carved out of various

distributing agencies of the states with an initial workforce of about 4500. The main aim of the

company was to integrate the distribution of the power across the country.

Before Powergrid came into existence the various producers of electricity had their own distribution

agencies. These companies have their own distribution frequencies, which were not complaint with

those of others. To take care of these discrepancies one central agency was required which could

handle power from various producers and distribute the same all across the country. This was the

basic philosophy behind the establishment of the company.

The company had increased its network to over 3 times the initial capacity. The workforce has also

increased to 7000. Today it is one of the foremost profit making firms of the government. With the

expansion and diversification plans going on in full swing the company is all set to achieve its goals.

Powergrid operates over 35000 circuit KMs of transmission lines and 60 sub-stations with a

transformation capacity of about 25000 MVA, at an availability of over 98%, thus giving it the unique

distinction of being ranked amongst the top 6 transmission utilities of the world.

Powergrid has been consistently performing in accordance with its MOU with the Government of

India. It ranks amongst the top 10 public sector units in the country.

Powergrid’s performance can be greatly attributed to its dedication to technological excellence

catering to diverse geographical and climatic conditions. Engineering expertise of the company

includes implementation of the 800 KV AC systems, 500 KV HVDC technology, static VAR

compensation, and gas insulated sub-stations.

To maintain its technological leadership, the company has embarked upon a conscious policy to

invest in the R & D and undertake the specific research activities/projects in collaboration with

institution in the country and abroad.

The company is playing a catalytic role in the development of SAARC grid for mutual exchange of

power endorsed by SAARC nations for assuring quality power supply and in catalysing economic

resurgence in the region.

2. Future Plans

The company plans to increase its transmission capacity from 33000 MW to 75000 MW by 2012

which shall be half of the national installed capacity. Towards optimal utilisation of power the

company will strive for avoiding back-down of power from any generator and will endeavour to

transfer surplus power in any region to any other power deficit region. The plans on the anvil will

increase the exchange of power from the present 3350 MW to 30000 MW by 2012.

The company is also contemplating to induct state of the art technology in power transmission, viz.

use of aluminium alloy conductor, polyester insulator, series compensation, and flexible AC

transmission systems.

Powergrid is also examining the feasibility of extending the SAARC grid to include other countries

like Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Kazakhstan etc.

For infusing investment from private sector in transmission business, Powergrid will be identifying

the transmission projects through Independent Power Transmission Companies (IPTC) or joint

venture (JV) route through a competitive bidding process.

Powergrid plans to diversify in a big way into the telecom sector, in the area of long distance

telecommunication. The company will be launching extensive marketing efforts to provide efficient

and reliable customer service driven by state of the art technology at competitive prices. The

company has signed MOU with companies like VSNL and BPL in this regard for the utilisation of its

capacity and efforts are being made for joint ventures with various State Electricity Boards.

3. The Organizational Hierarchy

The company has an organizational structure resembling other Public Sector Units. It has the CMD at

its top at the corporate office. Other ranks in the order of authority are as follows:

Director Executive Director General Manager Assistant General Manager Deputy General Manager Chief Manager Manager Deputy Manager Senior Engineer Engineer Assistant Engineer Non-executive posts

The various departments being handled by the top level management are as described below:

Director - Projects

Director - Finance

Director - Operations

Director - Personnel

Executive Director - Contract services

Executive Director - Corp orate Monitoring Group/Business Development Group/Materials

Management

Executive Director - Law/Corporate Communication/Arbitration

Executive Director - Engineering/ Quality Assurance & Inspection

Executive Director - Load Dispatch and Communication

Executive Director - Operation Services/System Operations

Executive Director - Human Resources

4. Company Policies Towards The Employees

The policies of the company towards the employees are commensurate with its status as a leading

Public Limited Company. The company started with strength of 4500 employees. The employees

inducted included many high school pass outs that were employed as drivers and associated jobs.

The company owing to a change in the policies decided to shift over to contract vehicles, which were

a cheaper option. To consume the former drivers in the company as useful workers the company

undertook their training programs into technical fields. The high school pass outs were trained in the

Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) at various locations and were then inducted as technicians in the

company.

The assistants who didn't even have a high school education were first made to appear for their high

school exams after giving them appropriate inputs. Later even they were sent for ITI training and

then inducted as technicians. The technicians who had more than 18 years of experience were

promoted to the post of Junior Engineers (JE).

Other policies of the company are similar to what the other PSU have. The employees are provided

with a free house, free water, and free electricity for the tenure of their service.

A there is a provision of leave encashment. The employees can encash all the holidays for which they

have been on duty. This encourages the employees to avoid taking holidays without any substantial

reason. This helps in improving the attendance of the company.

LTC up to a distance 1400 km can be cashed every two years, if the employee is not interested in

going on a trip to some place. This may seem be extravagant in terms of the financial implications,

but it helps in the long run by improving the employee motivational levels.

Medical facilities are made available to the employees and their dependents (children, father,

mother etc.). Due to the small size of the colonies the cost of establishing a full - fledged hospital at

every centre is not feasible. Consequently the company has a panel of hospitals all across the

country where the employees can go for treatment, with the company bearing all the charges. The

company will also reimburse all medical expenses incurred at any other medical facility anywhere

else in the country. The same holds true for the dependents of the employees.

Vehicle loans and allowances are provided to all the employees of the company. The employees in

the executive rank are provided with loans and allowances for four-wheelers, and the non-executive

with the same for two wheelers. The employees also get a good conveyance allowance.

The educational needs of the children of the employees are taken care of by the company. The

company provides for the educational expenses of the children of the employees. The company also

provides for the conveyance of the children, their hostel charges and other such expenses. These

expenses also include the expenses incurred in engineering and medical studies.

The company provides complete uniform sets for the employees. This includes both the summer as

well as winter uniforms. There are canteens at each and every centre for the employees.

Post retirement: The employees are provided with pensions. The employee and spouse are

provided with medical facility all throughout their lives.

In short the employees are provided all the encouragements to perform well for the company and

the company do everything in return it can do.

5. Safety Scenario

The company lays a lot of stress on the safety and security of the company installations. The

company areas all across the country are well enclosed and protected.

All high value equipments, viz. transformers, generators, amplifiers etc. are surrounded by

emulsifiers or automatic fire control systems. In case of any contingency the emulsifiers take the

corrective action as required. The control room is well equipped with auto smoke detectors and

extinguishers. These include soda acid extinguishers, carbon-dioxide extinguishers and foam type

extinguishers.

All the vehicles-under the company operations are equipped with the safety boxes and first-aid

boxes. Doctor is available for the first-aid “needs in every colony. Medical ambulances are available

twenty-four hours a day.

There is regular patrolling of the lines in the field. Lines are continuously monitored from the control

rooms. The cases of theft of electricity from the lines are not possible owing to the high voltages

running across them.

To take stock of the situation there is a permanent safety committee in place. It enforces the rules

and regulations and ensures their compliances at all levels in the company. The company is involved

in strategically very important area and these strict security "requirements are a must for the proper

functioning of the company and the Indian economy as a whole.

6. Failure of the Grid

A major disturbance occurred in the Northern Region on January 2nd,"2001. The official report was

based on the output received from Disturbance Recorder (DR) / Sequential Event Recorder (SER)/

Data Acquisition Systems (DAS) printouts from -some of the important power stations /substations.

Some of the details regarding some of the power stations and some substations were not available,

which could have further helped in making the report better.

The northern regional grid was operating normally till 2300 hrs on January 1st, 2001 except for the

outing of the Rihand-Dadri HVDC pole-2. The weather was foggy and there were transient faults

reported on the operating pole-1 of HVDC Rihand-Dadri. Pole-1, however continued in operation

with successful restarts at 2333, 2341 hours of January 1st 2001 and 0002, 0015 hours on January

2nd, 2001. As per the practice being followed by the HVDC stations, after such frequent restarts in a

short time interval, the HVDC bi-pole is put on a reduced voltage mode of operation to restrict such

transient faults. Accordingly the pole was put on a reduced mode of operation at 0017 hrs on

January 2nd, 2001.

The system frequency was also running high (> 50.5 Hz) after 2300 hrs, following a reduction of

power demand. The coal-fired units at Dadri, Ropar, GNDTP and Lehra Mohabhat had already

backed down generation or were in a process of doing this. The loading on the Kanpur-Agra and

Kanpur-Ballabhgarh lines was high. It was not possible to transmit the surplus power to the already

surplus Western region. Reducing the generation in the Rajasthan system could have reduced the

frequency but this was avoided considering the line loadings. Consequently Singrauli and Rihand

power plants were advised to reduce their power generation at 2349 hrs on January 1st, 2001. The

same reduced schedule was confirmed to these power stations at 0031hrs on January 2nd, 2001.

At 0103 hrs on January 2nd, 2001, 400 KV Obra-Panki tripped on fault, which was informed, to

NRLDC later. Since the frequency continued to operate high, NRLDC advised Singrauli and Rihand to

further back down generation.

At 0130 hrs, the generation at Singrauli and Rihand were further lowered but were still higher than

that recommended by the NRLDC. The load on Kanpur-Agra and Kan pur-Ballabhgarh lines came

down but were still high. At 0215hrs, 220 KV NAPS-Moradabad line tripped. The line was restored at

0230 hrs. At 0240hrs NRLDC advised UPPCL to charge 400 kV Obra-Panki line. However the line did

not hold on charging.

At 0308hrs, a fault occurred on 400 KV Panki-Muradnagar line, which was cleared at the Muradnagar

end but owing to the failure of the circuit breaker at Panki the line tripped. It also tripped the

following elements connected to the 400KV bus at Panki 400 KV Panki-Kanpur- 2,400 / 220 KV, 240

MVA ICT-2, 400 KV bus coupler.

'At 0312hrs, 400 KV Unnao-Agra line tripped on fault. These tripping resulted in loading on the

Kanpur-Ballabhgarh and Kanpur-Agra lines. At 0318 hrs Singrauli and Rihand were further advised to

back-down generation. Anpara TPS was advised through the UPPCL SLDC, to back down generation.

Rajasthan was also asked to shed load for a check on line loadings.

After 0400 hrs codes were given by NRLDC at intervals to charge the NAPS-Moradabad, Panki-

Kanpur-2, Unnaao-Agra, and Panki-Muradnagar lines. However, only 400 KV Panki-Kanpur-2 line

could be restored. At 0430 hrs, three out of the seven sections in the corridor were out and the

fourth section viz. Pole-1 of HVDC Rihand-Dadri was operating at 67% of its capacity due to reduced

voltage mode. The loads on the remaining sections: Kanpur-Ballabhgarh, Kanpur-Agra, and Lucknow-

Moradabad lines were therefore very high. No redundancy was available on this corridor in case any

one of these lines was to trip. The operator at NRLDC was following a two-pronged strategy viz.

reducing generation in eastern UP and shedding load in Western part of the grid and also hoping

that some of the affected lines would be restored.

It was a race against time for the NRLDC operator as the morning peak was only half an hour away

and any frequency dip to 47.80 Hz. On account of load build up at this stage would be catastrophic

as the Kanpur-Agra, and Kanpur-Ballabhgarh lines are set for tripping at this frequency. Any

uncoordinated activity of load shedding and reduction in generation, the possibility of which is high

considering the number of agencies involved and the manual process, could have resulted in the

above frequency dip. In case the load was shed first, it would have resulted in a rise in frequency to

51.5 Hz. and above the nuclear and gas stations would have pulled out of the system. They would

not have been available for the morning peak resulting in frequency dips to 47.80 Hz. The operator

at NRLDC had therefore to adopt a guarded approach, as any hasty reaction at this stage could have

been catastrophic.

Soon thereafter a rise in frequency above 53.0 Hz was observed at Singrauli bus. Kanpur-Agra and

Kanpur-Ballabhgarh lines had trip. Singrauli, Rihand, and UPPCL were telephonically advised by

NRLDC to regulate the frequency by reduction in generation.

However, the frantic efforts by NRLDC Control Room were to no avail and the system collapsed soon

thereafter at 0444 hrs.

7. Restoration of the Grid

Restoration of the System was taken up immediately following the failure. At 0444 hrs, Vindhaychal

HVDC Back-to-Back Station was advised to extend the power till Singrauli from the western region

through the AC bypass at their station and Singrauli was advised to extend power to Rihand and

Anpara. Pipri hydro was advised to restart and synchronize itself with the 132 kV Singrauli-Pipri line

and consequently with the Western region.

Units at Yamuna complex were restarted and started supplying power to Narora APS and railway

traction. In Eastern UP supply for railway traction and other important loads was obtained from the

Eastern region. Rajasthan was asked to build up its sub-system by taking power from MP. ]&K was

asked to self-start its units.

Between 0500 and 0600 hrs gas stations at Auraiya, Dadri, and Faridabad were requested self start

and extend Power to others. Faridabad unit failed to start. Dadri did start but failed to extend power

to other units.

At 0615 hours the first unit at Bhakhra was synchronized. At 0632 hours the Vindhyachal- Kanpur

line was charged and power was extended to Pankhi for restarting. At 0707 power was extended to

Panipat and at 0847 to Dadri.

Between 0900 and 1120 hours Singrauli (3 units), Rihand (1 unit) and Unchahar (1 unit) was

restored. At 1144 power was extended to Agra. Meanwhile Dadri tripped and was restored time and

again. At 1332 hrs assistance up to 500 MW was obtained from the Western grid. At 1418 Rajasthan

sub system was synchronized with UP. At 1445 the system was desynchronized with the western

region. Assistance was restored at Vindhyachal Back-to-Back HVDC station at 1457. By 1700 hrs a

generation of around 8000MW was built up and the system was restored.

Questions:

1. Please provide analysis of the incidence as described in the case study. What measures,

operational improvements etc. Can be employed to make sure that this kind of incidence

never happens again.

2. Provide the SWOT analysis of PGCIL.

PLEASE REVERT WITH THE CASE STUDY ANALYSIS IN FORM OF A PPT NOT EXCEEDING 5 SLIDES

EXCLUDING THE INTRODUCTION SLIDE