Green Energy Surge and High Demand Strain North India Power Grid

Rising power demand and a big jump in green energy from Rajasthan have pushed key transformers and power lines in northern India past safe limits during daytime solar hours, the grid operator has warned. In a letter dated September 30 to the Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd, the National Load Despatch Centre urged urgent network upgrades to fix these limits. The region has faced high power demand since April, while solar energy capacity in Rajasthan has grown rapidly.

Overloaded Substations

This situation has caused heavy loading at major substations like Moga in Punjab, Bhiwani in Haryana, and Jhatikara in Delhi. At the Moga substation, two massive transformers are loaded past the N-1 safety limit during solar hours due to high demand in Punjab, Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir. Winter power demand in Jammu and Kashmir could make this even worse. Haryana's Bhiwani substation also faces heavy overloads during solar hours, failing the N-1 safety check even after a new transformer was added. Similar issues hit Delhi's Jhatikara substation, where transformers and local lines run past safe levels during peak solar generation.

Recommended Fixes

To solve these problems, the National Load Despatch Centre suggested adding more transformer capacity and upgrading local power lines through reconductoring or new parallel corridors. It also recommended using Dynamic Line Rating as a short-term trick to safely carry more power based on real-time weather. Other steps include speeding up work on the new Siwani substation and finishing lines like the Jhatikara-Dwarka double-circuit link.

Context

Power grids need careful balance between the electricity being generated and the power being used at any exact second to avoid blackouts. When renewable energy surges suddenly during bright daytime hours, it can overwhelm older transmission lines that were built for a different pattern of power flow.