Served notice, Tata Power says govt firm shirking responsibility

Workers at a medical shop check the stock manually, as their computer shut down because of power outage, at Walkeshwar, on February 27. Pic/Bipin Kokate

The Maharashtra State Load Despatch Centre (MSLDC), which manages the electricity network real-time, has served a notice to Tata Power Company Ltd, seeking explanation within 15 days for not following its instructions.

It has sought an explanation for "repeated non-compliance" of its control room instructions asking to pick up generation as per system requirement on February 27 when there was a 70-minute power outage in parts of the city and the suburbs, and on February 22 that threatened the electricity grid's stability.

The MSLDC said appropriate action will be initiated if the explanation is not provided within 15 days of the issuance of the notice [March 2], which was addressed to Power System Control Centre at Trombay Thermal Power Station in Chembur.

Tata Power shot back, saying the assumptions of non-compliance were incorrect. It asked state-owned power transmission company MSETCL and its subsidiary MSLDC to not absolve themselves of responsibility for failing to take preventive measures.

MSLDC Executive Director Shrikant Jaltare has signed the notice. The MSLDC is investigating the incidents, particularly the outage on February 27, which reminded the consumers of a prolonged breakdown in October 2022.

The incidents

About the February 22 incident, the notice says there was continuous overdrawal to the tune of 800-1,700 MW from the central sector grid in block nos. 26-32 at a very low frequency of the order of 49.63 Hz. The Koyna hydro generation (of the state company) was picked up to full capacity, it says. "At 06.31 hrs (block 27) MSLDC instructed Power System Control Centre to pick up hydro generation by 400 MW for the block 27 to 31 to control over-drawal. However, Tata Power hydro generation did not pick up to required capacity. This resulted in a threat to the grid in the mentioned period," the notice read.

The MSLDC says that on February 27, at 09.30 am, it had directed Tata to pick up hydro and thermal generation to its full available capacity as there were system constraints, because only 220kV Kalwa-Trombay and Trombay-Salsette 2 line remained in service after tripping of 220kV Mulund-Trombay line. "However, under this emergency situation also, Tata Power Company has not followed the directives of MSLDC control room, and thermal and hydro generation was not ramped up as per system requirement. In addition, 220kV Trombay-Salsette 2 tripped on an overload that was not expected to happen as there is clear recommendation from the HLC committee constituted by MERC to remove overload tripping on 220kV lines. Subsequently, Unit 5 and Unit 8 at Trombay tripped causing load loss to the tune of 850 MW in Mumbai Area," it added.

In the matter on February 27, at 09.30 hrs, it was also instructed by MSLDC to take 220kV Salsette-Trombay line 1 into service immediately, but the same was not complied in time, the notice states. It has quoted Section 32(2)(e), of Electricity Act, 2003 to explain the role of the MSLDC for being responsible for carrying out real-time operations for grid control and despatch of electricity within the state through secure and economic operation of the state grid in accordance with the Grid Standards and the State Grid Code. The Act also says that every licensee, generating company, generating station, substation and any other person connected with the operation of the power system is required to comply with the direction of the MSLDC.

"However, in above incidences (sic) non-compliance of the directives given by MSLDC control room are clearly noticed. It is therefore requested to submit an explanation for non-compliance of the directives of MSLDC within 15 days from the date of this notice, otherwise appropriate action shall be initiated under the various provisions of Section 33 of the Electricity Act 2003," the notice concludes.

Incorrect assumption: Tata

In response, Tata Power spokesperson told mid-day, in a statement, the issuance of the notice was part of laid out procedures during such events and in no way suggested any fault on the company's part. "We shall respond accordingly... However, we would like to reiterate that their assumptions about non-compliance with instructions are incorrect; under the new DSM (Deviation Settlement Mechanism) regime, the MSLDC has the ability to enter the additional generation required into the system any time via a mechanism called VSE (Virtual State Entity), which takes only 15 seconds to activate."

It added, "The first communication from the MSLDC to pick up generation occurred (on February 27) at 0930 hrs, according to phone recordings available at both ends and witnessed by top authorities present at Trombay. We responded immediately to the issue that had evolved as a result of MSETCL's grid tripping. MSETCL and MSLDC should not absolve themselves of the responsibility of failing to take any preventive measures."

March 22
Day the notice was issued