Delhi govt to draft SOP for faster response to major power outages

Delhi government is working on a standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with any major power outages in future and ensure faster restoration of supply, officials said on Thursday.

The move comes in the wake of a major outage in north Delhi in August last year that affected for hours nearly 8 lakh power consumers in various areas, including Civil Lines, Rohini, Shalimar Bagh, and Kashmiri Gate, among others.

The outage was caused by a sudden load drop of 550 MW in the incoming supply from the 220 kV grid. In June 2024, several localities in parts of northeast, east, central, south, and north Delhi faced power outages due to a disruption caused by a fire at a power grid substation in UP’s Mandola.

The need for a standard operating procedure was agreed upon in a meeting of Delhi Transco Limited (DTL), State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) and Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to review the outage in North Delhi, said a power department officer.

Further, in a meeting of Delhi’s operation coordination committee (OCC) last month, it was decided to form an expert committee of different agencies of the government, including the power discoms, to develop the SOP.

In the OCC meeting, it was decided that the SOP should include necessary steps to be followed to prevent north Delhi-like power outages in the future, to ensure fast restoration due to failure of power elements and enhance the overall reliability of the power system of the capital, officials said.

The Committee, after its formation, will come up with the SOP within one month, after considering the technical, operational and other aspects of the power transmission distribution and restoration processes, they said.

The panel will also outline measures for improved communication protocols during power outages to ensure faster resumption of supply. The SOP will be placed before the OCC for further deliberations before being put in place.

The Delhi OCC supervises the power network in Delhi. It serves as a platform for different power utilities to meet, discuss and coordinate the operation, maintenance, and planning of the power transmission system to ensure a reliable supply of electricity across the national capital.