Mumbai outage: Maharashtra minister directs officials to review city’s islanding system

State energy minister Nitin Raut on Monday asked officials to review Mumba’s islanding system and upgrade it for the future. At a meeting held at the State Load

State energy minister Nitin Raut on Monday asked officials to review Mumba’s islanding system and upgrade it for the future. At a meeting held at the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) in Airoli, Raut questioned Tata Power officials on its failure to island Mumbai during the power outage on October 12.

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The islanding system is unique to Mumbai as it separates the city’s supply from the rest of the state in case of a power grid failure. According to a statement issued by his office, Raut also said that if Mumbai was the Prime Minister’s residence and if the Parliament was in session, he would not have heard any excuses. Last week, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Authority (MERC) also ordered a probe on the incident.

“Tata Power, during the hearing (with MERC), provided details on how reduced and insufficient embedded generation in Mumbai over the past few years have led to over dependence on interchange power from outside through transmission system and has made islanding concept unworkable. MERC said better load management by SLDC at Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (MSETCL) Kalwa receiving station could have saved Mumbai from the power outage. At the hearing before MERC, Tata Power suggested for a complete relook of the present islanding concept and design with the help of Western Regional Power Committee (WRPC) and Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay’s (IIT-B) Civil Engineering Association (CEA) and other experts to ensure the robustness of system and continuity of 24X7 power to Mumbai citizens.”