Power outages are a common phenomenon in countries where energy consumption is very high. They are often sourced to a power 'grid failure'. This occurs when some areas draw excessive power is drawn by some areas. This leads to automatic tripping of power and it has a cascading impact on the entire grid that supplies power to the region.
The Northern Region Grid includes states of Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, J&K, Uttarkhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The grid failure was not a sudden phenomenon. States like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, J&K and Punjab in particular have drawn more power than they should.
Power generated through various sources like coal, hydel, nuclear and non-conventional sources like solar and wind needs to connect to a grid to ensure supply to end users. The power generators and power transmission lines in a grid have to function at a particular frequency to achieve synchronization. The frequency is the change of direction in an alternating current or AC environment. It is measured in Hertz or Hz. The standard in India is 50. In US and many other countries, the frequency is maintained at 60 Hz.
At all times, the grid frequency has to be maintained at 50 Hz. A 0.5 per cent maximum variation is permitted. This means it is the responsibility of those generating power and those using the power which includes state electricity boards and other consumers to maintain a proper load management system.
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