After crores of Indians stood in balconies and windows of their houses and clapped their hands to salute those participating the war against coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday has urged people to switch off lights of their homes at 9:00 pm for nine minutes on April 5 and light up lamps, candles and mobile flashlights to display the nation's collective spirit to defeat COVID-19.

Now, the entire event of switching off and on electricity can run havoc on the entire chain of power generation to transmission to distribution if not planned well in advance.

A frequency of 49.9 to 50.05 Hertz is maintained on the grids while transmitting electricity from power generation companies to distribution companies.

The National Load Despatch Center (NLDC) has to supervise, control and plan electricity movement across regions in consultation with states which report to four regional centers of Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern regions which are continuously in touch with the states for their electricity demand and withdrawals from the grids.

RK Singh, minister of power today held a meeting with Power Grid and Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) under which NLDC operates and has expressed that they are confident of managing the grid stability for the event announced by the Prime Minister.

POSOCO is already conducting various meetings with states and expects to come out with detailed guidelines for April 5 switch off event. The company says that a lot of precautionary measures will have to be taken to ensure voltage stability is maintained on the grids.

“We will have to be alert and not be complacent, POSOCO has managed annular solar eclipse when it hindered solar power generation as recently as December 26, 2019. Even in case of the sudden hailstorm, the grids are maintained to ensure it does not trip due to a sudden drop in electricity demand. We are prepared for April 5, 9:00 pm event called by the Prime Minister,” said an executive who wished not to be named.

The crucial part of the event will be the moment India switches off for the 9 minute and switch back its electrical appliances.

The Uttar Pradesh State Load Despatch Center has issued an urgent letter expressing apprehensions of shooting high voltage and hence has instructed all level of technical staff to be present at sub stations to meet the eventualities. Uttar Pradesh has estimated approximately 3,000 MW sharp load reduction phenomenon may occur during the event.