The Maxi Blackout who hit Spain, Portugal and France in recent days was nothing compared to what happened in India The July 30, 2012when the country was the scene of what is still considered the Wider electric blackout in history by number of people involved: beyond 620 million citizens (according to some estimates even the people involved were more than 700 million) – about the Half of the Indian population and the 9% of the world of the time – They remained without electric current for hours, in some cases for days. This event He hit 22 of the 28 Indian Statesincluding the capital New Delhicompromising essential infrastructures, blocking trains, interrupting communications and even leaving hundreds of underground miners trapped.
The origin of this enormous collapse is to be found in the simultaneous failure of three of the country’s five electrical networks: northern, eastern and north-eastern one. The main cause was a Overload of the networkaggravated byexcessive use of energy by some states and from oneinsufficient technical response of regional utilities. The incident highlighted (in a figurative sense, given that the “light” had literally left) not only the structural fragility of the Indian electrical system, but also the inequalities in accessing energy, the growing energy needs due to the economic expansion of India and the urgency of reforms in the energy sector.
What Blackout caused India in 2012
To understand the scope of the disaster, it is necessary to know that the Indian electrical system is divided into five large networks: northern, oriental, north-eastern, southern and western. These networks are largely interconnected, with the exception of the southern network, which is connected to others only through a connection in Continuing high voltage current or HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current), while the other four systems operate in a synchronized way. To 02:35 (Indian time zone) of July 30, 2012The collapse began with the northern network, which had already suffered a minor interruption the previous day. Due to the maintenance of some lines and an excessive energy flow along the Bina-Gwalior line, which transported more than double the optimal capacity, the system entered into crisis. The automatic safety devices, the so -called automatic switches, intervened by disconnecting the lines to avoid further damage, but this caused a waterfall effect that disintegrated the entire northern network.
With the isolated northern network, theelectricity began to forcefully flow through the eastern networkbut the transmission losses and the poorly distributed load caused a lowering of the electric frequency – a fundamental parameter for the stability of the networks – and this network also disconnected. The entire system collapsed under the pressure of the demand and the inability to reduce the load or increase the generation in time. The electrical production systems were offered for safety, determining a Deficit estimated in 32 Gigawatt (GW)a gigantic figure that overcome the entire electricity consumption of many medium -sized countries!
The consequences of the Indian mega blackout
Even if they say, The consequences were disastrous. Trains blocked thousands of kilometers of tracks long, out of use traffic lights that caused traffic jams in the metropolis, hospitals forced to suspend surgical interventions for lack of energy, electric cremators who stopped leaving the bodies incompletely cremated. In Nuova Delhi and Calcutta, the citizens faced the extreme heat without air conditioning, while in the western Bengal hundreds of miners remained trapped for hours in underground galleries due to the blocking of electric lifts.
As the prestigious reported The New York Times In an article that told of the Blackout “Current interruptions are common in India, but officials have declared that the blackout on Monday (30 July 2012, ed) It was the worst of the last ten years». Although some of the most wealthy areas of the capital – such as the neighborhood built by the British Edwin LUTYENS – were able to make up for the blackout with private generators, many rural and urban areas remained completely isolated.
Post-Blackout criticism
In the days following the disaster, they were raised criticisms regarding the management of the sector by the Federal Government. Some states were accused of exceeding the agreed sampling limits, contributing to collapse. The Minister of Energy of that time, Sushilkumar Shindehe underlined how the excessive absorption by the States represented a violation of the system rules and promised sanctions. However, just as the Blackout paralyzed the country, Shinde was promoted to the interior minister, leaving the guide of the energy dicastery vacant, then assigned to a minister who already held other positions.
In addition to the technical and political aspects, the 2012 Blackout also raised critical issues regarding a deep structural problem of the Indian energy network. India, which at the time of the mega Blackout had 1.2 billion inhabitants and a growing middle class, was witnessing a dizzying increase in the consumption of electricity, driven by the spread of air conditioners, appliances and digital devices. The production capacity and distribution infrastructures, however, were not managing to keep up with the growing energy needs. According to the Central Electricity AuthorityThe energy deficit In the months preceding the disaster, he exceeded the8%While Greenpeace gave emphasis to theurgency to diversify sources and, of course, also to the importance of improve the distribution network.
If compared with nearby China, in 2012 India was in fact far behind: Beijing had added on average 84 GW per year at its networkagainst only 14 GW of India. One of the reasons, according to some observers, did not reside in both political will, as in the democratic nature of India, which slows down the great public works due to consultations with the local communities and the legal protections provided. Harry Dhaulgeneral manager of Independent Power Producers Association of Indiaan NGO that promotes campaigns for improving the Indian energy sector, in this regard he had said:
In China, if they want to build a hydroelectric dam and someone complains, it doesn’t matter: in 24 hours he is transferred and the works begin. In India we cannot do the same.
The return of electricity
In the end, the80% of the service was restored within 15 hours from the beginning of the blackout, according to the Power Grid Corporationonce considered by record for an event of this reach. But the 2012 Blackout remains a powerful warning on infrastructure vulnerabilities and on the need for forward -looking planning to guarantee safety and energy stability in a world more and more dependent on electric energy.
