With a sudden drop in wind generation, power utilities across the state were left helpless, and in the end, had to resort to power cuts to make up for the shortage. The shortage was 450 MW in Bescom limits. This being windy season, at present, utilities are mainly dependent on wind sources for power needs. However, on Tuesday, the winds changed direction and moved out of the state. “Due to absolutely no wind activity, wind generation recorded a shortage of about 800 MW. It was a last-minute crisis and hence load-shedding was the only way to make up for the shortage,” said a senior official from Bescom.
Bescom, that was facing a shortage of about 450 MW, resorted to power cuts in several areas. “We have about 45 stations with 66 KV capacity and in each of these areas, we took up power cuts of about 30 to 45 minutes,” the official added. While the city core areas faced power cuts of only about half an hour to 45 minutes, several other areas complained of longer cuts. Areas in A Narayanapura, Hennur Bande, Banaswadi, RT Nagar, parts of Kaggadasapura, parts of Banneghetta Road and other areas complained of intermittent power supply.
The sudden power interruption left many office-goers fuming as they struggled to cope with their household activities. “There was no water in the whole apartment, as we couldn’t get the motor running. We had to wait for almost an hour. Most office going people went late to office,” said Ashok Kumar, a resident of RM Nagar. Interestingly, power generation from wind sources soared in Tamil Nadu, where generation touched 3,000 mw due to increased wind activity. Energy department officials are hopeful that the situation will be back to normal by Wednesday.