India’s power cut: lessons to be learned for the UK
After the collapse of three electricity grids in India plunged much of the country into a two day blackout, voltage optimisation provider EcoAdapt (http://www.ecoadapt.co.uk) asks whether something similar could happen here in the UK, and what lessons we can learn from India’s power cut.
When India’s northern, eastern and north-eastern electricity grids failed, 600 million people across 20 of the country’s 28 states were affected, with entire cities grinding to a halt and basic infrastructure such as transport networks being left in chaos. Power Minister for India, Sushil Kumar Shinde, blamed the situation on states taking more than their quota of power from the national grid, but it is widely believed that the issue goes deeper than that. A fundamental power shortage and an ageing grid cause most of the power cuts which happen on a regular basis in Indian cities, and although the collapse of an entire grid is more rare, most analysts agree this recent massive failure is largely due to a soaring demand for electricity and a power infrastructure that is not currently up to the task.
If those factors are behind India’s power cut, could it happen here in the UK? We have been warned of an impending energy crisis for years now, with the need for carbon reduction ever-increasing. Combine an energy shortage with the fact that the UK has one of the oldest and least sophisticated grids of any country in Europe, and perhaps a large-scale power failure like that seen in India could become a reality in the UK.
EcoAdapt carries out around 50 voltage usage site surveys each month and typically finds that several of those monthly surveys carried out for the same business and on the same property have higher voltages then previously surveyed. This is largely down to deindustrialisation and the ‘recession effect’, given that voltage is essentially the pressure relief valve on the national grid: when load sheds voltage rises.
There is growing doubt about whether we have enough power stations in the UK to maintain supply for the future, and in the light of India’s recent power failure, the need for energy conservation and power reduction has never been greater. Energy saving technology such as the patented voltage regulation equipment offered by EcoAdapt is the key to this voltage reduction. Find out more at the EcoAdapt website: http://www.ecoadapt.co.uk.
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