Karnataka brings new technology to streamline power distribution

Karnataka is set to bring in state-of-the-art automatic generation control (AGC) regime at two hydroelectric generation plants at Sharavathi (1035 MW capacity) and Varahi (460 MW), which will go a long way in encouraging solar and wind energy generation. The technology will also improve the quality of the power supply while saving large amounts of water.

The pilot project is an initiative by USAID which began working with Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) and Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPCL) in March 2019 for bringing AGC system with automatic control of electricity generation based on the demand.

Officials from KPTCL said the AGC also increase the reliability of the power supply. At present, though Karnataka has surplus power, a sudden shortage in supply will lead to a power cut in some areas.

“The pilot at Sharavathi has been tested and is expected to go live within a month. The implementation at Varahi may take some time,” a senior official in KPTCL said.

A superintending engineer in KPTCL explained, “For instance, a load of 10,000 MW is required in Karnataka at a given time. However, if one of the stations experiences a glitch and power production goes down by 50 or 100 MW, the shortage will have to be filled by generating additional power in another station. In the current manual system, an engineer at the load dispatch centre has to notice the shortage and call us on phone about the additional demand,” he said.

“The AGC detects the shortage and sends out a command for an additional generation which is done automatically within microseconds. This helps in stable distribution of power and avoiding power cuts to residential or industrial areas,” he said.

Several cusecs of water is saved when the AGC automatically reduces the generation due to the drop in demand or integrates renewable energy with the mainframe.

The generation of power at solar and wind energy units fluctuates due to the changes in weather condition.

“The generation of solar energy, more reliable than wind, goes up suddenly at certain times but is not predictable. The AGC can detect such surges and lower the generation at hydro electric plants, thereby saving water,” another official said.