Impact of COVID’19 Pandemic on Indian Electrical Distribution System

Abstract

Many countries have imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against spread of COVID-19 pandemic. In this situation, industrial and commercial loads have been shut down. Consequently, the grid is experiencing sudden decrease in electricity demand. This sudden fall in load demand has a huge impact on power system operation in terms of energy dispatch, reactive power management, voltage security and voltage stability. This paper presents Indian power distribution system operation, in light of the extraordinary impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. Electricity demand on Indian power sector has dropped quickly with confinement measures. Rise in electricity demand observed, as unlock measures were gradually implemented. The Covid-19 pandemic has a substantial impact on India’s electricity system. When India started its lockdown on 25th March 2020, power demand declined by 21.3% compared with the beginning of March. Demand further declined by 30.8% on 27th March, marking the lowest demand of the month. Peak power consumption had declined by 20.3% in April, 16.3% in May and 5.3% in June compared to the same months last year. In India, the gap between coal and renewables significantly narrowed after the first lockdown measures were taken. It is noted that market clearing price declined by 21% during lockdown period and the lowest MCP recorded is 1.952 Rs./KWhr on 25th March 2020. The main objective of the network operator is to ensure 24x7 uninterrupted and quality power supply to all consumers. Voltage and frequency profile shall be maintained within Indian Electricity Grid Code band. In order to prevent the blackouts, network operator has to analyze the power system in advance in the aspect of voltage security for a wide range of uncertainties to evaluate potential risks to the system. Indian power system management is reported in this paper during COVID-19 and it’s impact on voltage profile, reactive power management and market clearing price. In this paper, looking into adverse effect of declined load demand, an analysis has been carried out on Indian electrical distribution system for such events in future. A detailed voltage stability analysis is also carried out and cause of voltage instability is identified. Modal analysis is also performed to identify weak nodes and lines using participation factors. Accordingly, corrective action is taken to improve voltage stability margin. Further, PV and QV curves are obtained at each node using continuation power flow to demonstrate loadability limits. Nodes with least stability margin are critical. The analysis has been carried out on practically existing part of Indian Distribution System with realistic load profile.