Lack of coordination blamed for nat'l grid failure
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
FE Report
Lack of coordination among the power sector wings has been found to be a major reason for failure of national power grid twice because of devastating cyclone Sidr that hit the country November 16, an investigation report said.
A seven-member investigation team, headed by former Power Development Board (PDB) chairman ANM Rezwan and comprising power experts, Tuesday submitted its report to the power division secretary Fouzul Kabir Khan.
The grid failure could have been avoided if the authorities had maintained proper coordination between central load despatch centre (CLDC) and the sub-stations, the committee report said.
It was necessary to use power switches observing the load to avoid the national grid failure, the report noted.
"Lack of modern equipment and technology in the CLDC and other major establishments creates communication gap among power generation units, sub-stations and control station," the report said.
Elaborating on the cause of delay in restoration process, the report said: "Insufficient stock of machinery parts, non-availability of 'black start facility' and over-cautiousness of plant operators were responsible for the delay in restoration of power."
Stressing the need for a contingency plan to avoid such incident of national grid failure, the committee submitted nearly 50 long-term and short-term recommendations.
Addressing at a press briefing, power division secretary said: "The power division will review the investigation report to find out other reasons for power grid failure."
On Saturday's incidence of national grid failure, he said the same committee will investigate the incident too and give a report by three weeks.
A senior official of Power Development Board (PDB), who visited Ashuganj to investigate the matter, a technical fault in 132 KV line in Ashuganj might be responsible for total failure of the national power grid.
In an administrative action, the power division temporarily suspended two officials responsible for maintenance of the system.
"We have temporarily suspended deputy general manager of Ashuganj Power Supply Company Limited (APSCL) and manager, system protection and metering of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB)," the power division secretary said.
The investigation committee chief ANM Rezwan said: "The power division was not familiar with such natural disaster like Sidr that had knocked off a number of 33 KV and 132 KV lines."
The division was not well equipped to tackle situation when power demand shoots up or falls sharply, Rezwan said underscoring the need for more investment for technological improvement.
The committee in its investigation has found sudden surge in demand in Dhaka and northern zone after devastation of Sidr that caused national grid failure for the second time.
"As the power division had to shut down a number of power stations due to the effect of the cyclonic, power demand suddenly goes up causing failure in national grid," Rezwan said.
The committee laid emphasis on increasing power generation capacity, availability of black start facility, installation of capacitor bank, automation of whole power generation and control system.
Lack of coordination among the power sector wings has been found to be a major reason for failure of national power grid twice because of devastating cyclone Sidr that hit the country November 16, an investigation report said.
A seven-member investigation team, headed by former Power Development Board (PDB) chairman ANM Rezwan and comprising power experts, Tuesday submitted its report to the power division secretary Fouzul Kabir Khan.
The grid failure could have been avoided if the authorities had maintained proper coordination between central load despatch centre (CLDC) and the sub-stations, the committee report said.
It was necessary to use power switches observing the load to avoid the national grid failure, the report noted.
"Lack of modern equipment and technology in the CLDC and other major establishments creates communication gap among power generation units, sub-stations and control station," the report said.
Elaborating on the cause of delay in restoration process, the report said: "Insufficient stock of machinery parts, non-availability of 'black start facility' and over-cautiousness of plant operators were responsible for the delay in restoration of power."
Stressing the need for a contingency plan to avoid such incident of national grid failure, the committee submitted nearly 50 long-term and short-term recommendations.
Addressing at a press briefing, power division secretary said: "The power division will review the investigation report to find out other reasons for power grid failure."
On Saturday's incidence of national grid failure, he said the same committee will investigate the incident too and give a report by three weeks.
A senior official of Power Development Board (PDB), who visited Ashuganj to investigate the matter, a technical fault in 132 KV line in Ashuganj might be responsible for total failure of the national power grid.
In an administrative action, the power division temporarily suspended two officials responsible for maintenance of the system.
"We have temporarily suspended deputy general manager of Ashuganj Power Supply Company Limited (APSCL) and manager, system protection and metering of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB)," the power division secretary said.
The investigation committee chief ANM Rezwan said: "The power division was not familiar with such natural disaster like Sidr that had knocked off a number of 33 KV and 132 KV lines."
The division was not well equipped to tackle situation when power demand shoots up or falls sharply, Rezwan said underscoring the need for more investment for technological improvement.
The committee in its investigation has found sudden surge in demand in Dhaka and northern zone after devastation of Sidr that caused national grid failure for the second time.
"As the power division had to shut down a number of power stations due to the effect of the cyclonic, power demand suddenly goes up causing failure in national grid," Rezwan said.
The committee laid emphasis on increasing power generation capacity, availability of black start facility, installation of capacitor bank, automation of whole power generation and control system.