Switching off lights won't affect Guj power grid: Official

Gujarat's electricity services will not be affected if lights are switched off for a period of nine minutes on Sunday night, as appealed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the power grid in the state is capable of handling such sudden fluctuations, a senior government official said here on Saturday.

The clarification came amid concerns that the simultaneous power switch off might trip the grid. The call to switching off lights at 9 pm and lighting a lamp or candle was made by the Prime Minister who appealed to people to show their resolve to defeat coronavirus.

"We are absolutely capable of absorbing such demand drop. There wouldn't be a major fluctuation. There is absolutely no threat to the grid, because grid has a mechanism to manage such exigencies," said Shahmeena Husain, Managing Director, Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam, a state-owned electric services company.

"Such exigencies can come from both the demand and supply sides. Sometimes demand drops when there is a sudden heavy rain during summer. Even generation rises suddenly due to heavy wind (for wind power). The grid is already equipped to meet such exigencies. We are capable of managing this," she said.