Power Supply vs. Demand

A couple of days ago Delhi consumed more power in a single day than ever before. 

According to reports from the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC), the national capital recorded its highest ever peak power demand on Tuesday (29 June 2022) noon when it crossed 7,695MW. In the coming days this is expected to cross 8000MW - this is quite a jump from the previous recored of 7,409MW on 2 July, 2019.

The spike in demand has been attributed to the really hot and and humid summer this year with the city's Heat Index (HI) or 'real feel' temperature climbing up to 53C.

While such high temperatures are par for the course for summers in North India, what surprised many of us is near absence of power outages this year. Not once did an extended power cut knock out the inverters leaving us sleepless on sweltering, sweat-soaked bedsheets, seeking refuge on balconies teeming with mosquitos.

What explains this? 

A part of the answer comes from an oped written earlier this month by RK Singh, the current cabinet minister for power and renewable energy. Writing for the Hindustan Times, he presented some interesting numbers:

• India's capacity to generate power was 248,554 MW in 2014. in the last 8 years this has increased by 169,110MW, taking the total power generation capacity to over 400GW
• Maximum demand this year - 215 GW
• The country now has the world's largest integrated grid. Inter-regional transfer capacity has increased from 37,950MW to 112,250MW.
• At COP-21 India pledged to increase power generated from renewable energy sources to 40% by 2030. This goal has already been achieved in November 2021

What is puzzling here is the big gap between capacity and demand. Why are we ramping up power generation capacity when the actual demand is far less? 

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* SinghRK(2022): The Growth of the Energy Sector is Unparalleled, HT, 16Jun22 - https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/no-power-crisis-in-india-generation-capacity-more-than-peak-demand-govt-122031500831_1.html

* PTI (2022): No Power Crisis in India, Business Standard (15 Mar., 2022) - https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/no-power-crisis-in-india-generation-capacity-more-than-peak-demand-govt-122031500831_1.html

* GoI - Ministry for Power and Renewable Energy - https://powermin.gov.in/en/content/honble-cabinet-minister-power-new-renewable-energy

Kokoro

 

I like books that breathe life into familiar streets.

"Kokoro" by Natsume Sōseki begins with a brief description of the streets of Kamakura, Japan, as seen through the eyes of a young student in the early 1900s. Almost a century after the book was written I too made my way  from famous Buddha statue at Kōtoku-In, down from Hase to the road that leads to the main beach where the main protagonist of Kokoro records his first meeting with an older man who becomes his "Sensei", his mentor and guide.

The Sensei is a compulsive loner - a reticent man who prefers to keep to himself. Yet an equation develops between the old man and his persistent, and oftentimes insolent student, which bring up interesting discussion on the nature of life and relationships. I was struck in particular by this observation - 

"You seem to be under the impression that there is special breed of bad humans. There is no such thing as a stereotype bad man in this world. Under normal conditions, everybody is more or less good, or, at least, ordinary. But tempt them, and they may suddenly change. That is what is so frightening about men. One must always be on one's guard."

Toyota's Rogue Wipers

 Toyota has a flaw that has slipped through its famous production systems. A problem it chooses to ignore - or brazen it out - but the backstreet mechanics of Delhi are making the most of it, poking fun at the global auto giant and its much vaunted claim to high quality products.

The problem is with the switch assembly that controls a range of functions related to windscreen wipers, headlights and indicators.

Set yourself in this situation: You are driving down a busy expressway. It is rush hour traffic and there are vehicles of all shapes and sizes speeding alongside with their customary disregard for driving etiquette - jumping lanes, flashing high-beams, blasting away at their horns...you get the picture. Suddenly, for no apparent reason your windscreen wiper jumps to life, squeaking long arcs on the dry glass surface,  refusing to respond to any switches, distracting you from your focus on the road. Clearly a dangerous situation to be in.

The first time this happened on our Toyota Etios in 2018, the only way to stop the windscreen wipers was to pull off the road, to shut down the engine and restart. We took it immediately to the Toyota workshop and they said it was a 'rare malfunction' and that the only solution was to replace the entire switch assembly. At around INR8000 it was an expensive spare part to replace.

A few months into the Covid lockdown the new assembly unit developed exactly the same problem.  This had happened well within a year of replacement but the vehicle could not be taken to the workshop due to the lockdown restrictions, and the only consolation Toyota could offer was, "If you had sent us an email complaint during the lockdown we could have extended the warranty period...". 

So what was the solution? - "Sorry, but the only option is to replace the assembly unit once again...it is however not readily available, so once you confirm your order, we will get it for you in a month's time..". Then came the kicker - the cost of the unit had gone up - it was now over INR12,000!

We fretted about this for a while. Was it worth spending so much money for second replacement? Would we have to replace the assembly yet again a year later? What if the sudden activation of the zombie wiper led to an accident on the roads?

Ultimately we decided to get a second opinion from one of the numerous mechanics who hang around the tiny workshops at Sector 2, NOIDA. It was young Irshad who took up my case. He took one look at the car and said nonchalantly, "Since you don't want to get the assembly replaced again, I will solve this problem for INR300. It will take about 15 minutes."

Then, as I stood by watching in wonder and amazement, he deftly removed the steering wheel, pried out the assembly panel, and opened a plastic cap that exposed the electronic circuitry. He looked closely at the soldered points for a few minutes, turning it over, checking and re-checking, and then with a quick, sharp flick of the screwdriver, made a 3mm incision into the green plate.

Clearly this was nothing new for him - it was a practiced hand at work. "I have done this for scores of cars", he confirmed, "It is a common problem in Toyota cars as well as the Maruti Swift model...the assembly is too expensive so I get lots of business!"

As promised by Irshad the car wipers have never gone rogue after this 'operation'. The only downside is that the 'mist' and 'low' options on the switches do not work anymore but I am quite happy with the remaining two options, 'medium' and 'high', fully functional.  On the whole this was like having an appendicitis operation instead of suffering a sudden, painful rupture!

One important learning from this experience has been that the Japanese claim to high quality autos needs to be taken with a pinch of salt and loads of skepticism...so much for the acclaimed Toyota Production Systems.