Facilities Required to Tackle Any Disaster

We now describe the facilities considered essential for preventing and minimizing the impact of disasters.

A.  Recovery Equipment and Spares Inventory: It is essential to have an inventory of recovery equipment and spares available along with several power utilities and their location so that these could be pressed into service inside the shortest possible time.

B.  Communication Facilities: Communication and information management is the key to any crisis response and recovery plan. Use of modern day information technology has to play a greater role. Software system incorporating risk assessment, creating procedures, establishing command and control structure, monitoring crisis response activities and integration along with several agencies/groups would required to be incorporated as a part of emergency management.

Use of satellite communication system could be efficiently made to coordinate the activities of several agencies included in the relief and restoration work and expedite restoration of normalcy in the shortest possible time. Mobile phones, walky-talkies should also be available with the EMG.

C.  Transport and Other Arrangements: Arrangements for adequate number of vehicles for movement of people and materials must be ensured. Medical facilities should be made available round the clock to the staff engaged in the restoration activities. Arrangements for drinking water supply must also be ensured.

D.  Financial Resources: Arrangements for adequate financial resources must be made so in which the restoration activities do not get hampered since of shortage of funds. The authorized signatory might be designated for each strategic location which can take on the spot decision.

E.  Black Start Facilities: Arrangements for startup power source for every main installation must be identified. Regional Load Dispatch Centres have to make essential plans.

F. De-watering Pumps: During floods the immediate concern is to minimize the impact of flood water on generators and other equipment. Availability of de-watering pumps is, thus, considered essential for stations located in flood prone areas.

G. Mobile Diesel Generating Sets: Sufficient number of mobile Diesel Generating sets should be available at all distribution circles and should be moved immediately to give emergency relief and to meet the required of dewatering pumps.

H. Solar Energy Systems and Photovoltaic Systems: Solar energy systems and photovoltaic systems are particularly viable and appropriate during the initial periods of disaster. The non-conventional sources of energy like as solar cells, photovoltaic power systems and also diesel generating sets are of great value especially while factored against the high cost and rampant looting which frequent accompanies blackouts. The renewable energy sources could play a significant role in reducing the exposure to risks of natural disasters and in speedy recovery because distributed renewable energy power systems are much less prone to being knocked out of service from a single catastrophic natural disaster than are centralized power systems.

I. List of Contractors: The local Project Authorities of disaster prone areas should remain a list of competent contractors/agencies who could be assigned the several components of restoration activities in the event of a disaster.

J. Emergency Restoration Systems (ERS): In the case of damage to transmission lines, temporary arrangements for restoration of power supply could be made with the help of ERS that consists of special type of light weight modular structures, with light polymer insulators and number of stays. One set of ERS for each such area should be procured and kept in store at strategic locations.

Other necessary requisites to handle any disaster are as follows:

1 Fire alarms and extinguishing systems should be checked regularly for their sound functioning and regular drill should be carried out for their operation through involving the officers and staff of that Unit so that they also know how to operate the system.

2  Safety audit must be carried out once every year at each generating station and substation.

3  There should be perfect interaction on continuous basis between several disaster management groups and state intelligent agencies against terrorist attacks.

4  State level support groups should identify category-wise all the generating, substation grid centres and Load Dispatch Centres based on their strategic importance. The highest vulnerable centres should be provided the highest kind of security.

5  The islanding schemes (electricity grid) of each state must be updated on continuous basis in consultations along with the Regional Electricity Board.

6 Each Regional Electricity Board and Regional Load Dispatch Centre must identify all the producing stations/grid substations and load dispatch centres according to their critical significance along with respect to safe operation of the electricity grid. A highest critical station must be given the highest security arrangement and it might go on reducing to the least risk element and without jeopardizing a safety of electricity grid.

• State level Support Group should meet at least once in six months. Power Management Group (PMG) at National level has to meet once in 12 months for exchange of views and also for updating the Disaster Management Plans.

• All State and Central Power Utilities should constantly review the equipment / system design standards and practices based on the new developments and the state of the art technologies and design practices available at that time. The equipment, which frequently creates problems need to be replaced.

• Each power station/Power utility should create a fund for meeting the requirement of disaster management plan. The disaster management fund should be 1% of the annual revenue of the station/Utility. These funds should be non-lapsable and should be allowed to accumulate. The disaster management funds should be at the full discretion of the Emergency Management Group once emergency has been declared.

• Comprehensive state-wide drills should be carried out periodically (at least once in every six months) to test capabilities. Emergency scenarios should be developed to test the emergency plans and operational response at all levels through mock exercises. At the end of every exercise an evaluation of the response call should be carried out to take care of any deficiency noticed.

• Underground Power House should be provided with exit routes at different locations and these exit routes need to be displayed for the staff working in the power house to make their exit in case of any emergency like fire/flooding etc.

• Smoke evacuation system should be provided in case of fire in underground stations.

This was an overview of a typical Disaster Management Plan and the system for managing disasters for a power utility. We have presented some case studies in the Appendixes 1 to 3 as illustrations of the Disaster Management System and handling of disasters.