Impact of super-cyclone Phailin on power System operation — Defense mechanism and lesson learned

On October 12 and 13, 2013 devastating super-cyclone (also known as hurricane) Phailin struck the east coast of peninsular India, mainly the state of Odisha and then to some extent Andhra Pradesh lying on the western side of Bay of Bengal. With accurate forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department, wide-scale damage to properties and loss of life could be prevented by timely massive evacuation. Adequate preventive measures were taken for the power supply system as a whole with the availability of online monitored data including those received from Phasor Measurement Units. Even deployment of large-scale portable Diesel-Generating sets on the power generation front and Emergency Restoration System for the transmission system helped to minimize supply disruption time and in post-super-cyclone period in coming back to normalcy.