Suburban Mumbai was saved from a major power crisis on Friday evening as Tata Power came to its rescue when the BSES power generating units tripped. Two units of BSES, each of 250 MW, tripped at 9 pm on Friday and remained non-operational till 1 am. The stand-by power arrangement connectivity of the Tata Power facility at Borivali in Mumbai for BSES was instrumental in restoring the power, to the tune of 450 MVA, automatically.

According to Tata Power, all the four BSES lines emerging from Dahanu, carrying power to Mumbai suburbs, including Andheri, Borivali, Versova, Malad and Kandivali villages were disrupted due to the tripping. The cause of the tripping is not known yet.

According to a Tata Power spokesperson, the company receives 500 MVA power from the MSEB as standby, of which the officials arrangement is for only 275 MVA for BSES. However, during the blackout, BSES withdrew 450 MVA which is above the permissible limit.

This is not the first time that Tata Power has rescued BSES. In the last one year, BSES has, as many as 19 times, withdrawn standby power in excess of 400 MVA, according to Tata Power.