Smart Grid technology : Revolutionising the economic growth

Indian companies can cater to the needs of reliable power for the Smart Cities in India if they build their solutions with the latest available technologies ensuring the required quality and features.

Q. Can you comment on the journey status of SMART GRID over the last five years? How do you foresee the next five years? Do you feel AUTOMATION plays important role in metering Power, Electricity in coming future?

Smart Grid is a journey of the utilities which manage the value chain of power generation , transmission and distribution, towards improving the experience of the end consumer. This journey involves leveraging the benefits of ICT to improve the various processes such as Metering and Peak Load Management, improving the reliability of power supply. There have been some initiatives taken by certain utilities and these have shown positive results.

The utilities in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata amongst others have been on the forefront in working on newer ways to bring the positive changes in their operations. The Government of India and state owned utilities on their part has been working on providing the basic framework through the very ambitious R-APDRP program and now the IPDS scheme. These programs have played a very important role and the results will be seen in the coming years. There is still a very long way to go and with proper commitment and planning the utilities are on their way to transform the experience of their consumers.
Q. SUB QUESTION: Tell us in brief about the importance of SMART GRID for SMART CITIES! Do you feel Indian Companies can cater the needs for power, Electricity for SMART CITIES?

As you know the concept of Smart Cities consist of several sub-systems covering areas such as Transit, Security, Water, Power and waste management. What is important to keep in mind is that all the other sub-systems need a very reliable power supply which is what the Smart Grids will ensure. In other words Smart Cities will be built on a strong foundations of Smart Grids.

Indian companies can cater to the needs of reliable power for the Smart Cities in India if they build their solutions with the latest available technologies ensuring the required quality and features. With the globalization the companies have access to the latest technologies but need to have strong local R&D and product development in place.

Q. What are the major challenges faced by the SMART GRID MANUFACTURING Industry and your suggestions to combat them? What are the plans by SMART GRID division of IEEMA to resolve these issues?

Some of the most important challenges that are being faced by the Industry is the inconsistency of budgeted cost of pilot projects in comparison to the actual costs and the unpractical financing conditions which have led to the inherent delays and uncertainty in the launch of Smart Grids. Also the preparedness of the utilities with respect to the basic requirements and the willingness to change the existing processes need to be improved. The motivation of the utilities staff especially at the lowest levels to bring in technology to improve the transparency is another area that needs attention. Delays and unclear terms and conditions lead to uncertainty of investment decisions for the manufacturing industry.

On both the industry & utilities side, there needs to be an awareness that the newer products and technologies will have lower lifecycle than the conventional products but the benefits from these technologies will come with a higher rate of return. Both these types of products have to work together and hence there have to be solutions of technology and processes accompanied with the new mindset. IEEMA SG Division is working with various stakeholders to address these issues in a pro-active manner.
Q. Do you think the Government ( Central & State) is doing enough for promoting Smart Grids ?

The governments both at Central and State level have started taking some steps such as notification of National Smart Grid Mission which will be the apex body. However the process needs to be expedited to bring in more clarity at all levels. Also the state utilities need to appreciate the benefits of the Smart Grid technology and solutions and encourage these projects to be completed at the earliest. Smart Grids require a very strong communication network and one of the popular and cost effective communication is through the network of mobile telcos. This has proved to be a weak link as the business interests of utilities and telcos do not converge for telcos to give adequate importance to the needs of the utilities. A mechanism needs to be built by the Government ministries/ bodies to give priority to the needs of the utilities otherwise the utilities will have to seriously think of having their own dedicated communication network.

Q. What do you feel the industry should be doing to promote the technologies and help the customer? What are your expectation from ELECRAMA 2016 for the Industry? How ELECRAMA 2016 will benefit to Industry?

The industry on the one hand needs to educate the government bodies, utilities and consumers on the benefits of the Smart Grid Technology and on the other hand work on strengthening their capabilities of manpower and technology in order to deliver consistent quality products and solutions which live up to the promised benefits.
The Industry and Utilities will need human resources with the new skill sets and both together must find ways to work with the academic institutions so that our future engineers come well prepared.

Industry players need to look beyond short term business goals and look at the larger perspective and thus due care needs to be paid to conformance of standards and inherent good quality in the products. Indian industry needs to play a more active role in standardisation.

Elecrama 2016 provides a unique platform to the Indian manufacturing community to not only display their latest products but also engage with the various stakeholders to prepare for the future growth in Smart Grids.

Q. What were some of the achievements and challenges during your tenure as the chairman of IEEMA , SMART GRID division so far? What is the way ahead for the division?

IEEMA Smart Grid Division is one of the youngest Divisions of IEEMA and in the short time I am happy to share the Division has engaged with all the stakeholders actively. I along with my divisional members have organized special sessions with free exchange of views between the IEEMA members, representatives from ISGTF, CEA and independent consultants. Smart Grids cover not only the Power and Automation Industry players but also touch the IT and Communication players who may not be IEEMA members. In order to close this gap we have also invited some important partners of the power industry such as IT and Communication solution providers for discussions to develop better understanding of issues and concerns of each other and find acceptable solutions.

The IEEMA Smart Grid Division will continue to engage with all the stakeholders of the Smart Grid space and bridge the gaps between them for developing sustainable business models. One very important aspect of the Division is to support the members who wish to develop into technology, product or solution providers for Smart Grids by providing them the required platform. IEEMA has members who are experts in all the areas of power sector and also the members may be very small enterprises or very large global corporations. I see this as a unique and very powerful constellation of resources which are available in the IEEMA SG division which will truly play a very significant part in success of Smart Grids in India.

Mr. Vikram Gandotra works as General Manager at Siemens Gurgaon and heads the Strategy & Marketing function for Digital Grid business.
He may be contacted at [email protected]