SMART GRIDS: A BIG LEAP
Gurgaon might be the first city to get a smart grid project, but Tata PowerDelhi Distribution Ltd ( TPDDL), a power distributor with a licensed area of 551 sq. km in North and North-West Delhi, may soon speed things up in the capital by launching a smart grid and smart meters. TPDDL has tied up with Nokia to leverage its technology and upgrade its substations. The discom is also planning to instal smart meters by the end of 2017.
As smart networks help improve supply reliability, discoms can plan their power purchases and utilise renewable energy even more, especially from solar rooftops. Smart meters also allow people to understand their consumption patterns and monetise additional energy generated by solar rooftops.
India pushed the National Smart Grid Mission as a follow- up to the discom debt rejig scheme UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) and also for synergizing green energy usage with greater energy efficiency. Its target is to replace all old meters with smart ones by 2025.
As of now, the Ministry of Power is funding around 40 per cent of the cost as grants from budgetary allocations to the state discoms to implement infrastructure upgrades. The states, however, find the amount too meagre as they have to put in initial capital for pilots and tests, which are not reimbursed. Discoms, too, find it difficult to convince their consumers to change meters on their own, while making it voluntary would defeat the purpose of moving towards smart grids. Ultimately, the savings will be huge, even though there are initial hiccups. For instance, TPDDL is expecting to save at least 12 MW daily when it upgrades to smart grids. What gives the states a little respite is that smart meter and smart grid projects are now considered a part of the smart city infrastructure and, hence, can mobilise resources on their own. Smart grids also invite cybersecurity challenges. Consequently, the power ministry is working on a new outfit called Power CERT-In – a dedicated cyber intelligence unit for transmission – as the states want to know all about safety measures before they take the big leap.