Wednesday, July 28, 2010

India's First Smart Grid City project delayed

The Indian city Bengaluru (earlier known as Bangalore) had envisioned to become the first Smart Grid City in India. The utility company of the city, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) had earlier decided to start the project from April 1, 2010. According to reports published by express buzz, the utility company and its partners USAID and Union power ministry have differences in selection of National and International Smart Grid consultants. The BESCOM have specific consultant in the mind, however its partners have different viewpoints. M. G. Prabhakar, the chairman of the Energy Committee of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) mentioned that the Utility itself is less keen to pursue the project as there is internal resistance to adoption of Smart Grid. Through unconfirmed reports, Express buzz reveals that CSTEP and KEMA will serve as "Knowledge Partners" for the BESCOM Smart Grid project. 

If Bengaluru plans to become Boulder ( Boulder, Colorado is set to become worlds first Smart Grid City) of India, Such delay and lack of interest by the Utility are contrary to its aspirations.  The 100 crore project that BESCOM and Power ministry announced earlier are nowhere to its start. The State Government and the Union Government should put special emphasis  and bring under their ambit such state of the art project rather than allowing the bureaucracy to delay or derail it. India  and cities like Bengaluru, which are progressing at rapid pace and have numerous infrastructure issue  has lot more at stake and such delays do not bring any positivity out of it.  The global warming, population growth, infrastructure challenges, environmental pollution, water scarcity, and power shortages are few of the many issues India and Bengaluru are facing. The Smart Grid is set to play an important role in resolving many of these issues, such delays and derailments can only increase the complexity of these problems. China has decided to invest $10 billion every year for next 10 years for the Smart Grid alone; BESCOM, Bengaluru, Karnataka, and India should keep looking outwards and at north. 


2 comments:

Daniel Das said...

Adoption is difficult because India's (and Bangalore's) problem is shortage of power and power theft. In Orissa, NESCO which is a private utility has already conducted a successful pilot of Hamesha ON, which is a smart grid system developed by an Indian company at a cost of $22 per consumer! This system guarantees to eliminate power theft entirely and has smart grid functions which are suited for Indian conditions. Their website is www.hameshaon.com

SMART MIND said...

It is very interesting that companies like HameshaOn are spearheading the Smart Grid movement. I am sure there are challenges in adopting Smart Grid in India. There needs to be some sort of incentives from Government in order for Smart Grid take off. Some power utilities are adopting certain aspects of Smart Grid , though not sufficient enough efforts, but certainly a step closer towards Smart Grid.

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