Indian government investing Rs.5 billion for smart grid pilots

The eight smart grid pilots, which were announced in July 2011 by Sam Pitroda, who is the chairman of Smart Grid India Task Force and adviser to the Prime Minister, are set to be rolled out in the coming months. According to the Economic Times, the Power ministry is going to finalize these 8 projects of worth 500 crore (US $ 9.69 million) in the next 2 months. Smart Grid, which uses combination of various technologies to improve the efficiency and reliability of the grid is essential for India's sustainable growth. 

The 14 Utilities, which manages the power distribution across India will submit the proposal for the 8 pilot projects. According to the officials, the selected proposals will receive funding of around 50 to 60 crore. The pilots will focus on addressing three key issues, 1) Reduction of aggregate technical and commercial (AT & C) losses, 2) Peak load management, and 3) Integration of renewable energy like wind and solar into the grid. Once started, It is expected that the pilots will be completed in 12 to 18 months. Furthermore, 50% of the total project cost will be borne by the Power Ministry and remaining 50% by the selected utilities. 

In India, where, one-quarter of the population still do no have access to electricity, It is unacceptable to have AT&C losses as high as 30 percent. Such losses if brought down to the world average with the aid of   smart grid, will not only provide the electricity to the remaining 25% without any new capacity augmentation but also help reduce global warming and save considerable resources. 

India to set up Smart Grid Task Force

The Government of India has decided to set up Smart Grid task force under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda. Pitroda serves as an adviser  on Innovation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. According to Sushil Kumar Shinde, Minister of Power, the task force will be an inter-ministerial group which will be the focal point for all Smart Grid related activities. The experts associated with the process mentioned that the Smart Grid will also include dynamic pricing mechanism just like it is going to be implemented in advanced countries like USA. However, it is  very early to say that such features will be available as India is not mature market like Europe or USA.  The immediate benefit will be reduction in T&D losses and power theft. The information about energy usage will be available per second per home, hence energy will  be effectively managed for its optimum utilization.

Experts at IPMT indicated Smart Grid will be established by networking the entire power distribution network through IT infrastructure. While developing Smart Grid policy, the task force also needs to keep in mind about privacy concerns of the users as well as security of the grid.

The project is already being tested under the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Program (R-APDRP) on the pilot bases. Though R-APDRP may be the early version of Smart Grid, It won't be Smart Grid until all the components of Smart Grid are included. 

"A few well-thought smart grid pilots are envisaged under R-APDRP to validate the technology in Indian conditions and explore the possibility of leapfrogging," Shinde said.