What's up at Smart Energy International India, 2011

Smart Energy India- the premier energy conference in India, which echos the development of Smart Grid is all set to debut on November 14th, 2011 with a theme "Today's inter-operable solution for tomorrow's integrated grid." According to organizers, "Smart Energy International - India forms part of a global series of events that provides one of the most effective experiential forums available to the electricity utilities industry. Events take place in Australia, Middle East, USA, Canada, Asia and now India. They are an asset that presents you to international markets by connecting global buyers to sellers and people to people in the connected future worldwide! The conference presents Smart Energy India and World Meter Design Congress, which—together with the pre-conference on Smart Cities-will form a unique gathering of international and national experts and market leaders." 

The premier event will be attended by who's who of the industry including Sam Pitroda, adivsor to Prime Minister and convener, Smart Grid India Forum.  The two keynote speakers will present their views on following topics.

 India: Technological advancements and future goals

 By Honorable Mr. P. Umashankar, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India

Interoperability: Tomorrow’s answer today

Mr. Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister and Convener, The Smart Grid India Forum

   Featured Speakers

• Mr. G. V. Balram, Chief General Manager, BESCOM
• Mr. R. K. Goyal, Principal Consultant, Tetratech
• Dr. M. V. Krishna Rao, Director, GECE
• Mr. Harsh Sharma, Vice President - Meters, BSES
• Dr. Rahul Tongia, Director, C-Step

   Key Sessions

• The current state of the Indian Grid – an insight into the transmission and distribution scenarios
• Green Power - Renewable energy Integration in the Smart Grid
• Interoperability in the smart grid – an introduction
• ICT for Smart Distribution Systems – an introduction
• Smart consumer policies for a smarter grid

Apart from the above key highlights, the additional and probably the most exciting thing this year has is Smart Grid technical study tour which will visit Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore providing participants a broader insights of Smart Energy opportunities in India. India intends to provide electricity to every household by 2012, which will require over $100 billion investment in new transmission , distribution, and other related infrastructure representing huge opportunity for investors, companies, and other stakeholders. 

For more program details, use the following links

Website: http://www.smartenergy-india.com

Event Brochure

Smart Grid in Asia Pacific: Potential,Opportunities, and Growth

Asia-Pacific is consider one of the most dynamic and the fastest growing region in the world. With over quarter of the world population located in this part, and most of the countries still in development stages, there is huge growth potential in almost all segments. The hyper- growth is fueling the demand for more energy, which in turn is creating significant market opportunities for clean-tech market. According recent report, published by the leading clean tech market intelligence firm PikeResearch, Smart Grid investment in Asia Pacific is set to reach $171.3 billion by 2017. The report notes that for every country the drivers for Smart Grid implementation are significantly different.

According to senior analyst, Andy Bai, "Chinese market players believe that the construction of a smart grid is a key part of economic growth and enhancing the ability to optimize energy allocation, including the integration of new generation capacity from both renewable and fossil fuel sources.  Japan’s electric utilities have been investing huge amounts of capital in power infrastructure, resulting in advanced capabilities in transmission infrastructure and power delivery services; however, the tragic March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and resulting Fukushima nuclear accident are likely to redefine not only Japan’s smart grid planning, but perhaps the direction of the nation’s utility industry.  Korea seeks to leverage its technology leadership in the IT and communications space to form an advanced smart grid infrastructure within the country, as well as an opportunity to export smart grid technologies around the world.  Significant and influential smart grid projects are also underway in Australia, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.” The analyst further adds, the transmission upgrades, Distribution Automation, and Advanced Metering Infrastructure will capture majority of the market with each segment having share of 54%, 18%, and 15% respectively". 

The report provides in-depth analysis for market drivers, business models and applications, technology issues,  and government policy within Asia-Pacific Region. The study covers detailed forecast by application for China, India, Korea, Australia, Japan, and the ASEAN region. Overall, the study addresses following key questions. 

Key Questions Addressed

• What are the key market drivers for smart grid development in each Asia Pacific market?
• Which business models are being employed for APAC smart grid deployments? How are these similar to other models found around the world, and how do they differ?
• Who are the key industry players influencing the development of APAC smart grid initiatives? Are there opportunities for additional participants to enter the market?
• For each country, what is the size of the market opportunity within each smart grid application segment?
• What are the key technology issues facing smart grid industry players in each market?

India cautiously adopting Smart Grid

India is adopting Smart Grid cautiously reports Financial Express. The report is based on the recent report published by Ernst & Young Analysis about Smart Grid. E&Y reports that the Smart Grid development happening across the globe will revolutionize the Power & Utility sector which has changed little in last 100 years. Advance economies like the US, parts of Europe, and Australia are adopting it a big way, the emerging economies like China, Brazil, India are following it cautiously. China is the early leader among the emerging economies. It has made Smart Grid a strategic priority and is collaborating with US through joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy (JUCCCE). Many Initiative are planned and MNCs like IBM, GE, Siemens AG and Cisco are investing in China's Smart Grid. India is bit slow and is taking measures through Individual company or cities. The reports indicates that because of financial risks like public ownership of utility companies, bureaucratic delays, and financial weakness of the sector, investors are cautious in investing in Smart Grid. I think, in the absence of government policy and framework the investors will not take the risk. As mentioned, previously in this blog , India is uniquely position to take advantage of Smart Grid as it is still building the energy infrastructure and can bypass the old Grid model. E&Y reports indicates India will save close to 15% of energy, which is equivalent to 12GW of power generation or total of $ 500 billion of investment. The savings in investment alone are exciting enough for India to aggressively pursue Smart Grid technology. The other benefits includes reduction in Greenhouse gases a huge indirect benefit as it will reduce numerous environmental issues directly impacting the country's socio-economic well-being. It will help meet the target of CO2 reduction it has committed at Copenhagen summit (20-25% CO2 reduction to pre-2005 level). A new emerging sector will generate numerous jobs and new businesses will generate tax and other benefits.