IT for India's Power Sector - Necessary but not Sufficient
The Indian power sector can only be described as having nowhere to go but up. The present installed capacity is inadequate for the nation's needs, and there are plans for rapid growth. However, the present system requires operational, fiscal, regulatory, and even technological reform. In the midst of a system that loses money with every kilowatt-hour sold, what role can Information Technology (IT) play? The potential is certainly there - theft reduction requires theft discovery - but what will the future of the Indian power grid look like?
If you ask anyone what the needs of the Indian power sector are, they will likely say more electricity. A few may comment more but affordable power, but very few will say it needs IT. After all, like with many industries, IT is but a means, and not an end. But is there a unique role that IT can play in developing India's power sector?
Thing of the future. A future where the Indian power sector is performing as well as can be expected. Theft is reduced, growth is high, and the lights stay on. Will there be enough power supply to meet the needs? From the few hundred kWh per person of today to ten times more - how can we create and fuel such a system? It's likely a dramatic shift in the fundamental design of power systems is required. This future system is built upon IT and communications.
The old system of power, where every unit of power is treated roughly similarly, cannot continue. We intuitively recognize that different units have different costs of supply - night and day, rural or urban, peak or off-peak. But today's system cannot adequately recognize (or charge for) such differences, especially for laypersons. With flat-rate pricing for agricultural pumpsets, which consume perhaps 30% of our power, we don't even accurately know how much they use. This is where IT becomes inevitable. A smart grid will not only be able to manage loads and consumption incentives, it will also be more nimble, robust, and reliable.
Of course, the longer-term vision of a smart grid will take time to realize. Are there steps along the way we can take? A number of scholars, industry leaders, and power sector professionals believe there are, but we must be mindful of the end goals. Otherwise, we will be saddled with expensive interim solutions that provide only marginal or, at best, modest benefits.
As we consider the design and evolution of a smart grid, we need to be mindful of a number of issues:
1) IT is not a product, but a process. There is no easy "smart grid" solution that utilities can tender for and find the cheapest solution. Different utilities have different existing infrastructure, different market needs, etc. To make things more difficult, IT's very rapidly changing pace makes designing solutions challenging. Many of the ingredients for a system exist, but they are not well integrated, optimized, or standardized.
2) IT evolves rapidly - think of how outdated our mobile phone or computer from 3 years ago feels - but power sector equipment is often designed to last decades. To manage this process, we need solutions that are modular and scalable. We can't even predict what new features we might consider routine ten years from now, say, the ability to control one's water heater or air conditioner via mobile phone. All we know is the technology must be capable of such innovations, and this requires standards.
3) Open standards are a powerful means for innovative solutions that capture the power of the market and volume. Think of WiFi, the ubiquitous standard for wireless Ethernet found in every laptop computer. It started about a decade ago as an expensive modest-speed solution (over $800/node for 2 megabits/second speed). Today, it is perhaps $10, for speeds 50x faster. This is the power of IT!
4) IT cannot work alone - other changes in the system are required. Changes in pricing (such as time of day tariffs) might be one capability, but broader changes are required in how utilities think of the power grid. IT isn't about cutting down labor, but enabling operators and even consumers with more information for better capital expenditures, nimbler operations, and better customer service.
5) India can lead instead of follow in this space, especially given its IT strengths. IT for the power sector is an evolving process around the world. One of the first (and largest) such networks was deployed by the utility Enel, in Italy, but even their solution today isn't cutting edge. A number of European countries have legislation mandating smart metering solutions, and the recent US Energy Bill has similar directives for states to consider.
Ultimately, we must be mindful of the true stakeholders in the Indian power system - the citizens, be they farmers, household consumers, or industry. When we think of the rise of IT within India's power sector, it's not a question of if - it's when and in what shape this will evolve. These are unanswered questions that need open discussion, analysis, and collaboration.
Dr. Rahul Tongia is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy (CSTEP), Bangalore, and a Senior Systems Scientist (faculty member) at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. He is a specialist in infrastructure technology, policy, and design, and serves on the Technology Advisory Board for a leading US utility's Smart Metering Project. The views presented are his own, and not necessarily those of any of his affiliated institutions or collaborators.
Comments
We need to work on reducing our T&D losses which are way above ideal figure of 4-5%
Posted by: parag | July 16, 2008 08:57 AM
Parag, you're absolutely right - we need to cut down our losses, but the first step is figuring out what they are!
I think the lower bound for feasible technical losses is only 8-9% (based on US and China numbers), and our system design (lower voltages than ideal) mean the *technical* losses today are perhaps 12-15%, but no one really knows.
Posted by: Rahul Tongia (author) | July 17, 2008 04:41 AM
It's true that our installed capacity is lower than demand. But are we producing at maximum possible capacity? Two weeks back, Maharashtra state was producing at only 53% of capacity. Differentiation in every unit of power is needed but in the long term. Today, there is load-shedding even at 1:00 AM at night. What kind of load rationalization are we talking about? IT can definitely play a major role in running the power-plants at max possible capacity.
Posted by: Rajesh R. Naik | August 19, 2008 04:10 AM
I think Indian Power Sector needs complete reform, to address all the issues pertaining to Generation, Transmission and Distribution!
The role of power sector was undermined by previous govt and hence responsible for the present chaos.
Availability, reliability, quality and security of power system is necessary for positive Indian future.
Sustainability and Energy efficiency and demand side management should come into play at right time in the implementation.
Planning & operation power system needs human resources in the power engineering, not IT, staff cannot do everything, but can only provide services at the delivery level and demand side management!
Posted by: M V Chilukuri | August 19, 2008 07:20 AM
I agree with Dr.Rahul. IT can help plug the value leakage across the electric value chain. Be it Smart grid, smart meters, work - asset & work force management, GIS or web self service, IT can help in identifying root causes of problems and make the work force more productive & responsible
Posted by: Sachin | August 19, 2008 07:29 AM
I wish the author was more specific in the technology he wanted to use in the power sector. We are doing a pilot project with funding from ADB.
I would like to know what are the value added services the existing power infrastructure can offer.. this would not only subsidize the tariffs but also optimize on resources... hope to get some views.. what are the regulatory challenges for implementing such reforms?
Posted by: KV Mathew | August 21, 2008 11:33 AM
India's power production is not sufficient to meet power requirement.Every state is having a minimum peak power shortfall of around 500MW.IT along with other methods of power generation from trash/biomass/solar/ocean should be promoted to make India an energy secure nation.
Posted by: thayammal | September 1, 2008 06:36 AM
Time of day, agricultural domestic, industrial, quality based tariff are all concepts that subscribe to a ration raj. Only serves some commercial ends in the short term. We must look at creating plentitude where different tariffs are irrelevant, nay unnecessary. This is truly the way to be in the future.
Posted by: Mike Washington | October 3, 2008 06:56 PM
I think most of the Indians do not understand the intricacies of the Indian Power System.
It's better people understand that computers need power supply, while it can assist in data acquisition and analysis and to a certain extent in control.
However, the power system needs more generation to match the demand which keeps increasing continuosly. Also, it needs an efficient system to reduce losses.
Thanks to the Indian democracy which contributes to power loss especially non-technical due to poor management and corruption.
It's time for Techies to understand the limitations of the IT sector. IT's just another industrial customer on the power grid, but nothing else.
India is a weak nation until it catches up in the power sector!
Let us make a small comparison of India with another Asian country, Malaysia.
Malaysian peak demand currently is at 14.5GW while the country's installed capacity is 22GW with 50% private generation. Also, it promotes energy efficiency and alternate energy. This shows that Malaysian power system has availability of power and was able to provide reliable power supply with quality. The quality of power supply is very much a "special requirement" of the IT sector.
Also, the power system is quite secure. So, it's important to know that any power system needs the following in priority:
1) Availability
2) Reliability
3) Quality
4) Security
So, Indian IT sector may contribute substantially to provide security of the power system and improving the monitoring & control of energy delivery with on-line billing and automatic disconnection for non-payment of bills.
Posted by: M V Chilukuri | October 7, 2008 03:51 PM
In order to reduce the T&D losses; they need to be ascertained first. Moreover, these losses should be identified for the smallest possible geographical area (may be at Ward level) and for various voltage levels present in that area. This will facilitate identifying the areas where most losses happen and necessary action can be taken to plug these losses. IT applications help in this process to a great extent.
Ideally, technical losses may range from 8% to 12% considering the load and distance of the loads fed by the power system. These losses can also be brought down by using HVDS, Re-configuration of the network to have least losses (this could be the on-line phenomenon), DSM methods, etc. As we know, the Demand is growing at much faster rate than the rate of capacity addition in the Transmission and Distribution area, which is again adding to the loss levels.
Any losses above technical levels are known as Commercial losses. The solution to this problem is making 100% metering at all energy delivery points. While doing so, these meters can be made capable of communicating with decision support systems. Also, aspects of ensuring accurate functioning of meters, periodic testing, accurate billing (based on accurate meter reading) and collection of receivables cannot be undermined. Here again IT applications help in a big way. I feel IT plays a major role in these processes and in turn help cut the commercial losses.
Considering the high gestation period of adding the generation capacity, it is essential to strengthen the T&D system (network, metering, billing, etc) for short and medium term relief of shortages.
Posted by: Purushottam Ganwir | November 10, 2008 01:22 PM
The structural failings of India's electricity system remain so profound that those seeking single action solutions will be quickly disappointed.
IT clearly has a role to play in delivering next generation electricty systems around the world and The Climate Group produced a great document earlier this year - Smart 2020 - with a case study on India's power sector.
However, IT will only deliver information - there must also be political will and administrative capacity to act on that information to, for instance, reduce T&D losses.
T&D losses are only part of the puzzle though. Increasing access to distributed electricity generators requires more effective two way communication of load and supply on the grid. The same is true for energy storage solutions. Sophisticated demand side management techniques to drive down peak demand may require end user (or their appliances) access to energy supply and pricing data. Finally, despatch controllers can better match supply with demand to deliver stable frequency and voltage power if there is a real time flow of metering data to the despatch centre - including load at the substation and distributed generation and storage additions to grid supply.
Of course, extracting value from this data requires empowerment to enforce grid discipline too - so institutions (and people and politics) still have the capacity to nullify the potential value delivered from improved information flows - and it must be remembered that across India, institutional capacity to deal with such technologies varies considerably. Perhaps there will at least be greater transparency to increase the likelihood of holding executives to account.
Posted by: Allen | November 24, 2008 03:40 PM
New methods of generation by non renewable means such as solar power is also to be explored in addition to use of IT in power sector. The world's largest biggest solar photovaultic solar power station is being planned at Gujarat India.
Posted by: Indiainfraguru | November 30, 2008 12:29 PM
We should not forget that we have reformed a system from "Jan Seva men Vidyut" to "Vyapar men Vidyut" in the real Indian sense. Our social and psychological factors are different from the rest of the world. Is there any justification for the people living around the generating station even though they suffer on various counts only due to the nearness to the station, pays the same price to get only junk power than their counterparts in the urban areas? A tradeoff has to be found between the cost of financing extra demand of power and the cost of losses using the existing distribution networks. We need to ascertain for ourselves whether the losses (whatever be the type) are related to the population density and electricity use or to the network topology,configuration and specification? Orissa is losing around one thousand crores of rupees every year in the distribution sector and still has not found out the real causes and remedial measures. We must know that we just cannot copy a system. Our system automatically gets changed depending on our social, cultural and psychological environment.
Posted by: Pradeep Dash | January 3, 2009 08:27 AM