SMART GRID INITIATIVES IN INDIA

Jyothi Seetharaman
jyothi.seetharaman@alstom.com
India
KEYWORDS
Smart Grid, Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Home Area Network, Electrical energy Storage,
Demand Responses
ABSTRACT

Smart Grid has emerged as a top infrastructure upgrade program in most of the developed
countries. Smart Grid Technologies are vital for meeting Indias vast and growing electricity
needs. Apart from restructuring and unbundling of the power sector there is a need for
introduction of `Smart Grid' technology in India to increase the operational as well technological
efficiency of the power distribution network to meet the growing energy demand of India in line
with the GDP growth of the country. India's Smart Grid is very nascent today. In the areas around
technology campuses it is sophisticated and robust. In the rural areas it can be non-existent
30% of India's population does not have electric power service. In other areas, there are pockets
that are off-grid where power is generated by solar energy. Thus, tying these pieces together into
a national grid would be a tremendous challenge but one that should be viewed as a great
opportunity to make a quantum leap step in improving the lives of the people.
This paper would focus on the comparison of Smart Grid Activities in India and rest of the world
viewing the stand and the actual requirement of India. This would mainly include the means by
which these challenges can be overcome, Smart Grid technologies AMI (Advanced Metering
Infrastructure), HAN (Home Area Network), EES (Electric Energy Storage), Electric Vehicles,
Demand Responses etc. in the Indian context.

In addition, it would also cater to the

contribution of ALSTOM, India towards the technology.

INTRODUCTION
A Smart Grid can be defined as an interconnected system of information, communication
technologies and control systems used to interact with automation and business processes
across the entire power sector encompassing electricity generation, transmission, distribution and
the consumer. The idea of a Smart Grid is to make the existing grid infrastructure as efficient and
robust as possible, through the use of intelligence and automation, by encouraging active supply
and demand-side participation and by promoting innovative business practices and regulatory
environments that provide incentives for efficient production, transmission, distribution and
consumption of electricity across the entire value chain.

FEATURES OF SMART GRID

The smart grid represents the full suite of current and proposed responses to the challenges of
electricity supply. Because of the diverse range of factors there are numerous competing
taxonomies and no agreement on a universal definition.
The features of SMART GRID are as follows:
Reliability
The smart grid will make use of technologies, such as state estimation, that improve fault
detection and allow self-healing of the network without the intervention of technicians. This will
ensure more reliable supply of electricity, and reduced vulnerability to natural disasters or attack.
Flexibility in network topology
Next-generation transmission and distribution infrastructure will be better able to handle possible
bidirectional energy flows, allowing for distributed generation such as from photovoltaic
panels on building roofs, but also the use of fuel cells, charging to/from the batteries of electric
cars, wind turbines, pumped hydroelectric power, and other sources.
Efficiency
Numerous contributions to overall improvement of the efficiency of energy infrastructure is
anticipated from the deployment of smart grid technology, in particular including demand-side
management, The overall effect is less redundancy in transmission and distribution lines, and
greater utilization of generators, leading to lower power prices.
Load adjustment/Load balancing
The total load connected to the grid can vary significantly over time. Although the total load is the
sum of many individual choices of the clients, the overall load is not a stable, slow varying,
increment of the load.
Peak curtailment/leveling and time of use pricing
To reduce demand during the high cost peak usage periods, communications and metering
technologies inform smart devices in the home and business when energy demand is high and
track how much electricity is used and when it is used. It also gives utility companies the ability to
reduce consumption by communicating to devices directly in order to prevent system overloads.
To motivate them to cut back use and perform what is called peak curtailment or peak leveling,
prices of electricity are increased during high demand periods, and decreased during low demand

periods. For eg. In India there has been a connect of the Southern Grid to the National Grid
which make Indian Power system one of the largest sunchronous operating power systems
across the globe with approximately 232GW of installed power generation capacity. This helps to
augment the power transfer across the states, de clogs the congestion in the transmission
corridors & relief to the frequency problems.
Sustainability
The improved flexibility of the smart grid permits greater penetration of highly variable renewable
energy sources such as solar power and wind power, even without the addition of energy storage.
Current network infrastructure is not built to allow for many distributed feed-in points, and typically
even if some feed-in is allowed at the local (distribution) level; the transmission-level infrastructure
cannot accommodate it. Smart grid technology is a necessary condition for very large amounts of
renewable electricity on the grid for this reason.
Market-enabling
The smart grid allows for systematic communication between suppliers (their energy price) and
consumers (their willingness-to-pay), and permits both the suppliers and the consumers to be
more flexible and sophisticated in their operational strategies.
Demand response support
Demand response support allows generators and loads to interact in an automated fashion in real
time, coordinating demand to flatten spikes. Eliminating the fraction of demand that occurs in
these spikes eliminates the cost of adding reserve generators, cuts wear and tear and extends
the life of equipment, and allows users to cut their energy bills by telling low priority devices to use
energy only when it is cheaper.
SMART GRID ACROSS THE GLOBE

In each of the countries across the world, the smart grid forms a vital part of government strategy
to achieve the common goals of energy security and low carbon economic growth. The smart grid
forms part of government strategy at a time when utilities need to refresh and modernize
their operating infrastructure. The government is best positioned to educate consumers on the
value of the smart grid.

For example Australia has set an ambitious national target to integrate 20% renewable energy by
2020. Some notable projects in Australia are: Intelligent Network communities where there are
three 11kv feeders and approx. 4000 consumers In the Intelligent Network Communities project,
the distributor Essential Energy is testing network fault detection, isolation and restoration, power
quality monitoring, and distribution automation using a commercial distribution management

system. Combined with load control, this substation monitoring and four quadrant interactive
inverters for Volt/Var controls, this makes it a complete smart grid project. Another Project - The
Smart Grid Smart City project tests demand side response solutions, as well as new supply
technologies, in a production environment with actual customers. It is a demonstration project that
gathers information about the benefits and costs of different smart grid technologies in an
Australian setting. As part of the trial, customers will monitor their energy use and calculate
energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. They will also be enabled with a household energy
management system, giving them wireless control of their appliances. On the grid, improved
monitoring and measuring devices will improve network reliability and efficiency as well as
integrate distributed energy storage, generation, and electric vehicles.
Canada has the third largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, and the federal government
views them as key engines of the Canadian economy. The federal government has made
stimulus funds available for green initiatives, such as the Clean Energy Fund and the Eco Energy
Innovation Initiative. Transmission dynamic Line Rating is a 45km circuit of 115kv level.
Manitoba Hydro used static rating (232 A) for a transmission circuit that had intermittent loading
constraints that caused them to curtail low cost hydro generation. Another project is the Wide
area control system with 10 PMUs for network monitoring and telemetry. Hydro Qubec is
voltage stability limited in the Montral area, and this creates major constraints on power
exchanges with the United States. As Hydro Qubec was already equipped with a modern WideArea Monitoring System, its own fast and reliable communication network, they looked to
establish a Wide-Area Control of their voltage through the installation of truly interoperable multivendors relays, PMUs and IEDs. Another notable project is the Ontario Smart Metering
Initiative: The government of the Province of Ontario has adopted green energy as a key pillar of
its economic growth strategy and has become a leader in renewable energy, smart meters, and
smart grid adoption. The government initiated the countrys first smart metering deployment, the
Ontario Smart Metering Initiative, which will install smart meters province-wide and is nearing
completion with almost 4.5M smart meters installed. Along with smart meters, the government
introduced mandatory time-of-use pricing. Ontario is the largest electricity market in the world with
mandated time-of-use rates.

For European countries, under the common goals of secure, competitive and sustainable energy
supply, it is determined to set its progressive energy policy at the macro level. The European
Union is an economic and political union of twenty-seven countries that operate through
supranational institutions and intergovernmental agreements. A few notable projects are as
follows:
ADDRESS (Active Distribution network with full integration of Demand and distributed energy
RESourceS). The project adopts a demand approach (rather than generation approach) in an
attempt to draw small and commercial consumer participation in the power system through
innovative commercial arrangements. It encourages consumers to provide services to different

power system participants based on price and/or volume signal mechanisms. This exchange is
facilitated by a technology installed at the customer property or at the aggregator. The project
aims to improve flexibility in consumer behavior; enhance system reliability, safety and efficiency;
and creates the foundation for profitable power economy, which leads to more competition and
lower energy prices. It is a demonstration project involving around 400 customers.
GRID4EU which is scheduled for completion in 2016 is intended to showcase Europes state of
the art smart grid developments. In six demonstration sites, the project will integrate increased
distributed generation, provide active demand into distribution networks, and improve distribution
networks. The project hopes to: (1) contribute to the integration of distributed generation into
medium and low voltage networks, achieving higher reliability, shorter recovery times and
avoiding unknown overloads; (2) evaluate losses (technical and non-technical) by comparing
substation totals with the accumulated customer totals, hour per hour; (3) improve information
distribution to customers and study consumer behavior in the face of system constraints
(particularly during peak photovoltaic hours); (4) reinforce high voltage network controls through
monitoring and effective fault detection and automatic restoration; and (5) demonstrate that
existing networks with smart metering and combined heat & power units can be upgraded to allow
automatic islanding.
The Green eMotion project will connect ongoing regional and national electric mobility initiatives
leveraging the results and comparing different technology approaches to ensure the best solution
is used for Europe. The project intends to create a virtual marketplace which permits transactions
in this area, complete with billing functionalities.
The ECOGRID project is a fast-track initiative to implement market-based smart grids. Two
thousand residential consumers will be equipped with residential demand response devices using
gateways and smart controllers. These devices will present real-time prices to consumers and
allow them to pre-program their automatic demand response preferences.
The U.S. government energy policy has been driven by multiple concerns including security of
energy supply, environmental impact of energy production, and the ability to become energy
independent to reverse the trend toward importing energy over domestic production As part of its
effort to address these concerns and reduce energy-related CO2 emissions, the government
invested in expanding its domestic energy resources (including renewable resources) and
adopted initiatives to modernize conservation and energy infrastructure. A few notable projects
are:
The Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project is a large pilot project which spans
five states (Montana, Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming) and involves 22 utilities
(vertically integrated, city-owned, and rural cooperatives), as well as lab and university partners.
The project intends to demonstrate a single integrated smart grid incentive signaling approach
that will allow for the continuous coordination of smart grid assets. There are 20 types of assets
across 12 utilities serving more than 60,000 customers.

In Houston, Texas, Houston Electric (a subsidiary of Center Point Energy) is undertaking a

large scale smart grid deployment which is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy. The
drivers behind the project are improving reliability in the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico region as
well as enabling customer control and conservation. In this project, the utility is implementing a
fully integrated advanced metering system, customer web portal, and automatic outage
notification application. This, combined with its Intelligent Grid initiative to modernize and
strengthen the grid,
makes it one of the few large scale end-to-end smart grid projects
As part of the Smart Texas initiative, Oncor is implementing massive smart meter deployment
and distribution automation project where the consumers will be able to track their usage data
through a customer web portal or an in-home monitor. Oncor has implemented a solution that
leverages the ZigBee Smart Energy Profile to provide data exchange between the smart meter
and the in-home display. This, combined with programs such as the consumer-focused Biggest
Energy Saver contest, has shown reductions in usage by as much as 15%. The project also
provides the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) with usage data at 15 minute
increments, allowing for very granular billing.
EVOLUTION OF SMART GRID IN INDIA

The Indian power sector is expanding at a fast pace. India has a power sector characterized by
deficient generation and high distribution losses. The first power exchange of India was
introduced in June 2008. Smart Grid activity has been reported in some distribution pockets
mostly by private players. Many utilities in power sector have now Smart Grid activity with high
priority in their research and development agenda. The priority depends on several factors such
as policies, regulation, efficiency of the markets, costs and benefits associated with the functions,
and service providers and traders etc. Though there are many barriers for these new
developments, the Government of India has some policies to support Smart Grids in the
distribution sector. The urgency for Smart Grids in India emerges from the key challenges that the
industry is currently facing. India faces a number of challenges such as: inadequate access to
electricity, supply shortfalls (peak and energy), huge network losses, poor quality and reliability
and rampant, theft. The evolution towards Smart Grid would address these issues and transform
the existing grid into a more efficient, reliable, and safe and less constrained grid that would help
provide access to electricity to all.
RELEVANCE OF SMART GRID IN INDIA

Every global driver for smart grids applies to India, but India also has additional drivers in the
short-term. The power system in India has roughly doubled in the last decade and similarly in the
previous decade. With 230 GW of installed capacity with utilities (as of July 2013), the Indian
power system is now the fourth largest in the world, but per-capita consumption of electricity in

India is only about one-fourth of the world average. This underscores the need to grow the power
system at a rapid pace for the next several decades. This low consumption is amplified by the
lack of access to electricity to a significant proportion of the population. The potential demand by
2032 is estimated to be as high as 900 GW. India is also pursuing an aggressive renewable
generation program. The 12th Five Year Plan target for renewable energy (RE) generation is 36
GW which will increase the current 12% share of RE (excluding hydro) to around 20% by end of
this decade. A power system of this size growing at such a pace (8-10% per year) with an
increased share of renewable energy requires smarter systems to manage it efficiently and
ensure its stability and reliability.

India has also recently launched a National Mission on Electric Mobility with a target of 6 million
Electric Vehicles (4 million two-wheelers and 2 million four-wheelers) by 2020. For efficient rollout
of the EV program, electrical distribution infrastructure upgrades and smarter systems are
required; this will control/limit simultaneous charging of hundreds of EVs from the same feeder.
Beyond just timing the consumption of power, immediate policy level support is required to build
enabling infrastructure to integrate the EVs in the electrical network so that these millions of EVs
connected to the power system can be leveraged as virtual power plants (VPPs) that can store
energy when there is surplus generation and support the grid during moments of deficit. Vehicle
to Grid (V2G) technologies are evolving rapidly that can achieve these objectives.
DRIVERS OF SMART GRID IN INDIA

The drivers for smart grid for different stakeholders in India are:
UTILITIES
1. Reduction of T&D losses in all utilities as well as improved collection efficiency
2. Peak load management multiple options from direct load control to consumer pricing
incentives
3. Reduction in power purchase cost
4. Better asset management
5. Increased grid visibility
6. Self-healing grid
7. Renewable integration
CUSTOMERS
1. Expand access to electricity Power for All
2. Improve reliability of supply to all customers no power cuts, no more DG sets and inverters
3. Improve quality of supply no more voltage stabilizers
4. User friendly and transparent interface with utilities

5. Increased choices for consumers, including green power

6. Prosumer (producer and consumer) enablement
7. Options to save money by shifting loads from peak periods to off-peak periods
GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORS
1. Satisfied customers
2. Financially sound utilities
3. Tariff neutral system upgrade and modernization
4. Reduction in emission intensity
FEW CURRENT RUNNING SMART GRID PROJECTS IN INDIA

Crompton & Greaves Initiative: Crompton Greaves (CG) is Indias largest private sector
enterprise. At present, CG is actively taking part in the Smart Grid research and development
activities. It initiated the development & integration of products like

Integrated SCADA

solution for Smart Grid environment on in-house developed Cromp SCADA platform as per
IEC 61850 standard, Substation asset management solution that includes INTERNET based
on-line condition monitoring devices for transformers and switchgears, Smart bay control
unit, Smart protection IEDs, Enterprise level information grid as per IEC 61968 standard,
Smart load controls and shedding solutions, Automatic power outage management solution,
Smart load break switches / sectionalizers, Smart metering solution, IT solutions for power
distribution.

NDPL Initiative: NDPL is a joint venture between Tata Power Company and the Government
of Delhi, India, announced that it has joined hands with GE Smart Grid Technologies and has
become the first power distribution utility in India to realize the performance advantages of an
advanced Outage Management System (OMS). This will help NDPL respond more quickly to
power outages and provide accurate, updated restoration-time estimates. The systems
network analysis tools identify and assess outages and gets into action even before the
consumers call to report them. NDPL distributes electricity in North & North West parts of
Delhi and serves a population of 5 million. NDPL has to its credit several firsts in Delhi:
SCADA controlled grid stations, automatic meter infrastructure; GSM based street lighting
system, geographic information system (GIS) platform with fault management system. To
ensure complete transparency, the company has provided online information on billing and
payment to its customer base of over one Million. Earlier, in Sept. 2008, NDPL has joined
hands with IBM to become a member of a global Intelligent Utility Network (IUN) coalition
convened by IBM. NDPL also becomes the first Indian utility to join the IUN Coalition which
includes utilities in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions - all working together to
accelerate the development of common standards, technology solutions and processes for
intelligent and smart networks. It has built its Smart Grid Maturity Model (SGMM) to realize
the Smart Grid vision and target.

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PGCIL is the consultant. The state government is now testing out a grid-interactive rooftop
scheme with technical assistance from Auroville Consulting.
INDIA STRIVING TOWARDS SMART GRID

The following are some initiatives in Indian Smart Grid to take India forward.
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)
AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) is the collective term to describe the whole infrastructure
from Smart Meter to two way-communication network to control center equipment and all the
applications that enable the gathering and transfer of energy usage information in near real-time.
AMI makes two-way communications with customers possible and is the backbone of smart grid.
The objectives of AMI can be remote meter reading for error free data, network problem
identification, load profiling, energy audit and partial load curtailment in place of load shedding.
The AMI consists of the following building blocks:

Smart Meter: Advanced meter devices having the capacity to collect information about
energy, water, and gas usage at various intervals and transmitting the data through fixed
communication networks to utility, as well as receiving information like pricing signals from
utility and conveying it to consumer.

Communication Network: Advanced communication networks which supports two way

communication enables information from smart meters to utility companies and vice-versa.
Networks such as Broadband over Power Line (BPL), Power Line Communications, Fiber
Optic Communication, Fixed Radio Frequency or public networks (e.g., landline, cellular,
paging) are used for such purposes.

Meter Data Acquisition System: Software applications on the Control Centre hardware and
the DCUs (Data Concentrator Units) used to acquire data from meters via communication
network and send it to the MDMS.

Meter Data Management System: Host system which receives stores & analyses the
metering information.

The AMI has operational, security, financial & customer related benefits and also faces the
challenges of high capital cost, interoperability & integration with the Customer information

system, Geographical information system, outage management system, Work Management

system, SCADA/DMS & Distribution Automation system(DAS).
In the Indian Context, modernising the Indian grid by investing in AMI would mitigate a number of
strains placed on the grid due to the growing needs of electricity, water & gas resources. It would
improve the system reliability, energy cost & also help to track the real time energy usage and
increase the energy transparency.
Home Area Network (HAN)
A home area network is a dedicated network connecting devices in the home such as displays,
load control devices and ultimately "smart appliances" seamlessly into the overall smart metering
system. It also contains software applications to monitor and control these networks. The Home
Area Market is now emerging within the smart grid sector to serve home with digital application
solutions and energy management.
This HAN is a subsystem of the Demand side management and includes energy efficiency and
demand response as the key building blocks of the HAN.

The HAN empowers the consumer directly, allows the smart grid applications to communicate
intelligently by providing centralized access to the home appliances, grid load can be efficiently
managed and provide the information on the consumption of the energy by the appliances and
hence energy optimization can be carried out.
The interoperability and integration with the information systems is still a challenge apart from the
consumer security.
ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE (EES)

The EES are becoming very vital in storing Megawatt scale of electricity. They are broadly
classified into mechanical, electrochemical, chemical, electrical and thermal energy storage
systems.
The pumped storage hydro is the most successful energy storage systems due to fast response
and storage capacity. Compressed air energy storage is another technology where the
conventional gas turbines store the energy by compressing the air. The flywheels are another
technology where the rotational energy is stored in rotational cylinders, electric double layer
capacitors, superconducting magnetic energy storage, and thermal storage.

Around the world already 202GW of power is available as stored power. This initiative will be
soon implemented in India.

DEMAND RESPONSE

Demand response is the strategy used by the electric utility companies to reduce or shift the
energy consumption from peak hours of the day to the leaner demand times of the day.

There are three main types of demand response which includes emergency demand response,
economic demand response, and ancillary services demand response. Each addresses critical
system needs.

Emergency Demand Response is used to mitigate the potential for blackouts or brownouts
during times when demand threatens to exceed supply resources. This typically occurs on
days of extreme hot or cold temperatures when heating and cooling systems are causing
greater demand on the grid. For eg: the first islanding scheme was given to DTL Delhi
Transco Limited by Alstom. The same is going to be implemented by Essar & Reliance as
well.

Economic Demand Response is employed by utilities to avoid the significantly higher costs of
producing energy during peak demand times of the day that is associated with ramping up
"peaking" power plants to meet higher than expected demand.

Ancillary Service Demand Response is used to support the transmission of electricity to loads
in a manner consistent with reliability requirements that are imposed on utility companies by
industry regulators.

The advantages of this technology are early detection of loads, communication of information
automatic & easy verification in real time. At the same time there few challenges which this
technology faces namely: fostering customer participation and signalling an event.
Demand Response in the Indian Context
Demand response is in its nascent stages in India. Its benefits will mirror those seen in Western
countries, such as reduced electricity blackouts, reduced electricity costs, offsetting the need to
build supply resource and the ability to integrate electric vehicles and renewable energy sources.
Regulatory framework also needs to be in place for implementation of Demand Response
strategies. However, considering the large diversity in the consumers to be served in India, it is
necessary to identify the appropriate consumers to be roped in for Demand Response to ensure
the success of the program. Consumer awareness and maintaining transparency with them must
be a priority to win their confidence and ensure acceptance of the Demand Response program.
The electrical distribution network must be strengthened to ensure reliability in operations. Also, to
cater to the diverse needs of the consumers, a variety of DR modules need to be prepared.

CONTRIBUTION OF ALSTOM TOWARDS SMART GRID

Alstom is at the heart of Smart Grid evolution, delivering key technologies that combine together
to form SMART GRID SYSTEMS. As a leader in both power generation and grid management,
Alstom is ideally positioned to be a technological leader of the Smart Grid. Its expertise allows to
offer an integrated approach to implement Smart Grid technology including grid management,
power generation, information technology and telecommunications along the entire grid.
Alstoms Smart solutions include the following:

Power Electronics where the hardware embedded with high speed control are installed egg:
convertors for D Connections, renewable integration and reactive power management. The
solutions include: HVDC, FACTS, SVCs, STATCOMs etc. lack of a standard leads to the
deployment of systems which are neither compatible to the system nor have an adequate
interface facility.

Control Room IT where software platforms are used for grid operations i.e. monitoring,
control and trading of the energy over the grid. This includes bothy centralised system at the
control room and also distributed intelligence across the grid (microgrid). The solutions
include: EMS, MMS, dimes etc.

Automation solutions this includes all the automation systems in the grid components. They
typically have fast reacting time process for protection & control purpose in the SMART GRID.
These include: MICOM IEDs, conventional & digital control systems (DS Agile) for digital
substations, PMUs etc.

Alstom has initiated various ambitious programs to become a leader in the Smart Grid technology
segments like: DC Grids, Grid connected batteries, Demand response management, and online
asset management, energy monitoring & balancing in future eco-cities. The latest technologies in
SMART GRID in ALSTOM include the following:

Rapid advancements in Synchrophasors.

Introduction of Phasor Measurement Units

Cyber Security

Emerging Wide Are Solutions

Dynamic Line Rating.

Some of the recent projects already implemented and to be implemented are as follows:

DTL Islanding Scheme this is the first fast and islanding demand and generation scheme in
India given by Alstom for Delhi Transco Limited. The Delhi peak l;oad is expected to touch
approx. 6500MW. The basic principle being, if the frequency of the system moves below
49.9Hz there are 170 feeders tripping at 30 substations. If the frequency gets to normal these
feeders are restored back. If the system is still not stable, there is formation of the first island.

If the frequency still dips further there is formation of the second third and fourth island and so
on and manually restored once the system is corrected. The islanding is achieved using
MICOM P143 relays for f & df/dt, transducers for power measurement, high speed frequency
recorders.

Unified Real Time Dynamic State Measurement (URTDSM) This project includes the supply
of WAMS to supplement the SCADA/EMS for Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. There
will be around 1186 PMUs to be deployed in 350 Substation across India. PMUs will be
placed at all stations 400kV & above, all generating stations at 220kV & above, HVDC
Terminals & inter regional & international Tie lines & both ends of the transmission line of
400kV & above.

GETCO WAMS GETCO is the first utility to implement WAMS in India & Alstom is the first
one to supply WAMS to GETCO. Approx. 118 PMUs have been supplied for the GETCO
WAMS project.

RECOMMENDATIONS TO MEET THE CHALLENGES SMART GRID

Introduction of appropriate tariff structures. Initially, participation in programs could be

voluntary. Such efforts should be coordinated through the Forum of Regulators. This could be
a suitable intervention in implementing the Demand Response and peak load management
which require dynamic TOU/TOD which is actually absent in many states on India.

Interoperability ensures compatibility between the new system, application & communication
technologies. The main issue was posed in the implementation of R-APDRP to read the
proprietary metering data. This was to some extent resolved for distribution transformer level
by BIS etc. Interoperability standards for various applications/equipment are required.
Definition of an interoperability roadmap at national level that maps out and comprehensively
addresses various use cases/applications and presents an action plan for large scale
deployment.

Smarter and improved pricing will be important for renewables' viability. The major challenge
with renewables, their intermittency and unpredictability, is ripe for a nimble and responsive
system, i.e., a smart system, where we not only have storage as an option, but consumer
participation to match demand with supply.

Inadequate Grid Infrastructure: For India to continue along its path of aggressive economic
growth, it needs to build a modern, intelligent grid. It is only with a reliable, financially secure
Smart Grid that India can provide a stable environment for investments in electric
infrastructure - a prerequisite to fixing the fundamental problems with the grid.

Secure communication and standard protocols: Communications among regional market

operators, utilities, service providers and consumers are necessary. There should be dual

interoperability. In view of supporting all the data sources on the grid, a high-bandwidth
communication infrastructure must be in place. A wide range of wired and wireless
communications technologies are available to transport data, but there is no one best choice.
Any Smart Grid initiative will have to pick two or three communications methods, and mix and
match as required getting to the required level of coverage. Some may be owned and
operated by the utility (e.g. fiber to the substations), and some may be commercial networks.

Data management System: The market information grid is crucial in the future markets in
Smart Grid paradigm. Future Indian market information grid at all levels with the advent of
Smart Grid paradigm is shown in Fig.3. Data surge can be forecasted due to increased
complexity of market operation by enrollment of end-users, DGs, Micro Grids into the
markets. The two-way metering data may be voluminous. Hence, there is a need for
standardizing the information exchange and data formats. It requires focus on adopting the
developed standards and improving the standards according to the new requirements. So,
data standards and data management of market data is to be taken care of in a proper
manner.

CONCLUSION
Smart Grid in India today, applies at the distribution level, not generation or transmission. Here,
again, a Smart Grid becomes not just a luxury but a necessity. Today, losses are high in the system,
both financial and technical, not to mention theft, and a smart system can easily help monitor and
even control the flows of power. Shortfall of power, today ~15%, manifests itself with periodic
outages (feeder-level load shedding), and this impacts the overall GDP in numerous ways, including
the fact that consumers resort to back-up power generation via diesel and batteries/inverters, which
is both expensive and environmentally damaging.
The evolution of Smart Grid in India along with the current projects and the future initiatives has been
discussed above. Smart Grid implementation is at its peak in todays scenario and the Indian
government as well as all the organizations in power sector is working towards the implementation in
one way or the other to meet Indias power demand. The huge data to be handled in future will call
for efficient database management, data mining techniques and architecture which can support
seamless exchange of data at various points in the systems.

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