Greentech lead India: India has long way to go in smart grid deployments; the current scenario is not bad however. The 14 smart grid pilot projects launched by the Government of India, in association with Smart grid task force and India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), are in various stages of development with most of them expected to meet their schedule in 2013. Smart metering and renewable energy integration are some of the key focus areas of these projects.
IEEE-SA, a standards body, is contributing greatly to the development of smartgrid infrastructure in India by delivering standards that meet international requirements. Srikanth Chandrasekaran, senior regional program manager (Standards), IEEE-SA, told Greentech Lead that Indian smart grid industry show all signs of growth.
Chandrasekaran also shared his views on some of the major challenges facing Indian renewable energy sector including the integration of renewable energy in the main grid. Our interaction follows:
What is the current status of the smart grid pilot projects being implemented in India?
All indications are that the 14 pilot projects are in various stages of development and progressing in the right direction. They were not all scheduled to start and to be completed at the same time. However, by the end of the year, there are to be utility-specific strategic roadmaps in place that detail plans for implementation of smart grid technologies over the next one to five years.
The smart grid projects represent a variety of focus areas, but one of the common themes that runs across all of them is smart metering. Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) contributes across all of the pilot projects. In some of the projects, for example, the focus is on integrating renewables; in another, controls and monitoring, and, in another still, smart metering in the home. All of the projects are intended to contribute towards achievement of India’s National Smart Grid Mission: “Quality Power on Demand for All by 2027.”
With renewable energy ready to achieve price parity with conventional power in a few years, is the government prepared to integrate renewable energy in the main grid?
This is an extremely important area for India. One of the primary challenges that India faces is the large percentage of the population—an estimated one third—that does not have access to power. Drawing power from traditional stations to remote places is very complex, so India is committing to a very aggressive renewables program, in large part to meet the phenomenal demand increase that will be driven by the initiative to achieve 100-percent electrification. Integrating such a large percentage of energy that is being projected to come from renewable sources and dealing with the natural intermittency of sources such as solar and wind are significant challenges. But India has set aggressive targets, and, certainly, we are going to see renewables play a large part in that plan.
What are the major challenges involved in integrating solar and wind power in main grid?
We cannot predict when the sun is going to shine or the wind is going to blow, and so that inherent intermittency must be compensated for integrating such renewable-energy sources with the electricity grid. Energy-storage technologies, for example, are valuable tools for mitigating against this factor.
Another issue that is particularly critical to India is anticipating the environmental impact on renewable equipment such as solar panels and inverters. Testing is needed to ensure that the technology can stand up to the harsh environments such as dust, heat and humidity effects to which the equipment is going to be exposed. The technology is evolving quite quickly in this regard.
What are your suggestions to the government to boost renewable energy adoption in the country?
The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) would not presume to make direct suggestions to the government but would instead contribute through entities such as the India Smart Grid Forum. Three of the roles that the IEEE-SA, as a global player in the global smart grid movement, can offer are:
One, to educate the Indian audience on smart grid standards and experience from around the world;
Two, to encourage India’s engineers to participate in these global activities so that smart grid standards are truly global and are reflective of India’s specific regional requirements, and
Three, to encourage usage of standards-based products in smart grid implementations. We’re not talking about a small sum of money; the cost of building the smart grid is going to be tremendous and require substantial funding over a long period of time. However, investing in products based on international standards versus proprietary technologies will help reduce the overall cost of smart grid implementation in the long run.
What are the major developments from IEEE-SA to support microgrid initiatives in India? Any case study of a microgrid implementation applying IEEE standards in India or abroad?
Since its original publication in 2003, IEEE 1547 “Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems” has informed integration of distributed power sources with the grid and wider deployment of micro grid applications in markets around the globe. Japan, for example, is leveraging IEEE 1547 use-case scenarios in building microgrids and interconnecting renewable energy sources. In the United States Energy Policy Act of 2005, the standard was offered as the model for interconnection services. And in other markets around the world—Germany and Korea, for example—IEEE 1547 might not have been implemented as a whole, but the material requirements for how renewables would stay on or come off the grid have been leveraged in various requirements.
What are the contributions of IEEE-SA for off-grid initiatives?
In addition to IEEE 1547, there are several other published and in-progress IEEE standards that inform application of microgrids when either operated in an off-grid capacity or integrated with the traditional power grid.
IEEE 1547.4 “Guide for Design, Operation, and Integration of Distributed Resource Island Systems with Electric Power Systems,” for example, is a microgrid standard that presents alternative approaches for the design, operation and integration of distributed-resource island systems. It covers the ability to separate from and reconnect to the traditional grid.
IEEE P1547.8 “Draft Recommended Practice for Establishing Methods and Procedures that Provide Supplemental Support for Implementation Strategies for Expanded Use of IEEE Standard 1547” is being developed to extend IEEE 1547-based interconnection to emergent technologies across energy storage, hybrid generation-storage systems, intermittent renewables, inverters and plug-in, hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). This will expand utilities’ flexibility in engaging with renewable sources and utilizing microgrids.
IEEE 1547.6 “Recommended Practice for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems Distribution Secondary Networks” provides recommended criteria, requirements and tests and guidance for interconnecting distributed resources with distribution secondary networks, including both spot networks and grid networks.
IEEE P2030.2 “Draft Guide for the Interoperability of Energy Storage Systems Integrated with the Electric Power Infrastructure” and IEEE P2030.3 “Draft Standard for Test Procedures for Electric Energy Storage Equipment and Systems for Electric Power Systems Applications” are being developed to support the world’s needs for substantially expanded energy-storage capacity.
All of these and other IEEE standards are applicable to off-grid applications.
What is preventing major energy companies like Reliance and Tata from focusing on renewable energy on a large scale? Is this scenario likely to change in the coming years, considering the rise in petrol/diesel price?
While we have no insight into how any individual companies divide their focus, we see evidence of industry investing in renewables. There is no indication that oil prices are going to go down, and solar is already a cheaper solution than petrol/diesel for backup power generation in India. So, obviously, solar and other renewable-energy sources—be it wind or biogas or others—appear likely to play a larger and larger role. It appears clear that a mixture of diverse energy sources will be needed to meet India’s and the world’s needs for electricity in the future. India’s industrial and utility communities have been involved in photovoltaics, and there is every reason to believe this trend will intensify.
Do you think government should increase the penalties or implement other stringent regulations on energy companies not complying with RPO mechanism?
The IEEE Standards Association’s focus is on the technology piece; we would stay silent with regard to financial implications, penalties, etc. However, we believe government should do what it can to encourage technology adoption for the benefit of humanity.
What are the new standards under development/consideration from IEEE-SA for the utility and smart grid industry?
IEEE has more than 100 active standards or standards in development with relevance to the smart grid. In addition to those that we have already discussed—IEEE 1547, IEEE 1547.6, IEEE P1547.8, IEEE P2030.2 and IEEE P2030.3—there are a number of other existing or in-development standards that apply to some of the key focus areas of smart grid rollout in India.
For example, AMI standards, supporting a plug-and-play, multi-vendor environment of smart metering devices, include IEEE 1701, IEEE 1702 and IEEE 1703.
IEEE 1547.3 “Guide for Monitoring, Information Exchange, and Control of Distributed Resources Interconnected with Electric Power Systems” is primarily concerned with the connection from a distributed-resource controller and the grid beyond it; however, the standard’s concepts and methods can also be informative with regard to loads, energy management systems (EMS), Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA), protection and revenue metering. In this same vein, IEEE 1588 “Standard for a Precision Clock Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and Control Systems” is an important standard with regard to precise time measurement.
Synchrophasors support real-time EMS applications by providing time-stamped current and voltage measurements from locations across the grid. IEEE standards in this area include IEEE C37.118 “Standard for Synchrophasors for Power Systems.”
Cyber security is, of course, so important in the smart grid. Standards such as IEEE 1686 “Standard for Substation Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) Cyber Security Capabilities” and IEEE C37.230 “Guide for Protective Relay Applications to Distribution Lines” help cyber security to be incorporated from the outset of smart grid implementations—as opposed to being handled as a more expensive and less effective afterthought.
Then, undergirding all of these areas of smart grid innovation is IEEE 2030 “Guide for Smart Grid Interoperability of Energy Technology and Information Technology Operation with the Electric Power System (EPS), End-Use Applications, and Loads.” When it was published in September 2011, IEEE 2030 established the world’s first system-of-systems, foundational standard that was designed from the ground up to inform smart grid interconnection and interoperability. The standard examines alternative approaches and best practices for achieving interoperability interface by interface across the next-generation smart grid.
IEEE standards will continue to be developed and refined as driven by the world’s smart grid market, as its needs continue to evolve and be defined over the coming decades. India will have critical and unique smart grid expertise and requirements to contribute to the international standards-development effort.
Rajani Baburajan