Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 14: In yet another example of lack of proper planning and coordination in the Power Development Department, Smart Grid Technology in four important towns of the State has failed to take off despite preparation of Detailed Project Reports by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. The prevailing situation doesn’t indicate immediate progress even in near future as no decision has so far been taken vis-à-vis which town has to be taken up under the Union Ministry of Power funding and what could be the source of funding for three other towns.
Reliable sources told EXCELSIOR that in order to introduce Smart Grid technology, which consists of controls, computers, automation and respond digitally to quickly changing electric demand, Smart Grid Task Force was constituted under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda, Adviser to Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation.
Accordingly, it was decided to roll out Smart Grid Technology in one town each in 12 States including Jammu and Kashmir on pilot basis. Initially, the State Government identified holy town of Katra for the introduction of Smart Grid Technology but later on its insistence three more towns—Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Leh were also chosen but with the condition that Government of India will give funding only in respect of one town, sources informed.
As per the guidelines laid down by the Union Ministry of Power, the State Government entered into Memorandum of Understanding with the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of all the four towns.
With regard to Katra town, the PGCIL, in its Detailed Project Report, stated that its distribution network was in dilapidated condition and the same had to be improved first before overlay of Smart Grid Technology. While working out the cost of entire project at around Rs 80 crore, the PGCIL made it clear that Power Development Department of State would be able to recover this amount within a period of 5 years as the Smart Grid Technology would bring down the Aggregated Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses and outages to 7 per cent, sources disclosed.
“Contrary to the conditions laid down by the Union Ministry of Power, the State Government approached the Ministry for funding Smart Grid Technology in all the four towns on the pilot basis, which was turned down by the Union Government”, they said.
“Due to this Smart Grid Technology could not be rolled out in any of these four towns till date. On the other hand, several States are all set to complete the Smart Grid Technology work and it is reliably learnt that Gujarat would be the first State to achieve this milestone”, sources added.
In response to a question, sources said, “instead of compelling the Union Power Ministry to fund Smart Grid Technology in all the four towns, the State Government should have identified one of these four towns for funding as per the guidelines and approached Financial Institutions in respect of three towns”.
“The fate of Smart Grid Technology clearly indicates that there is no proper planning in the Power Development Department and those at the helm of affairs don’t want to play their role for improvement in the power sector”, sources regretted.
The benefits associated with Smart Grid include more efficient transmission of electricity; quicker restoration of electricity after power disturbances; reduced operations and management costs for utilities and ultimately lower power costs for consumers; reduced peak demand, which will also help lower electricity rates; increased integration of large-scale renewable energy systems and better integration of customer-owner power generation systems, including renewable energy systems.
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