“Automation will be imperative for managing grid operations”

By Martin Hauske

The energy sector landscape is changing globally with the increasing adoption of renewable energy, battery storage, distributed grid-edge generation (prosumers), and the rise of electric vehicles. India is very much at the forefront of this transformation. Aligning to its Paris agreement commitments, the country has set an ambitious target of RE generation of 450GW by 2030, a substantial reduction in fossil fuel dependence by 2030, a “Go-Electric campaign”, and incentives for faster EV adoption.

Compared to many nations, the power supply system in India is one of the largest and includes complex grid systems with its diversity of supply/demand positions across regions, and many market players – central generation and transmission utilities, state gencos, transcos and discoms, private power utilities, IPPs, power exchanges, traders, central and state regulators, and system operators.

Radical changes in the energy mix are leading to several challenges for utilities, central transmission grids, and the state transmission/distribution grids – from managing the intermittency and variability of generation to maintaining grid stability, and responding to new and surging demands from moving electric loads(EVs). Potential revenue erosion with growing prosumer generation and energy-aware and energy-efficient consumers are forcing many utilities to redefine their business models for survival and growth.

As a result, higher levels of instrumentation (industrial IoT or IIoT enablement) of primarily distribution grids are being deployed. This provides utilities with the ability to sense, respond, and react in real-time to manage the supply/demand balance and stability challenges of the future grid. Digitalization and automation will be essential imperative in managing grid operations and market transactions among grid participants.

There are several players that are engaged with utilities globally in enabling their future grid transformation with end-to-end communication network technologies like private LTE, 5G, optical; IIoT platforms; and digital automation cloud. Besides, there are also technologies that help utilities plot a path to Industry 4.0, by providing a framework for controlling and managing assets and field resources everywhere, and the adoption of digital value platforms to manage and control the generation, distribution, and operation of energy services.

Going ahead, private LTE and 5G can play a major role in the management of future grids by enabling grid edge automation, real-time asset management through Drone-based line inspection, VR/AR, and teleportation.

Higher levels of instrumentation through IIoT enablement of distribution grids provides utilities with the ability to sense, respond, and react in real time.

Ultimately higher visibility of energy grid endpoints behind the meter coupled with data analytics will render better choices for consumers and minimize the gaps between energy have’s and have-nots in large countries such as India. These technologies enable energy companies to transform into distribution service operators (DSO) with multiple types of energy service (and potentially adjacent types of smart city services) offerings to consumers and help build smarter communities.

Hauske is Energy Segment Leader (Asia Pacific & Japan) at Nokia Solutions & Networks