THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To equip the state’s power network to keep pace with modern challenges, the KSEB has decided to accelerate the switch to a Smart Grid. It has called for detailed project reports for smart grids in Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. When the state’s network becomes truly ‘Smart’, the public utility can provide real-time information to the consumer and the consumer, in turn, can remote-control his consumption from whichever part of the world he is.
The best part: the system, like any advanced creation, can self-heal.
KSEBL, sources said, is halfway there. In Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, it has already prepared base-line data for the project area that includes consumer indexing, GIS mapping, metering of distribution transformers and feeders, and automatic data logging for all distribution transformers and feeders. Renovation, modernisation and strengthening of 11 kV level substations have also been carried out.
The DPRs have been called to build on the gains. They will assess the progress and then suggest measures for creating the Smart Grid. The Smart Grid can be defined as a system that employs digital information and control technologies to facilitate the deployment and integration of distributed and renewable resources, smart consumer devices, automated systems, electricity storage and peak-saving technologies.
“A Smart Grid, now the global norm, is an electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to it — generators, consumers and those that do both — in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies,” a top KSEB engineer said. The Smart Grid, he said, is capable of sensing system overloads and rerouting power to prevent or minimise a potential outage.
“What’s more, it can work autonomously when conditions require resolution faster than humans can respond,” he added. Given the shortage of funds, a Smart Grid is capable of meeting increased consumer demand without adding infrastructure. Unlike the present grid, a Smart Grid can accept energy from virtually any fuel source including solar and wind as easily and transparently as coal and natural gas.
