TNEB Signs MoU With IIT-M to Modernise Infra, Production and Distribution
He said evaluation of existing processes and policies and to look into efficiency of thermal power plants would be some of the priority areas.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) on Thursday signed an MoU with the IIT-Madras to modernise the electricity infrastructure, improving the integration of renewable energy and upgrading the quality of the operations.
The MoU aims at modernising the electricity infrastructure to international standards with new technologies in power production, distribution and green energy. As per the MoU, the TNEB and IIT-M will work together in areas such as power generation, transmission, distribution, infrastructure upgrades, efficiency improvements, and the promotion of Research and Development (R&D). The IIT would help the TNEB in the implementation of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, data analytics, digital technologies and data-driven decision-making, the Electricity department stated in a press release here. TNEB chairman J. Radhakrishnan and IIT head for industrial counselling Dr. Manu Santhanam exchanged the MoU.
Commenting on the MoU, electricity minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar said the TNEB required R&D and technology support to solve the department’s challenges. He pointed out that the TNEB never had a standalone R&D team and it had formed a team now. The department would be working with IIT Madras and a team of IIT-Madras experts would work with senior engineers of the TNEB team in the TNEB headquarters in Chennai, he said.
He said evaluation of existing processes and policies and to look into efficiency of thermal power plants would be some of the priority areas. The IIT team would provide advisory support to the EB in all areas including roof-top solar programmes or charging stations or load flow study or any other activity.
IIT-Madras director V. Kamakoti expressed confidence that Tamil Nadu is capable of becoming an energy surplus state with sufficient help from latest technologies. The IIT would work together with TNEB to build a smart , secure, resilient, energy capture and distribution system.
The MoU would enable joint efforts in areas such as real-time grid monitoring, centralized data centres, centralized billing systems, the safe integration of renewable energy, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) besides providing specialized skill development and training for TNEB officials.