India steps into the future with energy generation going smart-micro!

Written by Anna da Costa / 25 January 2009 / Read Anna da Costa's latest blog entries.

A thought provoking vision of the future stood before me as we drove into a fully automated, solar powered housing complex last week in our solar-integrated electric car.

Nestling on the outskirts of Hyderabad, an innovative partnership between property developer SA Habitat, and Solar Company Valence Energy, is coming up, one which incorporates renewable decentralised energy production, smart grids, home automation and electric cars.

18 of the 330 houses that make up this residential complex are equipped with a 4.2kW solar PV system on their roof, which will provide 40% of the housing electricity needs. They come equipped with solar water heaters too, and perhaps most futuristically are all fully automated or 'smart'. This allows every home feature to be controlled remotely, including the lights, ventilation, gas and water, and also enables remote shopping and entertainment. Although not necessarily an energy saving feature as it stands, the potential for such technology therefore to minimise energy use within a household and a community is great.

The automation systems being installed in each home are not yet fully complete, but they will include remote sensing, monitoring and control devices, as well as smart meters, embedded into each room. These will allow the homeowner to have continuous information available to them on water, gas and electricity use, the sources of their electricity, their carbon emissions, and up to date costs of each material in rupees per unit.

What does this mean?

Firstly, this technology gives visibility to our energy use which allows us to far better manage it. The consumer will be able to reduce their energy use by remotely switching off devices when not in use and by minimising their overall energy use to crucial devices at times of peak load or low supply. Secondly, they will also be able to decarbonise their energy use through choosing their electricity source based on both cost and energy source preference, prioritising, for example solar over grid, over diesel generator.

Feeding into a community scale power grid (or smart microgrid), with a single point connection to the main grid, this house can also sell energy to its neighbours when it is not being used, and ultimately sell it to the grid as part of the community, when the supply exceeds the demand. In addition to providing a potential additional source of income through the sale of energy back to grid, such a microgrid allows utilities to more easily manage loads, with their single point connection rather than multiple.

With increased interactivity between the consumer and utility enabled by a smart meter, it is also possible for the utility to improve load management on the grid and for the consumer to save money, via time of use pricing and demand response, for example programming their washer to only run at 3am when energy is more abundant, or to turn off when load shedding occurs.

In Alexis' words, 'a smart microgrid has two components, first, smart meters which allow for 2-way communication and sharing of energy as well as demand response, which can turn off or reduce loads when the grid is strained. Second, a microgrid, which is an isolated grid for a community with a single point connection to or islanding capability from the main grid. Together these solutions allow for the sharing  and intelligent use of of distributed renewable energy sources.'

With a final flourish, if the homeowner has an electric car, this can charge at the house when not in use, acting as an energy storage battery for energy use over night whilst the sun is no longer shining.

As for cost of this low carbon energy solution, the solar energy cost from this system is currently cost competitive with diesel, and as oil prices increase and solar prices come down will soon be cost competitive with the main grid.

Are there drawbacks?

This particular solution does not come without its caveats. For one, this is a very high-end property development, which in itself brings into question the need for us to be reducing our total consumption in terms of how we live. With large homes that are equipped with ACs in each room, large fridges, and not necessarily the most energy efficient architectural designs, a solar system that could potentially power all of our energy needs is only able to power 40%. This is not to say that this innovative venture is pioneering in terms of what it represents, but rather that there is even more that could be done to bring such developments closer to 100% renewable energy dependence.

Furthermore, each sensing device, which needs to be on 24 hours a day, consumes energy. Should energy simply cost more, this would be a great deterrent for me to keep my usage low, and I wouldn't feel the need for such automation. This only refers to one aspect of the automation however. Some of these ICT-based technology solutions (sensing, monitoring and control) also enable a switch between power sources, a powering down of devices to reduce peak load, and a two way flow of energy to and from the main grid, and around a community grid. In this way, they are an absolutely crucial next step towards our goal of grid interactivity, efficiency and decarbonisation, allowing us to manage the fluctuating loads innate to renewable energy, and to decentralise energy generation as we expand our power infrastructure further in such a way that it can also feed into the main grid. 

As a further caveat, ICT based solutions in themselves, which both improve energy effiency and can help us decarbonise our energy supply, are not in themselves a solution, as there is no guarantee that we will not simply end up doing more, powering more devices with the same amount of energy (the rebound effect). However, if the correct policy measures and price incentives are in place, the can enable a true step change in the way that we use and transmit energy around the country, as well as the way that we develop our power infrastructure further. 

This is of particular relevance for India for two reasons. Firstly, it currently has grid losses on ave of 30-40% with a global ave of 15% and best practice is 9%. Should these be effectively addressed by the implementation of smart and interactive ICT solutions, the further generation requirements needed for India to meet its development objectives would be much reduced. Secondly, as it seeks to electrify all households in India by 2012 through the Rural Electrification Policy, decentralisation that links with the main grid is a key opportunity not to be overlooked. Very few people have done much tangible work on this ICT based solution to date and this is certainly the first project of its kind in India, so one to watch and learn from by all accounts.

For some background on ICT and its relevance to climate change, see below;

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an increasingly important piece of the climate change tool kit over the last few years. Indeed, it is rapidly becoming one of the most important mechanisms by which energy efficiency and absolute emission reductions can be enabled across the economy.

Increasingly coined as the 'fourth utility', this invisible medium of information and communication that is now penetrating even the most remote parts of the world, has the potential to help make energy visible. Once energy is visible, it can be measured and therefore managed using a wealth of products and services, and herein lies the key to its potential and its opportunity as a climate change solution.

This opportunity is applicable to sectors as wide ranging as buildings, power, forestry, management of logistics and supply chains, transport and manufacturing processes. Furthermore, a number of recent studies have found that not only are these great mechanisms for emission reductions, but also enormous market opportunities.

The recently completed Smart2020 study, for example, undertaken by The Climate Group and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, found that ICT-enabled solutions in four key sectors (smart power grids, smart buildings, smart logistics and supply chains and smart motor systems in manufacturing processes) can bring about a global carbon emission reduction of up to 15% by 2020 (7.8GtCO₂e). Crucially, the monetary value to be captured by these opportunities in terms of energy savings and carbon costs at $20/tonne is more than EUR500 in 2020.

One of the most relevant sectors for ICT solutions in India is power, and most specifically a smart grid.

The energy scenario in India is challenging. With 57% of its population without access to electricity, average power load shortfalls of 8% and peak shortfalls of 13%, there is a huge drive for expansion of India's generation capacity and of its grid. However, 30-40% of India's energy generated is currently lost in transmission and distribution, either as grid inefficiencies or via theft The power that is produced is not efficiently transmitted to users, nor is the potential for renewable and distributed sources of energy maximally utilised. There is a huge opportunity here, and a smart grid and distribution system could hold a very important key.

The smart grid solution is relevant particularly now for a number of reasons. Firstly, India is set to expand its power infrastructure more than 100% by 2020, and as such will make sizeable investments over the coming years[i]. This represents a key opportunity to put in best in class technology and leapfrog the current infrastructure trajectory. India has particularly high transmission and distribution losses across the grid, with an average of 32% thanks to poor maintenance, operations and power theft. This could be significantly reduced through the implementation of a smart grid.

The study found that smart grid implementation across India could reduce transmission and distribution losses by up to 30%, or 95MtCO2e, and which amount to energy savings and carbon costs of 8.6bn Euro. Crucially, this would minimise the need for increased generation capacity, and facilitate a far greater utilisation of renewable and decentralised sources of energy generation.

India has a huge opportunity to capitalise on these solutions, to enhance profits, improve energy availability and security, support its rural electrification objectives and move towards a low carbon development pathway. So far, there has been little implementation of these solutions, but things are changing, and the glimmers of hope are starting to appear.

Importantly the ICT sector itself also has a long way to go to maximise its own efficiency and total emissions, and it is encouraging to note that ICT companies, most notably Infosys, Cisco, Wipro and BT are some of the most progressive in terms of addressing both their own direct footprint and for identifying low carbon business opportunities.

[i] With generation capacity projected to grow by 124% by 2020, and transmission and distribution infrastructure by 115% and 59% respectively.