GUWAHATI, Oct 10 - The Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL) has gone for the Smart Grid system to streamline its power distribution system and for the purpose, it is implementing a pilot project in Ulubari, Paltan Bazar and Narengi electrical subdivisions in the city, where 15,000 consumer meters will be replaced by Smart Meters, said sources in the APDCL.
The Smart Grid system makes blanket load-shedding unnecessary, as load in the areas will come down with its introduction. Either the consumers will reduce their loads themselves or the supplier, sitting in the control room, can disconnect their excess loads as a last resort, sources said.
Also called a �self healing grid�, the Smart Grid system tries to solve grid problems by itself. It informs the system operator in advance of an impending grid instability/disturbance. It optimizes utilization of power system assets so as to minimize the consumers� cost. It takes care of unpredictable nature of wind and solar energy resources.
This self-healing grid uses digital components and real-time communication technologies installed throughout a grid to monitor the grid�s electrical characteristics at all times and constantly tune itself so that it operates at an optimum state.
This grid isolates problems immediately as they occur, before they snowball into major blackouts, and reorganizes the grid and re-routes energy transmissions so that services continue for all customers, while the problem is physically repaired by line crews. It has an end-to-end
resilience that detects and overrides human errors that result in some of the power outages, sources said.
With the Smart Grid, a consumer, sitting in his drawing room, will know the amount of energy he is consuming, the cost of energy etc. Smart Grid makes it possible to monitor and adjust his energy use through smart meters and home energy management systems that offer constant rate and usage readings possible all throughout the year.
As the prices of power vary at different times of the day and it is costly at peak hours, so there may be different rates for domestic consumers in the days to come. The consumer will be able to schedule their most energy-intensive tasks for low-demand periods when they will be paying less. Control of their electric usage will be in their hands.
It has also a component of home area network (HAN). The HAN connectivity will be used for conveying real time price, for load disconnecting and connecting within customers� premises, sources said. It needs mention here that the Government of India has been taking a few policy initiatives for spread of Smart Grid technology in the country since 2010.
