We have heard of big batteries fighting blackouts and making renewable power economically viable. Large-scale power storage is crucial to our energy future, and technological assistance and knowledge transfer in the field of renewable energy, especially for rural electrification and grid integration, would be useful to the country, but more important is also the effective use of power grids.
IBM signed a research collaboration agreement with IIT Madras and IIT Kharagpur to develop systems that will help power grids become resilient. While, IIT Kharagpur will be primarily involved in developing the new power system applications and software systems for the project, IIT Madras will focus on the networking architecture to ensure that the data collected from different locations is appropriately transmitted to one location.
The project is aimed at developing open system designs that can boost the potential of Phasor Measurement Units (PMU), a new type of sensor on power grids.
The IBM researchers and the students will develop network architectures to collect data from PMUs, which will be integrated with the information gathered via various analytics tools processing data to provide valuable information to the grid operators. The systems will analyse power grid data for predictive insights. They will also improve grids to enhance productivity and reduce inefficiencies in power consumption.
The knowledge and insights gained from this collaborative research work will be made publicly available, in order to allow governments and businesses around the world to build resilient energy systems.
Citing that outdated designs and growing loads infuse technical challenges to the existing power grids, A.K. Sinha, Professor, IIT Kharagpur, said it will be a good opportunity for students to work towards developing an innovative grid management application.
This rising demand for more power and electricity indicates more stress on grids, thereby increasing the chances of power outages. To prevent such outages and their impact on productivity, the grid would be made intelligent by adding sensing, control and communication components.
The collaboration would reduce inherent inefficiencies of power grid technologies and make them optimally productive, said Dr. Manish Gupta, Director, IBM Research -India, and Chief Technologist, IBM India/South Asia.
A test bed to facilitate the experimentation will be developed to connect the research labs to emulate a smart grid network. The network architecture and the open system designs will be tested in real-life scenarios, Dr. Gupta said.
“One of the key elements of a Smart Grid is secure and high-speed communication networks,” said Prof. Krishna Sivalingam from IIT Madras, “The association is not only a step towards addressing this pressing requirement but also a platform for our students to work with the research veterans and get a real-life problem-solving and application development experience.”
