Pitroda bats for smart grid system

The power sector should learn from telecom industry, says the Advisor to Prime Minister on Infrastructure and Innovation

Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister on Infrastructure and Innovation. File photo: Sushanta Patronobish

Strongly batting for development of smart grid system to ensure efficient distribution of power in the country, Advisor to Prime Minister on Infrastructure and Innovation Sam Pitroda said power industry should learn from telecom sector and work for developing distributed power from micro grids.

Speaking at the national conference on Smart Grids at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here, Mr. Pitroda said privatisation of telecom sector has brought about distributed telecom. “Similarly we require distributed power from all sources and also to develop micro grids,’’ he added. The conference was organised to highlight the need to bring Information Technology into the power sector in order to address the inefficiencies prevalent here.

Mr. Pitroda said time had come to do something on smart grids and bring about a socialist idea of smart grids. “Very little has been delivered on smart grids till date despite it being a buzz word for a long time. We should emphasise on enhancing the ability to distribute locally generated power for which the telecom sector should be seen as a role model. India needs to develop its own model of development. We need to develop smart meters to meet the challenges due to power theft and develop indigenous technologies for the smart grids in the country,’’ he added.

Sharing his views, Planning Commission member, B. K.Chaturvedi said India has greater transmission and distribution losses as compared to other countries. “We need to find out ways to conserve energy. Smart grid and smart metering are the next essential steps towards achieving the same. We are still in the first phase of implementation and the process of research and development has to be ongoing. Smart metering is essential to reduce the cost and manage the load. There is an eminent need to develop smart meters to meet the challenges of power theft”, he remarked.

Sharad Jaipuria president PHD Chamber emphasised on the need to overcome various challenges such as funding, availability of skilled human resources and misreporting of losses by discoms in order to make smart grids a necessity in the country.