Rs.85 crore GSEB RAPDRP project won by Spanco

Spanco Ltd. has won the IT modernization project of the Goa State Electricity Board (GSEB)beating HCL, Reliance, Wipro, L&T Infotech, TCS and some others. This is Spanco's Fourth consecutive win in this space. It has already bagged the states of Punjab, Maharashtra and Bihar. This win further consolidates Spanco's position as one of the market leaders in the IT modernization projects within the State Electricity Boards under the RAPDRP program.

RAPDRP is an initiative driven by the center with collaboration with the state with a clear focus to bring in actual, demonstrable performance in terms of sustained energy loss reduction.

Key Objectives of RAPDRP Program:

The program spans from data acquisition at distribution level till monitoring of results of steps taken to provide an IT backbone and strengthening of the Electricity Distribution system across the Country under the program.

The objective of the program is reduction of AT&C losses to 15% in project areas. In lieu of attaining the objective, the program is divided into 2 parts Part-A and Part-B. Part-A will include projects for establishment of baseline data and IT applications like Meter Data Acquisition, Meter Reading, Billing, Collections, GIS, MIS, Energy Audit, New Connection, Disconnection, Customer Care Services, Web self service, etc. to get verified baseline AT&C losses.
Part-B will include distribution strengthening projects.

The current win comes under Part A of the program and will have the above mentioned scope. Spanco will supply, install and commission one integrated solution within the broad framework provided in the SRS (System Requirement Specification) document. SRS Committee under the guidance of Ministry of Power has finalized a detailed SRS document which covers all the components of the project including hardware, software, networking; GIS among others which
shall help the utilities improve their performance.

The size of the program is to the tune of 50,000 crores. The program consists of Part-A (to the tune of around Rs.10,000 Crore) covering Information Technology application in the electricity distribution system and Part B (to the tune of around Rs.40,000 Crore) covering the System strengthening, Improvement and augmentation of distribution system capacity.

Both parts entail planning of measures to be taken under the program, implementation of such measures to be taken and monitoring / evaluation of results / impact of the program as a whole and of its various components across the Country.

This project will work towards establishing reliable and automated systems for sustained collection of accurate base line data, and the adoption of Information Technology in the areas of metering, billing, energy accounting and customer care to provide the right information and experience to customers. This modernization of the IT systems will also help curb revenue leakages and ensure increase in overall revenues and thus contribution to the exchequer.

Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFCL) has been designated by GoI as the Nodal Agency for the program. Speaking at this occasion, Kapil Puri, CMD, Spanco Ltd. stated "We have set ourselves the target of becoming the best in the Power sector Technology Infrastructure space. This win further consolidates our market position and we expect to deliver to the State's expectations. Our cross State expertise will further help improving overall integration
efforts"

The size of the current order is about 85 crores and further strengthens the RAPDRP related order book taking it to more than 650 crores.

IBM Research Teams With Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to Make Power Grids Smarter

IBM Corporation - 11.16.2010

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it has signed a research collaboration agreement with IIT Madras and IIT Kharagpur to develop systems that will help power grids become more efficient and resilient. The systems will analyze power grid data for predictive insights. They will also improve grids to enhance productivity and reduce inefficiencies in power consumption.

IBM Research – India will work with these two premiere institutes to develop 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 reliably collect data from PMUs as well as analytics tools that process the collected data to provide valuable information to the grid operators.

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 take advantage of the PMU technology.

According to the International Energy Agency the global demand for electricity is expected to increase significantly during the period from 2006 to 2030--1.1% per year on average in the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. In comparison, increases are 7.6% in China and about 6% in India per year.

This rising demand increases stress on grids, thereby growing the chances of power outages. To prevent such outages and their impact on productivity, it is important to make the grid more intelligent by adding sensing, control and communication components.

"With exploding world population and the increased demand for clean and cheap energy there is a pressing need for making the power grids efficient, intelligent, and secure. The collaboration among IBM Research – India, IIT Madras and IIT Kharagpur aims at reducing 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. "By helping power grids become more efficient, the project will also contribute to the efforts of creating sustainable energy generation systems."

IIT Kharagpur will be primarily involved in developing the new power system applications and software systems for the project. While, IIT Madras will focus on the networking architecture to ensure that the data collected from different locations is appropriately transmitted to one location. A test bed will be developed to connect IBM Research labs and both the institutes to emulate a smart grid network. The test bed will be utilized to evaluate the network architecture and the open system designs in real-life scenarios.

"Existing power grids are facing technical challenges because of their outdated design and growing loads," said Prof. A.K. Sinha from IIT Kharagpur. "Through our knowledge in the power system application domain and IBM's expertise our students will work towards developing an innovative grid management application to make the power grid more reliable."

"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 from IBM and get a real-life problem solving and application development experience."

The project is part of IBM's Open Collaborative Research (OCR) program, an initiative to foster innovation through university-industry research collaboration.

This partnership with IIT Madras and IIT Kharagpur is the fourth engagement of its kind. IBM recently announced its collaboration with IIT Bombay. Also this year, IBM announced an OCR project with the National Institute of Design (NID). It was preceded by an OCR engagement with the Indian School of Business (ISB).

How important is the COP16 climate summit for the smart energy industry?

The COP16 climate change summit in Cancun is unlikely to bring any festive cheer to smart energy technology vendors. However, the expected lack of outcome in terms of a binding international agreement will do little to affect the movements of individual governments in setting energy-efficiency policies that will drive the adoption of smart technology.

As the US lurches to the right politically, climate change will become virtually unmentionable in federal energy policy, but in a highly fragmented market, state regulators and governments will hold the key to the adoption of smart technology. It is here that policies will be set to drive the US toward a smarter world, irrespective of the Republican resistance to climate change-driven policies.

Cancun will not deliver a globally binding commitment to climate change

There is near-unanimous consensus that the Cancun summit will not deliver a globally binding agreement on a new, credible, and meaningful climate change framework. It will certainly offer nations the opportunity to discuss a replacement to Kyoto under a far less intense media spotlight than that shone upon world leaders in Copenhagen, but the best we can hope for is the laying of a more solid foundation for future summits. As delegates arrive in Mexico, it is timely to question whether COP16 matters to the smart energy technology industry and whether a failure to deliver any binding agreement on climate change will affect the future of the industry.

Divergent political will and obstinate politicians are of course the major stumbling block for any ground-breaking consensus in Cancun. However, a failure to meet agreement at the most basic level will have little impact on investments in smart energy technology. Governments the world over are adopting their own energy-efficiency policies, irrespective of the outcome of COP16 and any subsequent conferences. While the drivers for adoption of smart energy technologies might differ, the net result is positive and should give optimism to observers that are hoping for the success of the Cancun talks.

Central governments will continue to drive smart technology adoption in Western Europe and across Asia

The EU has led the global charge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but across Western Europe the attitude to renewable energy is by no means homogeneous. Residential smart metering penetration is mandated to reach 80% by 2020, and transmission and distribution companies across the continent are investing in upgrading networks using smart technology. In addition, a commitment to renewable energy, particularly on the Iberian Peninsula and in Denmark, has seen wind generation gain significant penetration.

In Asia, China, which is now the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is also pressing forward with a renewable energy policy that will see heavy investment in solar power. China is also providing subsidies for cleantech companies. It is subsidizing manufacturers of solar film, wind turbines, and electric vehicles, and is offering subsidies to consumers to purchase electric cars. Other Asia Pacific countries are also forging ahead, with Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan already having smart meter strategies in place.

As the US lurches to the right, smart energy technology adoption will be driven by individual states

The US is a hotbed of cleantech innovation, but US-based vendors are finding non-domestic markets far more accessible. California-based smart meter vendor Echelon has only a small proportion of its installed base in its home market, and its US competitors Itron and General Electric are also looking overseas for growth. Likewise, smart grid specialist Current has a couple of contracts in Colorado and Texas, but has many more in Europe.

While the US market has benefited from a healthy environment for cleantech equity investments, as well as government-sponsored American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding and company-specific subsidies, the federal government is fundamentally unable to pass any legislation to drive energy efficiency. With a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives, the country is politically lurching to the right, cementing an ingrained ideological opposition to renewable energy. The American right is increasingly outspoken about its skepticism of the notion that burning fossil fuel has had an impact on climate change, which does not bode well for any summit designed to tackle the issue.

In addition, the US suffers from a highly fragmented energy market, in which even the largest utilities are dwarfed by their European counterparts. Significant investment in smart technology is being earmarked by some US utilities, but many lack the balance sheets to fund these investments, and regulators and end users are becoming increasingly skeptical of the benefits of going "smart."

However, the aging infrastructure that underpins the US electricity grid is creaking under the pressure of modern-day energy demands, and requires new investment. A federal push for energy efficiency is unlikely anytime soon, which virtually kills off the prospect of success at any COP summit. The Republican right must first embrace smart energy technology as a way of solving long-term energy security, which will then allow it to dodge its skepticism about climate change.

However, individual states are far more receptive. California, traditionally governed by a Republican, is heading toward state-wide deployment of smart meters to combat capacity constraints. While the easy dollars will be earned in Europe and Asia Pacific, US investment in smart energy technology will happen regardless of federal government or what happens in Cancun. It will just be a little patchy.