Industrial Automation Magazine India

Energy storage system is the key to have an efficient T&D system

Published on : Saturday 04-02-2023

Dr Rashi Gupta, Founder & Managing Director, Vision Mechatronics

Green Energy is a buzzword today. How can automation and control help to scale up the Green Energy solutions to industrial levels?
Automation is the key to success and green energy is definitely a space where automation can play a very significant role. India is looking to add a massive 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 which is expected to have an investment of at least Rs 2.44 lakh crore according to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). In order to achieve this, it is very important to have automation, right from the supply chain to manufacturing and generation, automation gives you speed, automation gives you accuracy, and that is what translates into efficiency, which is the need of the hour.
 
Power and Energy are frequently used (incorrectly) as interchangeable, but they are different terms. Power is the instantaneous quantity of energy. Many applications use energy out of a storage system, most common being batteries. The process of capturing energy in a battery at a time of surplus and using the energy at a time of need is an old concept, both in stationary applications and also in mobile vehicles. The hitch is that, both the storage and withdrawal have many losses involved. What are recent advances which drastically reduce such losses?
Yes, an energy storage system is the key to having an efficient transmission and distribution system; there are certain losses in both storage and withdrawal, but these are insignificant as compared to what we have in the present transmission and distribution system. The cost of upgrading the system is much more than installing energy storage devices. There are efficient energy storage devices, which are available and have 96% efficiency and can reduce such losses drastically.
 
Generation of electricity from fossil fuels is attributed with generation of over 40% of CO2 emissions. Automation can play a big role firstly in creating the dashboards and also helping with algorithms to reduce these emissions. What are the trends in this matter which is occupying the mind space of leaders the world over?
Data today is the gold mine that we were banking on and in the green energy space it is very important to understand that new technologies require newer algorithms and in this state of climate emergency we need to urgently reduce our CO2 emissions. First and foremost, tracking and analysing all the data that we have on emissions will help us reduce these effectively globally. Everyone is working towards effective implementation of climate change efforts because it is important to understand that this is the race to save mankind and not the climate; climate existed even before mankind and it will exist even after mankind. The question is how effectively we can save ourselves from the impact that we have done by disturbing the ecosystem.
 
Traditionally power transmission meant transporting energy generated from large utilities to consumption centres located well away. But today, with various alternate means of generation, who also have an ambition to export energy to the grid, the patterns have changed. There are multiple points of generation of various capacities with different constraints, which might impact grid stability. What steps are taken to induct the new technologies of AI and ML into this challenging area?
Renewable energy systems or green energy systems are traditionally different. We have centralised systems and distributed energy systems and as we know that Renewable Energy is intermittent in nature. It is important to have a combination of both centralised and distributed systems with a component of energy storage. This is the only way we can reduce the impact on the grid. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are very important as they play a very significant role in forecasting and scheduling and there is a significant increase in use of energy requirements of all countries day by day as we are constantly innovating new technologies and marching towards a digital era. With the aim to digitalise and energise the power grid to the remotest village of the nation, it is important to have a balance between the urban and rural power requirements. AI and ML can contribute significantly to improve the grid stability and absorb new technologies.
 
One of the major challenges in power distribution is disruption to power supply due to faults in the distribution system. This forces many entities to resort to captive power generation systems, which are of a smaller capacity, and then usually of lower efficiency. One attempt all along has been to localise and repair faults rapidly. What new technologies have entered this field?
There are definitely certain changes in the distribution system because of which we do face power disruptions and now there is an option available to have captive power generation through renewable energy sources and with the advancement in technology they have become quite efficient. If effectively managed, they can actually help in strengthening the grid as they will be distributed energy resources. Local generation, storage and use of the energy produced through renewable energy sources are effective, economic and efficient.
 
Independent power generation and energy storage systems – we live in a modern world where technology is accessible to every household. We read in papers about residences that have switched to solar energy generation at home to supply electricity to their daily loads, while installing net metering that enables the excess energy to flow back to the grid. To make these systems more effective, we have energy storage systems that harness the solar energy and store it for use while the sun has retired, or for an extremely cloudy day, allowing everyone to be energy independent. This is managed by individuals on their own account and expense. Using the internet or E-commerce websites there are both known and indigenous solar panel and EPC contractors who assist individuals with energy generation infrastructure alongside installation and guidelines. Next come Energy Storage Solutions. For anyone who is interested in running independent infrastructure 24x7, BESS and ESS solutions come in handy – with traditional brands introducing a product category to satisfy this need of the market to many indigenous players entering the market, we haven also have seen the rise of many individual and independent energy producers both private and semi-private setting up solar/hydroelectric farms to harvest this power and supply to the local residential and industrial segments.
 
Technologies have revolutionised generations and mindsets to transform current infrastructure for the future, in which we have witnessed emergence of new business models, hybrid energy infrastructures and subcultures that upgrade the existing systems while eradicating faults altogether.
 
In a smart city, metering of electricity consumed needs smart meters. These meters need to do more than just measure the flow of power; they may also need to track time-of-day consumption, maximum demand and such parameters. What are the latest techniques in this field?
When technology is getting smarter, the metering also needs to be smart enough with evolving technology. Smart meters are also getting smarter and fully provide features like remote monitoring via communication devices and advanced features like remote load balancing and ticket based access controls. These should include home network interconnectivity, industry standard, H1 compliant port to ensure that they are ready for integration with smart buildings and smart home devices and associated applications. With AI taking the front seat, smart meters are the concept of today. Maybe we will need AI-based metres for tomorrow.
  
(The views expressed in interviews are personal, not necessarily of the organisations represented)
 
Dr Rashi Gupta’s journey started with an idea to transform energy technology by improving its storage applications. A lady pioneer in the momentum of Advanced Cell Chemistry in Lithium Storage Batteries division, in pursuit of her purpose, she started to manufacture the ‘worlds Smartest Lithium Battery’ in India, also earning herself the nickname ‘Batterywali of India.’ She is the proud Founder & Managing Director of Vision Mechatronics Private Ltd, striving to continue her leadership in the fields of renewable energy, robotics and energy storage technology. A woman Energy-preneur strong headed and determined to establish herself and her beloved company as a power brand among male dominated fields.
 
Dr Rashi has become a prominent name in the Renewable Energy Sector of India and is featured as Asia’s Most Influential Women in Renewable Energy 2020 and “Corporate Guru World Award 2021” for her work in SDG5 and SDG7. She has also been relentlessly working on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment issues globally and is committed to promote sustainable development, with an emphasis on SDGs 5 and 7. Also awarded the “Global Women Leadership 2021” and featured amongst first 50 “Women in Stem by CII 2021” for her contribution and excellence in the STEM field. She is featured among TOP 40 Global Women Leaders in Energy Storage 2022. She has also been working relentlessly to advocate for ‘Energy justice’ and ‘Energy Equality,’ by facilitating rural electrification to ensure rural schools in India get access to clean and green energy enabling them to be at par with the Urban schools. One such example is the primary school at Katavaram, Andhra Pradesh.
 
She is a committee member of Bureau of Indian Standards for Batteries, Energy Storage and E-Mobility. She is also a Member of the International ElectroTechnical Commission. She is also a committee member of National Energy Storage Committee – FICCI, Chairperson-Energy Storage Theme – International Solar Energy Society e.V (ISES) for SWC2021, CleanTech Business Club – Chair of Task Force – Energy Storage & Smart Energy, Chairperson –Women’s India CleanTech Business Club, CleanTech Business Club Vice Chair India, Advisor – Energy Storage – India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), Committee Member IEEE-GESI (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion), and Committee Member – Women in RE, MNRE (Ministry of New & Renewable Energy).