Even though, it may sound weird, in a mass production era, supply not always adjusts to demand. Over the past decade, the Indian power sector has almost doubled its installed generation capacity, from about 96 GW in 2000 to 170 GW in 2011. Yet, the demand for electricity continues to surpass supply. The Central Electricity Authority has estimated an energy shortfall of 10.3 percent and a peak shortage of 12.9 percent in the country during 2011-12. Adding capacity further would be a challenge, as the land to build new thermal, nuclear or hydro plants and the fuel to run them wouldn’t come easy. The price for capacity addition would be so steep that it would make more sense, if policy makers pay heed to reducing consumption as well.
Oversupply of a commodity often builds inefficiency and leads to wastage. A judicious use, therefore, stretches every drop of its utilisation. The ways to save energy has resulted in the evolution of Negawatt management, which is primarily, based on the old adage, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”A Megawatt, which is not produced or, an avoided Megawatt, is classified as a Negawatt. If 100 MW of energy is saved, it means 100 MW of clean energy is produced and that too, without polluting the environment. Increasing the use of solar heaters and compact fluorescent lamps though are simplest options to implement, but they aren’t enough. In addition to these initiatives, adopting telecom operators’ strategy of charging less for call rates at off-peak hours, that was vogue in India a decade ago, would help in the evolution of a smart grid for power transmission and distribution.
A traditional grid is a mechanical device, which allows sufficient power to flow safely through the system. But it has outgrown its role with the rise in complexity of users and sources of power. Blending from different sources of power such as thermal and renewal has become a necessity to ensure consistency in power supply. The problem with solar, wind and biomass generated power is that they are incapable of producing electricity all through the year. They need to be supplemented by thermal and hydro.
An artificial intelligence system, therefore, is needed. Using information technologies, it, a smart grid, could manage the demands of varied users. A smart grid is a dynamic system built around the principles of Negawatt management. It would encourage the consumers to use less energy during peak hours and shift the time of energy use from peak to off-peak hours such as night or weekends.
Though a commodity, electricity can’t be stored for long. The utility company can, however, use smart grid to reduce demand by direct control on equipment used by the consumer or through a tariff clause, whereby, a consumer reduces his load at certain hours of the day. As a result, during the peak hours, the consumers would receive less, but not so meager, that they have to resort to diesel gen sets or battery back-ups.
A smart grid in the long run can even offer users like schools and hospitals to have more power, even during peak hours, by paying more. The long-term possibilities are enormous. It would save the environment from avoidable emissions. The policy makers should make it happen. Sooner, the better it is.
Oversupply of a commodity often builds inefficiency and leads to wastage. A judicious use, therefore, stretches every drop of its utilisation. The ways to save energy has resulted in the evolution of Negawatt management, which is primarily, based on the old adage, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”A Megawatt, which is not produced or, an avoided Megawatt, is classified as a Negawatt. If 100 MW of energy is saved, it means 100 MW of clean energy is produced and that too, without polluting the environment. Increasing the use of solar heaters and compact fluorescent lamps though are simplest options to implement, but they aren’t enough. In addition to these initiatives, adopting telecom operators’ strategy of charging less for call rates at off-peak hours, that was vogue in India a decade ago, would help in the evolution of a smart grid for power transmission and distribution.
A traditional grid is a mechanical device, which allows sufficient power to flow safely through the system. But it has outgrown its role with the rise in complexity of users and sources of power. Blending from different sources of power such as thermal and renewal has become a necessity to ensure consistency in power supply. The problem with solar, wind and biomass generated power is that they are incapable of producing electricity all through the year. They need to be supplemented by thermal and hydro.
An artificial intelligence system, therefore, is needed. Using information technologies, it, a smart grid, could manage the demands of varied users. A smart grid is a dynamic system built around the principles of Negawatt management. It would encourage the consumers to use less energy during peak hours and shift the time of energy use from peak to off-peak hours such as night or weekends.
Though a commodity, electricity can’t be stored for long. The utility company can, however, use smart grid to reduce demand by direct control on equipment used by the consumer or through a tariff clause, whereby, a consumer reduces his load at certain hours of the day. As a result, during the peak hours, the consumers would receive less, but not so meager, that they have to resort to diesel gen sets or battery back-ups.
A smart grid in the long run can even offer users like schools and hospitals to have more power, even during peak hours, by paying more. The long-term possibilities are enormous. It would save the environment from avoidable emissions. The policy makers should make it happen. Sooner, the better it is.
Good article!!. A megawatt saved is not one megawatt produced, infact it is lot more than that. Energy efficiency of Power station combined with T&D losses result in only 33% of energy produced in furnaces to reach your household. Which means for every 1 MW of energy saved you are actually saving 3 MW equivalent energy. Hence Negawatt management needs to be taken with utmost seriousness.
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