Smart grid management in Rajasthan will be India’s first

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GE Renewable Energy has bagged a grid modernization project by Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (RRVPL) as part of the utility’s roadmap to augment renewable energy in the state. The project will be executed by GE T&D India Limited, GE’s Grid Solutions listed entity in India. A first by a state utility in India, it entails investment totaling US$ 21 million (Rs 150 crore).

“The variable nature of renewable assets requires a fundamentally different approach to balance the supply and demand. Therefore, the grid of the future will require smarter, faster and more interoperable solutions to ensure resiliency, efficiency and security. India’s renewable energy targets urgently require the state utilities to be able to make informed and accurate decisions for which advanced smart grid management systems will play a key role. GE’s Advanced Energy Management System (AEMS) is a critical tool to enable that decision making,” said Sunil Wadhwa, Managing Director, GE T&D India, and Leader of GE’s Grid Solutions business in South Asia, while highlighting the importance of GE’s advanced energy management system for grids.

The total installed power capacity of Rajasthan is around 21.6 GW, out of which 34% comes from renewable sources. The state plans to further increase solar and wind generation capacity to 14.3 GW by 2022. To support this focus on renewable energy, the state requires remote monitoring and grid stability.

Smart Transmission Network and Asset Management System (STNAMS), RRVPL’s state-of-the-art power transmission roadmap, was designed to integrate large-scale renewable energy and support managing existing and future power structure.

GE’s AEMS will enable RRVPL to alter production levels based on demand. Part of GE’s Digital Energy portfolio, the software will provide real-time data acquisition and a decision support system that will help in visualization and situational awareness of the transmission grid. The data displayed at RRVPL’s Smart Grid Command and Control Centre will help in health monitoring of critical assets.

The project will also include software features of National Transmission Asset Management Centre and Unified Real Time Dynamic State Measurement, both implemented by GE for Power Grid Corporation of India Limited and will strengthen monitoring of Rajasthan’s entire grid system.

The RRVPNL-STNAMS project will have 535 substations remotely connected to the three control centers—a main control center in Jaipur, a back-up control center in Jodhpur and an additional regional center in Ajmer—which will help in remote visualization of power flow and asset health. GE’s Advanced EMS will help integrate large-scale renewable energy, make available wide-area monitoring systems to avoid the instability in the transmission system operation, identify major areas contributing to transmission losses and undertake remedial action to reduce transmission losses.

Additionally, GE’s grid software solution will provide remote operations and control of the substations and network, enabling existing technical workforce to focus on asset maintenance/management, grid monitoring and efficiency improvement-related work.

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