Basic Smart Grid Training Program for Utility ProfessionalsBasic Smart Grid Training Program for Utility ProfessionalsBasic Smart Grid Training Program for Utility ProfessionalsUnder National Smart Grid Mission

July 27-29, 2016 Delhi

Event SummaryEvent SummaryEvent Summary

Special Message from Shri Piyush Goyal

Building the capacity of utility professionals is high on the agenda of the Government. I am delighted to note that the first such training material is now available. Developed jointly by the National Smart Grid Mission and USAID PACE-D TA Program, the training will provide well-rounded exposure to the utility participants on varied aspects of Smart Grid planning and deployment.

India is now transitioning to better power infrastructure to achieve the Hon’able Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji’s vision of 24x7 affordable and environment friendly power for all.

Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, Government of India

Special Message from Shri P K Pujari

Power utilities in India are now set to transition towards Smart Grid infrastructure upgrade to find solutions to some of the fundamental issues plaguing the Indian power sector. To embark on this Smart Grid journey, it is important that utilities have adequate resource pool of Smart Grid-trained professionals who would be the flag bearers for developing and implementing Smart Grid technologies in India.

Secretary, Ministry of Power

Day 1 Date: July 27, 2016

The National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) jointly announced the successful conclusion of the three-day training program on innovative Smart Grid technologies and applications. Nearly 45 participants from 22 utilities, representing 16 states, were trained on different facets of Smart Grids. The first of its kind training on Smart Grid, held on July 27-29, 2016 at Delhi, is a step towards facilitating the Government of India’s target of training 10% of utility personnel in Smart Grid functions.

Smart Grid technologies are vital to meeting the country’s growing electricity demand. The Indian Smart Grid has to be able to address India’s specific needs of reducing losses, providing reliable and quality electricity to the consumers. Smart Grid technologies should be able to provide information on the readiness of the electricity system to enable decision making on supplies, procurement, outage management and a number of critical decisions.

One of the core focal areas of NSGM is to build the capacity of the utility personnel on Smart Grids. To facilitate this, it partnered with USAID to prepare a comprehensive training curriculum which was vetted and approved by a Working Group established by the Ministry of Power.

The training, held at the Learning Centre of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL), started with a high-level inaugural session on July 27, 2016 which was attended by Mr. Vishal Kapoor, Director - Distribution, Ministry of Power; Mr. Prabhu N. Singh, Director, NSGM - Project Management Unit (NSGM-PMU); and Ambassador Jonathan Addleton, Mission Director, USAID/India. Addressing the participants, Mr. Kapoor said, “The NSGM acts as an institutional mechanism to plan and monitor the implementation of Smart Grid policies and programmes in India. One of the key activities envisaged under the NSGM is the capacity building of utility professionals and train them on Smart Grid-related areas. I hope the training course will facilitate knowledge sharing between stakeholders and also accelerate Smart Grid deployment in India”. Similarly, Mr. Singh encouraged the participants to become “master trainers” of Smart Grid in their respective distribution utility. He said, “The first initiative of any kind is important and we never forget it – be it in our personal or professional kind. This is the first comprehensive training program on Smart Grid in India and you all have been chosen in the first batch. You have an opportunity to shape the future training programs by giving feedback on what issues you face in your daily operations.”

Ambassador Addleton said that today there is an urgent need to leverage emerging technologies and build a skilled workforce that can help create a Smart Grid-enabled power ecosystem in India — one that is strong and reliable. He said, “USAID is pleased to partner with NSGM to develop the training curriculum and organize the training program that will provide utility professionals with a well-rounded understanding of--and deep exposure to--Smart Grid planning and deployment.”

Day 1 also included four technical sessions which were moderated by Atul Bali, DGM, NSGM-PMU. In the first technical session (Introduction to Smart Grid), G Ganesh Das, Additional General Manager, Corporate Strategy & Business Collaboration, TATA Power-DDL, provided an overview of the Smart Grid scenario in India and discussed the various Smart Grid applications. This was followed by the session on “Smart Grid Building Blocks” wherein Sujay Saha, Head of Group, Demand Side Management, TATA Power-DDL, discussed key Smart Grid components such as Geographical Information System, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Distribution Management System. In the “Peak Load Management” session, Vikas Gaba, Consultant, USAID PACE-D TA Program and Vikas Arora, Senior Manager, Smart Grid Technology, TATA Power-DDL, introduced the concept of demand response (DR) to the participants. The focus was on key design elements of DR using a case study and DR implementation challenges and TPDDL’s experience. The last session on Day 1 was on “Loss Reduction, Asset Monitoring, Optimization & Outage Management System”. Here, Praveen Verma, Deputy General Manager, Networking & GIS, TATA Power-DDL, provided an overview of distribution losses, asset management and monitoring in Smart Grid and how to leverage Smart Grid technologies for outage management.

Day 2 Date: July 28, 2016

Day 2 sessions were moderated by Kumud Wadhwa, DGM, NSGM-PMU. The first technical session was on “Grid Integration of Renewables & Energy Storage”. Sugata Mukherjee, Head of Group, Solar and New Businesses, TATA Power-DDL and Priya Sreedharan, Senior Technical Advisor, USAID/India, provided an overview of how Smart Grid technologies can address the challenges faced by the variability of renewable energy sources. The training focused on integration of renewable energy sources in Smart Grids and its future prospects, integration of electric vehicles into the Smart Grid, control aspects in Smart Grids, power converters for Smart Grids, and future electric power transmission in Smart Grids. The second session was on “Smart Grids, Quality of Supply, Service & Smart Grid Communication System”. Sanjeev Rana, Senior Manager, IT-Infra & Communication Network, Data Communication, TATA Power-DDL, talked about advanced metering infrastructure for power quality management and improvement in complaint resolution and service handling. He also discussed the critical role played by communication technologies in Smart Grid. The third session focused on “Cyber Security in Power System and Consumer Engagement & Participation”. Satya Gupta, Head of the Department, Information Technology, TATA Power-DDL and Saurabh Gupta, Consultant, USAID PACE-D TA Program provided an overview on cyber security for Smart Grids and how to detect threats and mitigate them. They also discussed various customer engagement aspects. The participants also visited the Smart Grid Lab at TATA Power-DDL in Delhi, to gain a practical understanding of select Smart Grid functionalities, namely smart metering solutions, automated demand response, solar PV monitoring, supervisory control and data acquisition, advanced distribution management system, distribution network automation (self-healing), etc.

Day 3 Date: July 29, 2016

Day 3 sessions were moderated by Sachin Shukla, Senior Manager, NSGM-PMU. The first session focused on “Regulatory Considerations in Smart Grid Projects”. Arun Chauhan, Senior Manager, F&A Regulatory, TATA Power-DDL and Priya Sreedharan, Senior Technical Advisor, USAID/India talked about the need for Smart Grid regulations and the key regulatory considerations for Smart Grid projects. They also provided international case studies to share the regulatory framework in other countries. This was followed by a session on “Smart Grid Analytics”. Anirban Chatterjee, Consultant, USAID PACE-D TA Program and Santadyuti Samanta, Additional General Manager, IT-SAP Competency Centre, TATA Power-DDL highlighted the role of data analytics in Smart Grid and discussed various data analytics applications. The last technical session of the training program focused on “Smart Grid & Smart City”. G Ganesh Das, Additional General Manager, Corporate Strategy & Business Collaboration, TATA Power-DDL, talked about the synergies between Smart Grid and smart city. He provided an overview of the key developments in India to promote smart city - Smart Grid integration.

The training program concluded with a wrap up session and certificate distribution. Mr. Singh from NSGM-PMU provided an overview of NSGM’s core activities and the progress made by various Smart Grid pilot projects. He once again stressed on the utilities to share their learnings on Smart Grid with their colleagues and encouraged them to set up State-level Smart Grid Project Management Units and Smart Grid cells to effectively plan and implement Smart Grid activities in the states.

Mr. Arun K. Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, sent a special message for the utility participants. He congratulated NSGM on making the first move towards the Government of India’s target of training 10% of all utility professionals on Smart Grid. He said, “There is a critical need to raise awareness and the skill sets of India’s utility workforce so that they are able to efficiently work towards achieving the Government of India’s vision of Smart Grid. We also need to equip the utilities with the right knowledge to design, deploy, monitor and scale up Smart Grid projects.”

The three-day training program was rolled-out with the support of state partner institutions working alongside the NSGM. With USAID’s support, the Government of India plans to institutionalize the training under NSGM so that it becomes a regular feature. The next training program on Smart Grid for utilities is being planned to be held in Bengaluru, in partnership with USAID and the Central Power Research Institute.

Training Program: Participants (44)

• Ajmer Vidyut  Vitran Nigam Limited (AVVNL) - 2 Officials• Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (DHBVNL) - 1 Official • Dakshinanchal  Vidyut  Vitran Nigam Limited (DVVNL) - 4 Officials• Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) - 5 Officials• Eastern Power Distribution Company of AP (APEPDCL) - 4 Officials• Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (JDVVNL) - 2 Officials• Madhyanchal  Vidyut  Vitaran Nigam Limited (MVVNL) - 4 Officials• Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) - 2 Officials• Madhya Kshetra  Vitaran (MPMKVVCL) - 1 Official• Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL) - 3 Officials• Paschimanchal  Vidyut  Vitran Nigam Limited (PVVNL) - 1 Official• Purvanchal  Vidyut  Vitran Nigam Limited (PUVVNL) - 2 Officials• Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) - 2 Officials• Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL) - 2 Officials• Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) - 3 Officials• Uttar Gujarat  Vij Company Limited (UGVCL) - 2 Officials• Uttar Haryana Bijli  Vidyut Nigam Limited (UHBVNL) - 1 Official• Uttarakhand Power Corporation Nigam (UPCL) - 3 Officials

Site Visit to TPDDL's Smart Grid Lab

National Smart Grid Mission-PMUMinistry of Power

Government of India www.nsgm.gov.in

twitter: NsgmIndia