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Lighting will play a significant role in the development of smart cities of the future as it pervades every area of an individual’s life–home, work, on the road and in public places. Moving beyond its functional role of illumination, connected LED lighting has the potential to enhance quality of life, transform everyday experiences and services, and ensure sustainability in our ever expanding global cities.

Urban populations are growing rapidly and 60 per cent of the world populations are predicted to be living in cities by 2030 with more than 70 billion light points. “Philips Lighting is helping to pave the way for this massive urban growth by developing a people-centric blueprint for lighting and IoT services in the smart city of the future,” states Harshavardhan Chitale, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Philips Lighting India.

Philips Lighting India envisage there would be 4 key areas of direct application of connected lighting:

Connected streets
Connected LED street lights provide highly energy efficient, quality light with sensor nodes. It could stream data between millions of devices, collect and distribute data and improve city services such as light, traffic, air quality, public safety, parking and other location based services, leveraging state-of-the-art communication technologies.

Interactive public spaces
Scarcity of space will compel cities to extend public spaces underground, with a seamless transition made possible by lighting that mimics natural daylight and makes people feel comfortable. The digital lighting system can send positional data to help drones navigate and deliver items, while responsive light walls display art and foster citizen interaction and creativity.

More personalised living
Lighting will be able to synchronize with everything from your door bell to your television and music and will be fully adjustable to individual preferences. It will pre-empt your needs and complement your wellbeing, energize you, relax you and keep you safe.

With the proliferation of network infrastructure be it Wi-Fi or cellular data in every business, houses, and public place, all buildings and public areas are destined to become smart. Internet of Things (IoT) is taking over across all domains and lighting is not an exception. Street lighting will no longer be an isolated sphere but part of a networked urban infrastructure.

Informing on the role of lighting in making a smart city Shailesh Tokekar, General Manager & Head, Marketing and Retail Lighting, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting says, “With smart and connected lighting solutions, LED luminaires can be connected to a network which further can be centrally controlled using software. This ‘smartification’ will enable illumination of various urban areas – city centers, main roads, residential streets, tunnels, parks, etc, precisely according to the lighting requirements in these areas. They enable demand-driven lighting, dimming the lights at off peak traffic hours leading optimum energy utilisation, reduce CO2 emissions, thus saving energy and reduce lowering municipal electricity costs.”

In a smart city, street lights will fullfil many more functions than mere illumination. For example, they will notify the municipal corporations when the local garbage bins must be emptied, or record a change in traffic volume and communicate with the road traffic controller to diverge traffic accordingly.

Street lighting posts can also serve as data stations with sensors, can monitor parking spaces and communicate information about these, or recharge the batteries of an electric car. Being connected to a single network, the lighting system will have a concrete data on the amount of electricity consumed by each light on a broader level or even how much a phase consumes. This will help in eliminating the problem of electricity theft as the leaks in a particular network can be readily discovered and necessary actions can be taken. As cities grow, a security infrastructure of sensors and cameras will decrease the risk of any threat, accidental or intentional. Such a system can run directly over the centrally managed street lighting grid, making the city a better place to live in.

Smart cities use recent advances in communications and digital technologies, data sharing, analysis and intelligent design to make cities more livable, resilient, economically sound, and sustainable.

“Smart city lighting system changes the concept of management by using the lighting grids. Street lights are a vital part of every city, providing citizens and business with safety and security. Networked street lights are more than mere appliances for artificial lighting. They become nodes in a multi-functional network but what if we could use our street lighting network in a more intelligent way rather than the simple on-off system that currently exists. Smart sensors and embedded devices – from street lights to power meters to traffic signals and beyond – work together with an open, connected infrastructure to create a distributed layer of intelligence that can save energy, streamline and optimise operations, and make citizens feel safer and more connected,” explains Sharmila Kumbhat, Director, K-Lite Industries.

Lighting industry as amongst the biggest and the most versatile industry in the world. The trend of market is from simple light to products suiting multiple requirements. Indian customers are more and more concerned about the efficiency of light. Customers are also keen on looking for system solutions and smart lighting, reveals Rhambo Zhang, India Head, Opple.

The vision of smart cities differs for people living in diverse geographical locations. Some of the places are densely populated, whereas some have low infrastructure facilities. Sometimes even the disposition of the local government and private business of investing money to create smart-city initiatives may lack in several cities. “Keeping such factors in mind lighting plays a major role in shaping a smart city,” notes Zhang.

Smart lighting includes smart sensors that can be found in several applications such as utility poles, water lines, buses, traffic lights, etc. “Most of the power consumed from these sensors comes from the wireless links used to transmit data. Thus these developers are working on creating unique and innovative lights which can turn this place into smart cities,” explains Zhnag.

As per Mangesh Khisty, Sr. General Manager and Head, Marketing, Lum BU, Bajaj Electricals Ltd to reduce electrical demand, cities are adopting LED. LEDs have changed the way how we light the world, successfully displacing traditional illumination sources across every part of globe. This transition has kicked off a new phase of LED adoption – the race to connect every light point.

According to Gautam Seth, Joint MD, HPL Electric & Power Ltd, the growing interest in intelligent and smart lighting is expected to change market dynamics with the announcement for the establishment of smart cities, which will increase demand for LED lighting, based on intelligent and connected infrastructure. Further, under the Make in India initiative, 100 per cent foreign investment under the automatic route has been permitted in construction, operation, and maintenance in specified rail infrastructure projects, which is expected to fuel demand for LED products for local consumption.

Moreover, with government’s increased interest in converting existing street lights into LED is expected to increase demand for LEDs in coming years and the deteriorating power situation across the country and limited budget allocation for starting power projects have directed the government’s focus towards energy conservation and efficiency.

Intelligent features of today’s lighting
Lightings are available with intelligent features. Some of the experts will share the intelligent features in today’s lighting.

The introduction of intelligent lighting offers several key benefits to a city. It allows constant monitoring of system status, obtain details of failures in real time, decide as to when, where and how much to switch on or dim, monitoring every unit from wherever one wishes. Basically the intelligent lighting system transforms lighting systems into a new territorial communications network and enables an intelligent support capable of activating a wide range of services to improve quality of life and make cities more intelligent, safe and sustainable. As per Kumbhat the major features are:

• Energy efficient LED lighting system reduces carbon footprint and long term operation costs
• Operational integration with real time data allows lighting control as and when required
• Street disturbances and law and order system monitoring through noise detection, CCTV and community response
• Traffic flow monitoring and data generation for city planning
• Air pollution monitoring integrated into the lighting network
• Extension of WiFI services through the street light network.

“Accurate switching times based on local sunset and sunrise with the aid of photo-sensor or time-scheduled switches, increased flexibility of lighting, data management with the help of an energy consumption report, 24 hour online monitoring system (GIS), increased security with the help of anti-theft alarm are the title intelligent features of today’s lighting system,” states Tokekar.
Street light cloud-based control systems also offer individual luminaire level control as per the light, time of the day, and location based longitude and latitude. Remote controlled based operation facilitates ease of maintenance while real time energy metering and report generation help to analyse and decide optimum electricity usage.

These systems are pre-programmed; as soon as an error occurs or the system detects an unusual pattern, it automatically alerts the staff. This creates a new level of transparency concerning maintenance of street lighting grid. In order to identify defective lights, the city will no longer be dependent upon nightly inspection trips and complaints from citizens. The system will reveal the status of the connected city lighting right at its hub. “Wipro Lighting’s smart and connected lighting solutions provide for energy savings with reduced carbon emissions,” claims Tokekar.

In this age of smart connected lighting system, lighting can connect and interact seamlessly with a building’s Ethernet or wireless network, allowing remote monitoring and operation through a network of smart controls, devices as well as apps. Lights can be equipped with sensor nodes that are capable of conveying information like room occupancy, temperature and humidity, thus operating automatically basis the presence of people at a particular place. This has paved the way for a fully digitally lit world with connected LED lighting systems. “Our personal wireless lighting system – Philips Hue is one such example. It allows users to personalise and control home lighting using just their smartphone or tablet. Similarly, connected LED lighting at offices can significantly enhance the energy efficiency of a building by regulating facilities such as lighting, heating, cooling, and meeting room availability according to its occupancy levels,” says Chitale.

As per Zhang there are several trends going on in the lighting industry these days, some are:
Wireless control: These LED lights come in enough variants and with a USP of ‘No Wires’. Lights with ‘No Wires’ is the latest trend these days. Users can now control these smart lights via a tablet or a smart phone.

Smart connectivity: Everything from applications to gadgets is well connected via internet in today’s world. The internet of things is basically used to describe activities that are controlled especially by your computer or the smart phone. Lights that are controlled especially by the web are the new entrants in the industry.

Inbuilt sources: LED lights come with irreplaceable light sources. LED light sources need not be replaced quite often. Manufacturers nowadays work on creating technologies that are inbuilt and that don’t require any lamps or moulds that can cover them. These are easily available and come in various sizes and styles.

Khisty believes intelligent lighting is the new technology in which every company is trying their hands to make:
Sensors control: Various sensors like motion sensors are used today in offices where light get automatically shut down when it is not required.

Dimming: Dimming of luminaires is in its starting phase, where outdoor diming option based on live traffic is needs to be researched where Bajaj is working and doing research as streetlight consume hell lot of energy, and dimming them say in midnight when your traffic density is very low can save a lot for municipal corporation.

M-M communication: Streetlights in the particular area form mesh network, where every streetlight talk to each other and remotely we can control the streetlight which includes default detection, life etc.

Khisty believes that shift from analog to digital, low cost supporting technologies, ubiquitous install base are the three factors which has revolutionised the era of intelligent lighting.
LED lighting is technology adoptions that have witnessed tremendous growth in recent years. LEDs are gaining more prominence as compared to CFLs, especially in urban regions of India on account of their affordability and awareness. Affordable cost of LEDs and the ease of availability of such technology make it a more attractive option. Further, unlike CFLs, LEDs do not contain harmful substances like mercury, making its end-of life disposal easy and environment-friendly. LED has higher brightness level than same wattage of other lighting technologies. It has longer burning hours, is more energy efficient due to dimmable feature, has higher power factor.

“Intelligence comes while interfaced with sensors like microwave sensor, ambient light sensors, PIR sensors, occupancy sensor or astronomical clock. These sensors help in changing brightness level dynamically as required. We can say ‘Lit up when required’. Depending upon traffic movement/ambient light level, intelligent lights switches to higher brightness/low brightness or completely powered off. Remarkable amount of power can be saved. Significant savings in power allow intelligent LED based lights to be clubbed with solar solutions also. Intelligent lights are integrated with communications like power line communication and low power radio communication which makes more manageable remotely. In India RF is more in use compared to other communication technologies. Lights can raise notifications when any technical fault occurs in it. The Indian LED lighting market is expected to reach Rs 31,010 crore in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 62 per cent between 2016 and 2020,” says Seth.

Are we ready? 
Philips Lighting is already putting in place several building blocks that will enable the smart cities of tomorrow, with its wide range of connected lighting systems and services for homes, offices and public lighting.

It’s Citytouch street lighting solutions are currently used in more than 250 cities in 31 countries and some key installations are in London (UK), Surakarta (Indonesia), Los Angeles (USA), Greater Toronto (Canada) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). The company recently announced one of the largest connected street lighting systems in Jakarta with its CityTouch system monitoring and managing nearly 90,000 street lights. Philips Lighting also installed a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) connected lighting system that transformed Madrid’s landmark office skyscraper Torre Europe into a smart office.

Opple Lighting has launched its set of innovative lights that fit the smart cities. Opple has also pioneered revolutionary products with features like Flicker free light to avoid headache, migraine, dizziness, impaired intellectual and visual performance and anti-glare luminaire design to reduce the effect of glare. The brand has also worked on the multi-shadow while preserving high optical efficiency, high illumination uniformity and low unified glare rating. UV LED does not emit UV, NO mercury which makes products friendly to the environment.

HPL Electric & Power recently signed an agreement for Bhopal smart city project for automation of LED lighting solutions as part of consortium with Bharti Infratel and Ericsson. Smart city project has an excellent potential. There are lot of possibility for it to do fine business by collaborating with government’s initiative. Approximately the order value is Rs70 crore. The company has also developed a street lighting system that helps in saving manpower through automatic settings for sunset and sunrise timings and remote energy metering and dimming of such lights during off-peak hours to save energy. It has a dedicated R&D team for lighting system.

With over a decade of experience in standalone and connected lighting control system installations, Wipro Lighting provides smart, intelligent and connected lighting solutions for smart city requirements and applications. This is backed by 34 branch offices and a dedicated service and support network Pan India.

Wipro offers a range of energy efficient lighting solutions and control systems and components for smart lighting applications in indoor and outdoor facilities. With the emergence of big data, the internet of things and connected digital lighting, it is going to bring much more intelligent functionality into our lighting systems. Hence, this trend will play an important role in making cities more livable, enjoyable and safer, at the same time making it more economically sustainable.

K-Lite has stepped into the smart city domain with a pilot project to simulate the various functions involved through a lighting pole combined with smart lighting and allied sensors such as vehicle movement sensor, pollution monitoring etc. The company has an additional strength to make every type of poles and also custom-built poles to suit the specific requirement and for installing all sensors and signages over and above the lighting fixtures. In the smart city domain K-Lite’s scope will be limited to the specialised poles and luminaires.

Till now, converting night into day and illuminating the dark has been the main task of streetlights, in this new era; Bajaj’s intelligent streetlights are fulfilling many more functions. With its exclusive tie up with Cisco a major player in the smart city Bajaj is giving greater options to its clients. Also recently along with WISeKey International Holding Ltd, the company announced the intention to connect approximately 100 million consumer and industrial products to secure cloud with focus on lighting in the first phase- WISeLight IoT Platform. “This technology will help in creating digital identities of the SKUs that Bajaj Electricals has market leadership in the Lighting segment in India. Also it will enable a digitally certified eco-system for connected objects,” claims Khisty.

Source : http://www.eprmagazine.com/features/powering-the-smart-cities-with-intelligent-lighting/

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How solar power is connected to the grid

ByEPR Magazine Editorial

Posted on February 10, 2017

The post How solar power is connected to the grid appeared first on Luxstar Industries | Manufacturers and Exporters of Flame Proof Electrical Products.

Solar is an important source of renewable energy. Given India’s major dependence on imported fossil fuel for its energy needs, increasing renewable share especially solar in the energy mix would be a significant contributor to India’s goal of environment sustainability and providing energy security.

The market potential for solar rooftop distributed plants in India is approximately 124 GW and the central government has set up an ambitious target of installing 40 GW of rooftop distributed solar by 2022. But the installed capacity has only crossed the 1 GW mark till date. Hence, for quick deployment of the remaining capacity, the supporting market mechanisms must be robust and streamlined, believes Sanjeev Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, Amplus Solar. He says, “Net metering using solar has the potential to drive widespread implementation of distributed generation by incentivising end-users to adopt localised power generation. In addition to providing a reliable and sustainable source of power, it helps the end consumers save money on electricity and the distribution companies to reduce system losses since consumption are at the point of generation.”

Sharing his views on why net metering is essential for India to achieve energy security Hartek Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, Hartek Group says, “Net metering holds the key to achieving national energy security by 2022. It will help stabilise the national, regional and state grids, provide financial relief to distribution companies (discoms) through consumer default risk mitigation and reduction of Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses and lower the per-capita carbon footprint.”

The biggest advantage of solar is that it can be produced at the point of consumption. When it comes to solar power, you have to either use it or lose it. There are only two ways to prevent this loss. You can either feed the excess power to the grid (Net metering) or store it (battery storage). While battery storage is a costly proposition, Net metering provides a compelling reason to electricity consumers to opt for solar power.

He adds, “With Net metering, consumers have the option of using the solar power produced by them as and when they need it. This banking facility offers a huge advantage to the rooftop solar segment. Consumers can maximise the size of their solar installations to produce more during summers, feed excess electricity to the grid and draw it back during cloudy days. By doing away with the need for batteries, Net metering has reduced the associated capital and maintenance costs appreciably, thus resulting in better returns on investments for solar.”

As consumers are charged only for the net energy drawn from the grid, the solar power plants not only helps them reduce their energy costs but also enable them to earn money from solar power. Today, net levellised tariff from solar is lower than the retail cost of electricity in most states.

As per Kunwer Sachdev, Managing Director, Su-Kam for India to achieve energy security the country must have storage systems and for storing energy net metering is necessary. He comments, “To begin with, energy security of India is essential because the earth’s fossil fuels will get exhausted in the near future and renewable energy is our only way ahead. We have various sources of renewable energy the most abundant being solar power. But here also the challenge is the storage of this power. To achieve the energy security of India we need to store this solar power to make it available in times of emergency. Here is where net metering comes into picture.” As we know the concept of net metering revolves around feeding the ‘excess power or unused power’ generated by the solar power back to the electricity grid. This way we are not wasting solar power and ensuring a massive source of electricity generation other than the grid power.

“It is on-grid and grid tie inverters play a significant role in achieving the energy security target in India,” adds Sachdev.

Net metering is essential for a location where the time need of power load is in off sun hours is different than the generation time of the day. Also places where 24/7 power requirements is not there and holidays are there, net metering is very essential, believes Krishnan Rajagopalan, Head –Solar Business, Anchor Electricals Pvt. Ltd. Like for example residential complexes, schools, offices etc. It is very essential to run the solar plant fully without stopping like load shedding or clamping the plant generation. “The power is free from sun; we have to tap it fully. This will help in efficiently operating the plant and also move toward energy security,” he adds.

“Net metering considered as one of the most powerful tool to achieve energy security targets of India by 2022, says Dr Sanjiv Kawishwar, Sr. Vice President, ReGen Powertech Pvt Ltd. It is useful for incentivising users to adapt localised generating power through technology such as solar, reducing energy bills, stabilising the national and regional state grids, motivating consumers to utilise renewable energy, enhancing investments in renewable energy technologies, creating an interface that can significantly reduce the rising carbon footprint of our country and cut down the per capita energy footprint, providing financial relief to the distribution companies through consumer default risk mitigation.

Poor Net metering policies posing challenges
Explaining whether poor net metering policies are posing major challenges for solar power Aggarwal says, “There are various factors posing a challenge to the rise of solar in India and net metering is just one of them primarily for distributed generation. Unfortunately, despite central government’s best efforts, Net metering has not been readily adopted by all states.”

Further he observes, “Lack of financial incentives is restricting the end consumer’s adoption of solar rooftop through net metering since in many states, the buying from the discom and selling back to the grid tariff rates are different. With buying rate higher in most states, the customer is at a virtual loss by investing in solar net metering project.”

Aggarwal points out, “Grid unreliability is another issue hampering solar rooftop systems since the electricity generated using solar cannot be used in case of a grid outage due to anti islanding protection.”
Discoms are reluctant in adopting net metering guidelines due to loss of business/ profitable customer base. Net metering is beneficial to customers paying high tariffs typically commercial and industrial users and they are also profitable to the discoms.

Singh says, “One of the biggest challenges in the way of penetration of rooftop solar is poor implementation of Net metering policies, which vary from state to state. Discoms purchase power at wholesale rates and sell it at retail prices. The difference accounts for the cost of distribution, line losses and profit. As per Net metering policy, discoms are supposed to offer consumers a higher rate for solar power fed into the grid. So, they view solar power as a loss making proposition. Net metering policies need to be formulated in such a way that discoms start viewing solar power as a complementary source of electricity.”

Poor net metering policies are discouraging the solar sector believes, Rajagopalan. He says, “Poor net metering policies are discouraging solar, particularly in smaller project capacities. But this needs to be changed. Banking and net metering is very essential for this sector to grow. We are sure the central government is working many initiatives through state government to address this and different states have come out with their net metering policy. But a uniform net metering policy initiative will drive this market more rapidly.”

On the other hands Sachdev says, “Yes. We have seen that because of lack of proper net metering policy we were not able to complete some major net metering projects in the last few months. This has caused two primary issues. First- Since the time we were supposed to install the net metering system till date we have wasted that amount of solar power that could have been used to feed power to the grid. Secondly the meters installed in our homes work only unidirectional as compared to the net meters that work bidirectional. Due to this when net meters are not installed due to conflict in net metering policies then on the weekends or on the times when solar is not used to run the load this meter will add up the solar units in the bill, thus resulting in higher electricity bill in spite of solar system installed.”

The government is taking steps to improve the net metering policy. MNRE has given major discounts and incentives for the discoms so that the policy is placed efficiently.

Following are few point shared by Dr Kawishwar on whether poor Net metering policies posing major challenges for solar sector;

• If the selling and buying are at the same tariff rate then it is called Net metering.
• The actual average tariff rate varies widely from state to state due to difference in tariff policies
• In order to influence the voters the electricity tariffs are purposefully and artificially kept low for residential consumers and for agriculture consumers
• Residential consumer in the highest consumption range may get benefit as they can sell at a profit and recover their investment within a few years
• Distribution companies recover the revenue lost due to subsidy for residential users by levying extra charges on the industrial segments
• If the ‘cross subsidy’ is removed then the tariff rates may become more realistic and Net metering for all users will become financially viable.

Is net metering a curse or a blessing for solar sector?
Net metering if properly implemented will prove to be a blessing to the solar (decentralised) sector due to the following reasons:

• Reduced system losses since the consumption is at the point of generation.
• Helps provide monetary savings along with environmental attributes.
• Contributes towards grid stability.
• Reduces need for huge tract of land for upcoming power infrastructure.
• Provides energy independence and sustainability.

“Net metering adoption is not a single standing solution such as enforcing RPO requirements but would need a combined effort in terms of making the regulatory environment supportive, in-depth study of grid infrastructure to support banking, long term financial benefits for distribution companies and comprehensive guidelines for users and discoms,” Aggarwal.

As per Rajagopalan net metering is a boon to the solar sector. It is a very essential component of the evacuation of solar power which is generated. As solar generation is not in our control, we should utilise the energy fully and not under-utilise the plant, just because there is no load at the building. We should have net metering policy and allow the power to flow to the grid and adjust the same in the monthly utility bill using an import – export net metering arrangement. This system should be automated with software so that human intervention and manual errors are avoided and the process is smoothened.

“Solar power costs have been dropping consistently and grid parity has been achieved in most states. A proper framework and effective implementation of Net metering policies can go a long way in enhancing the appeal and encouraging the adoption of solar power,” says Singh.

As per Dr Kawishwar net metering can be a blessing to the solar sector if grid modernisation at local level is being done in the form of net metering. He suggests:

• Policy and commercial aspects are weaved in a such manner that it helps to make net metering successful.
• Narrative supporting the net metering should convey its benefits to consumer instead of stating that it helps to reduce transmission losses.

On being positive about net metering Sachdev says, “Net metering is definitely a blessing as long as we are using it, till we are not using it’s a curse resulting in waste of the much-needed solar power in this era.”

Source : http://www.eprmagazine.com/green-zone/net-metering-a-key-to-energy-saving/

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T oday India is the biggest greenhouse gas emitter after the US and China. Currently renewable energy accounts for about only 16 per cent of the total installed capacity of 315,426 MW. With the aim of achieving 40 per cent of its electricity generation capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030, the country is setting ambitious targets.

The government plans to achieve 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 which includes 60 GW from wind power, 100 GW from solar power, 10 GW from biomass and 5 GW from small hydro projects. Of late, it has been reported that India plans auctions for 4 GW of wind power during the current fiscal i.e. 2017-18.

Recent achievements
During 2016-17, India added a record 5,400 MW of wind power against the target of 4000 MW. This year’s achievement surpassed the previous higher capacity addition of 3,423MW achieved in the previous year.

The leading States in the wind power capacity addition during 2016-17 are Andhra Pradesh 2190 MW, followed by Gujarat 1275 MW and Karnataka 882 MW.

In addition Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana and Kerala have reported 357 MW, 288 MW, 262 MW, 118 MW, 23 MW and 8 MW wind power capacity addition respectively during the same period.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has taken various policy initiatives in the wind energy sector during 2016-17 that includes introduction of bidding in wind energy sector, re-powering policy, draft wind-solar hybrid policy, new guidelines for development of wind power projects, etc.

Further, wind power tariff dropped to a record low of Rs 3.46 per unit in an auction of 1,000 MW capacity conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

“After solar cost reduction below Rs 3/unit, wind power cost down to Rs 3.46/unit through transparent auction. A green future awaits India,” Piyush Goyal, Minister of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy tweeted.

Recent project developments
Recently, Aluminium PSU National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has inaugurated 100.80 MW of wind power plants in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Suzlon Group has installed and commissioned two renewable projects of 50.40 MW each for Nalco at Gondikota in Andhra Pradesh and Jath in Maharashtra. Both the projects have the potential to provide power to over 54,000 households and reduce 0.20 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum.

In another development, state-run THDC India (THDCIL) has commissioned its second wind power project having capacity of 63 MW in Devbhumi Dwarka district in Gujarat on 31st March.

This 63 MW wind power project awarded to Suzlon Energy Ltd on 28th November 2016 with scheduled commissioning period of 4 months was actually implemented and commissioned in a record period of 3 months after obtaining developer permission and transfer permission from Gujarat government in December 2016, THDCIL said in a statement.

With the commissioning of this project, the THDCIL has become entitled to receive generation based incentive (GBI) of Rs 63 crore from the Centre.

O&M strategies
In India, as wind is being considered as one of the key resources for power generation, the subject of wind turbine maintenance is becoming increasingly important to maximise turbine availability. Report suggests that operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of a wind turbine may go up to 25 per cent of the total levelised cost per kWh produced over the lifetime of the turbine. It is therefore critical to strategise O&M of the wind turbines well.

Explaining the importance of O&M strategies, Narendra Somoshi, Vice President, Head – O&M, Inox Wind Ltd, said, “O&M is the gamut of entire asset management of wind power plant to provide safe and secure net to the customer’s assets. O&M is a financial perspective with optimising costs, improving reliability of the wind power plant and maximisation of yield by implementing O&M strategies and using IT and data analytics.”

Wind power plant mainly consists of wind turbine generators (WTGs), high tension lines, metering, substation and EHV lines. Main components of WTGs are tower, nacelle, hub, blade and electric cabinets.

Somoshi outlines the key O&M strategies as follows: 
Operations Management

• Handing over and taking over of wind farms from projects.
• Optimum resource management like manpower, material, media, method and money.
• Setting Smart KPIs.
• Implementation EHS systems.
• 24×7 dedicated on-site O&M team to ensure every possible yield.
• Cleanliness and 5S – upkeep and maintenance of evacuation facilities.
• Liaison with nodal agencies for JMR, billing and invoices.
• Extending support for CDM audit or validation.
• Web based customer portal for wind farm performance reporting.

Maintenance Management
Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) is an advanced strategy used to optimise reliability, production, and asset life for wind farm. RCM emphasises the use of Predictive Testing and Inspection (PT&I) techniques in combination with traditional reactive, preventive, and proactive measures to determine the optimum tasks based on the consequences, costs, and safety risk. Maintainability (MTTR) and Reliability (MTBF) can be determined accordingly.

Analytics & IT Enabled systems: Performance optimisation by real time monitoring and predictive tools. By using real time data, total energy output of wind farms can be boosted. It predicts potential failures before they happen. They match real -time data against historical data to determine which parts need adjustments or replacements, significantly reducing downtime. Lost production hours and taking immediate and proactive steps. Technical analytics – for reducing breakdowns, spares consumption by sing DMAIC or 7 different QC tools.

Learning and development: Skill enhancement of employees and involvement of team for getting ideas and suggestions for improvements.

Spares & Inventory Management: Inventory levels should be decided on specific material management – using ABC, VED, SDE analysis and warranty management.

Dr Sanjiv Kawishwar, Senior Vice President at ReGen Powertech Pvt Ltd explained the O&M strategies for wind turbines as follows:

• • O&M requirement are beautifully crafted in wind turbine type certification schemes.
  • Optimal performance of wind turbine throughout the lifecycle with appropriate operation and maintenance is the key element of design process and strategies are established as well as extensively assessed as a part of mandatory design certification.
  • Development of a detailed O&M manual of new wind turbine is a requirement for design certification and therefore all strategies are made consistent with the aforementioned manual.
    Long- and short-term strategies must be focussed to achieve optimum generation and enhancement of productivity.
  • Appropriate plans on the basis of component manuals as well as wind turbine designer recommendation must be implemented.
  • O&M certification according to type certification standards are issued by accredited certification bodies and organisation must go for the certification.
  • Type approval schemes include certification for performance of service activity in wind energy industry as well as certification standards for training in renewable industry. These standards must be implemented.
  • Implementation of ‘Energy management systems based on ISO 50001 standards’ or enhancement of renewable energy (RE) efficiency using ISO 13273 will help industry to optimise generation with least maintenance.

Conclusion
As the recent crash of wind power tariff to 3.46/kWhr surprised many, experts cautioned that aggressive bidding in such capital intensive infrastructure projects may result in low-cost funding in operation and maintenance (O&M) of the wind turbines.

Source : http://www.eprmagazine.com/green-zone/wind-power-om-strategies/

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