India's first renewable energy based smart mini-grid system commissioned

OUR BUREAU Jul 4, 2011, 02.28pm IST

NEW DELHI: India has commissioned a first of its kind Renewable Energy Based Smart Mini-Grid System at TERI Retreat in Gurgaon.

"The country must have strong safeguards so that it gets the best technology and also develops it indigenously", said Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy.

" Renewable energy is important as it reaches unreachable areas," said Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister of Power. He said that smart mini-grids will be very useful for stand-alone projects in villages and inaccessible areas.

A Smart Mini-Grid (SMG), or Micro-Grid, is an intelligent electricity distribution network, operating at or below 11 KV, where the energy demand is effectively and intelligently managed by diverse range of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) such as solar PV, micro-hydro power plants, wind turbines, biomass, small conventional generators such as diesel gensets etc in combination with each other through smart control techniques.

"Renewable energy is important as it reaches unreachable areas," said Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister of Power. He said that smart mini-grids will be very useful for stand-alone projects in villages and inaccessible areas.

Advanced sensing, communication and control technologies are used in smart grids these days for not only generation and transmission of power but also distribution and utilization of electricity in a more intelligent and effective manner.

Such an application will not only foster the effective inter-connection and utilization of multiple renewable energy resources but would also help in advancing access to energy to the last mile in the most optimum way by improving the efficiency of the overall system.

The Smart Mini-Grid system has a great potential in large commercial and industrial complexes, hospitals, shopping malls/ complexes, apartments, residential complexes, educational institutions, remote un-electrified as well as electrified locations to ensure maximum flexibility, reliability and safety.

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Gopinath S
Chief Executive
nRG Consulting Services, Bangalore
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