Power Grid's mega plan to monitor electic supply

Central transmission utility would install Phasor Measurement Units at all substations

Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) is working on what would be the largest project for monitoring and controlling of electricity supply across the country.

Called 'Unified Real Time Dynamic State Measurement (URTDSM)', the central transmission utility would install 'Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs)' at all substations and generating stations. This would also form the backbone for efforts underway to integrate a large amount of renewable energy envisaged.

The plan is to install PMUs at close to 1,300 locations on the national grid in phase-1; 1,000 have been installed. In the second phase, another 500 PMUs would be installed along with a network of Optical Ground Wire, for facilitating communication services in the power network, said PGCIL executives.

The PMU network will facilitate monitoring of grid events in real time, such as power flow, voltage, backing down, demand & supply synchronisation, etc. This would improve grid reliability, reduce the probability of blackouts and minimise the impact of grid curtailment. It would also pave the way for remote communication and management of power supply.

PGCIL is already monitoring the grid at a regional level through a National Transmission Asset Management Centre (NTAMC), which is monitoring 192 locations through nine control centres. Headquartered in Manesar, Haryana, it keeps an eye on all substations of PGCIL through remote controlled cameras and alarm systems for any snag. The company did not disclose the investment amount.

In a presentation to its investors after the March quarter results, the company said it expected Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of business from intra-state transmission and state-level distribution projects. For the coming three years, PGCIL would cumulatively invest Rs 91,000 crore in several projects, say executives. It has ongoing projects of Rs 1.05 lakh crore, with Rs 25,000 crore in the pipeline.

It expects that the upcoming ultra mega solar energy parks, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, smart grid and battery storage for renewable energy would throw challenges for the grid. So, PGCIL is readying the grid for varied energy sources and demand-supply responsive systems. The company is already executing a Green Corridors project, am ambitious alternate transmission network for renewable energy.

PGCIL currently operates close to 140,000 circuit km of transmission lines and 220 substations, with transformation capacity of 292,000 MVA.