Of late India has experienced several cyclones, when the power systems got badly affected, and there is no dearth of examples where it took more or less a week to restore the power supply. As far as the centralised power system is concerned, such situations not only pose challenges to the power distributors but also the power generation companies are affected by these unforeseen natural disasters.
Also, in this phase of COVID – 19 pandemic, manual collection of meter readings from all end-users’ places is a big on-going challenge. Although we have started deploying smart meters in the country that will gradually eliminate the need for physical checking of the meters completely, it is still at the nascent stage.
In such circumstances, I realise the appropriateness of the concept of decentralised power generation. In fact, in a country of vast geographical expanse like India, decentralised power systems can truly offer some very tangible benefits. ‘Small is beautiful’, and particularly in this context, solving local problems locally will not only speed up the restoration work, stop unnecessary long-distance movement of technical personnel and help the growth of local economy through creation as well as boosting of the local employment. Of course, when I say decentralized power generation, I particularly emphasize on solar power generation, which will also mitigate air pollution.
In fact, towards the turn of the previous year, Svati Bhogle, President, CLEAN, a non-profit organisation committed to support, unify and grow the Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE) sector in India, said, “With COVID-19 taking its toll on CLEAN Members, employment has dropped and so has investor interests. However, the potential and need for decentralized solutions has never been greater.” I completely agree with this statement.
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impressive article.