India is a diverse country in terms of people, landscape, and culture. This has had a profound effect on its politics, growth, and consumption of goods. The industrial sector, encompassing manufacturing and services, constitutes the primary consumer of electricity in India, followed by the residential sector. Electricity consumption is concentrated in major urban centers, and peri-urban areas. In contrast, rural areas experience lower electricity consumption, primarily attributed to inadequate infrastructure and limited access.
Drivers of modernisation
The modernization of India’s electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure is being driven by government-led initiatives such as the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), the National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), which are crucial in this transformation. These initiatives utilize AI and smart grid technologies to improve grid reliability, optimize energy use, integrate renewables, and enhance power supply quality and reliability. These programs are also supported by the ‘Economic Relief from Pandemic’ package, which includes an allocation of INR 3.03 trillion (approximately USD 40.82 billion) for a reform-based, result-linked power distribution program. This program includes the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), and the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) 2015 for Jammu & Kashmir, along with savings from the gross budgetary support of around INR 170 billion (approximately USD 2.28 billion).
The collaborative report, ‘Turning Around the Power Distribution Sector,’ produced by NITI Aayog, RMI, and RMI India, has underscored the paramount importance of profitability within the distribution sector as a prerequisite for attaining a high-growth, carbon neutral economy. This will be possible by understanding how institutions function, including their governance, culture, and operational dynamics. This intelligence is crucial for ensuring that institutions operate productively and healthily in areas of purchase of power, power quality and stability, and promoting private sector participation in distribution.
Crucial and major elements of power system
As the demand for power transmission infrastructure increases, the wire and cable sector is expected to experience significant growth. This expansion is driven by the need to accommodate the increasing demand for electricity and connecting renewable energy to the grid. This focus on developing the power transmission and distribution system has already led, and will continue to lead, to the adoption and installation of high-quality equipment and systems. Additionally, there is a growing demand for environment-friendly power equipment, driven by regulatory requirements and consumer preferences.
- CABLES: In response to this trend, many enterprises are progressively developing green cables. Green cables can be broadly defined in two ways: firstly, using recyclable materials such as Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) or Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) instead of PVC for the outer covering; and secondly, optimizing the production process by prioritizing energy, water, and electricity conservation to achieve maximum efficiency and environmental sustainability thereby providing cost effective solution to the customer.
For certain sheathing materials like PVC, which is commonly used for electric power cable sheathing, and polyethylene, used for telecommunications cables, a significant portion is recycled into pellets and reused. With the exception of a small portion used as auxiliary fuel in thermal recycling, nearly all sheathing materials and XLPE, are discarded as industrial waste in landfills. As the most commonly used material for energy distribution and transmission cable insulation, XLPE has significant recycling potential. However, it has not yet been recycled in substantial quantities. There are companies investing in successful recycling of XLPE and using them in manufacturing of other useful items.
- TRANSFORMER OIL: Mineral oil has been used for a long time to cool and insulate power transformers. However, it can catch fire and harm the environment if it leaks. In contrast, ester fluids have emerged as a promising alternative over the past twenty years, offering a safer and more environment friendly dielectric solution. Ester liquids are considered eco-friendly because they are ‘readily biodegradable’. This means they can break down naturally in soil or water, thanks to enzymes, and return to basic elements like hydrogen and carbon, becoming part of the environment again. The biodegradation of ester dielectric liquids has been independently evaluated by accredited laboratories using a standardized testing method established by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a globally recognized authority in setting international standards. From an asset lifespan perspective, the chemical properties of ester dielectric fluids improve transformer insulation performance and longevity, while effectively reducing the adverse effects of moisture.
Consequently, the insulation system has a life up to three times longer than in a transformer filled with mineral oil. These fluids are fully compatible with standard transformer insulating materials, components, and fluid processing equipment and procedures. Studies have shown that insulating paper in ester dielectric fluids degrades at a slower rate than in conventional transformer oil, primarily because ester fluids can effectively extract and absorb retained moisture.
- VACUUM OLTC: Traditionally, changing the winding ratios of an energized power transformer using an OLTC (On-Load Tap Changer) results in arcing within the transformer oil. As time progresses, this arcing degrades both the OLTC contacts and the insulating properties of the oil, requiring regular maintenance and oil replacement. Vacuum OLTC provides an excellent solution to overcome these problems. The fully enclosed arc chamber of the vacuum interrupter offers a significant advantage. When the vacuum interrupter operates during tap changes, the resulting arc is entirely contained, preventing contamination of the oil with arc by-products.
Additionally, the low currents involved contribute to an extended lifespan for the contacts. Vacuum interrupters offer several technical benefits due to their rapid dielectric recovery in high end industrial applications like in HVDC converter transformers, where the presence of steep zero-crossing currents necessitates larger contact gaps in conventional technologies to mitigate contact erosion and arcing – and superior arc quenching capability in challenging applications, including phase-shifting transformers, series reactors, industrial transformers, and Static Var Compensator (SVC) transformers, where high fault currents and rapid current changes pose significant challenges to circuit interruption.
- SF6 free switchgears: SF6 (Sulphur Hexafluoride) has long been the industry-standard gas used in high-voltage electrical equipment for insulation and arc quenching. However, SF6 is classified as a powerful greenhouse gas under the Kyoto Protocol, with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) 23,500 times greater than CO2 and an atmospheric lifetime of 3,200 years. Several developed countries have committed to eliminating SF6 use as part of their carbon neutrality objectives. Prominent equipment manufacturers, including Siemens, Hitachi, ABB, GE, and Eaton, are actively advancing SF6-free technologies for switchgear applications.
Some alternatives to SF6 currently in development include a combination of vacuum interruption technology and clean air, as seen in Siemens’ ‘Blue’ portfolio of switchgear products. Additionally, a fluoronitrile-based gas mixture is being developed through a partnership between GE and Hitachi. Eaton is also reported to offer “solid insulated switchgear,” in medium voltage category which relies on solid insulation and does not require any insulating medium, whether SF6, other gases, or even air.
- Smart systems: Equipment failures, especially in transformers and electric motors, can have devastating consequences for industrial production. Unplanned stoppages result in significant production losses, impacting output and potentially jeopardizing profitability. These components are prone to failure due to misuse, poor maintenance, unstable power supply, aging, and challenging environmental conditions. Existing industrial data collection methods often lack scalability and efficiency. This results in significant data loss and limits the ability to leverage valuable operational insights. The Industry 4.0 revolution introduces the concept of the ‘smart factory,’ where cyber-physical systems are integrated to enable real-time data acquisition, analysis, and decentralized decision-making.
This approach has the potential to significantly enhance operational efficiency, productivity, and overall competitiveness. These physical systems are transformed into intelligent IoT devices that are interconnected through wireless networks. This enables real-time decision-making backed by data enabled man machine interface. Online condition monitoring of transformers and motors enable control and monitoring of these equipment and take data backed decision for planning opex and capex activities.
Circilar economy, an answer to the sustainable growth
India’s position as the third-largest global consumer of raw materials necessitates a consideration of its future material consumption trajectory. Based on prevailing economic trends, India’s annual material consumption is projected to attain approximately 15 billion tonnes by the year 2030.The production of Electronic and Electrical Equipment (EEE) relies heavily on substantial material usage, including metals such as aluminium, iron, silver, copper, gold, chromium, manganese, and zinc, as well as various rare earth elements. The depletion of non-renewable resources for EEE manufacturing poses a significant environmental challenge. The current rate of extraction far exceeds the natural replenishment rate of these finite resources.
The Circular Economy (CE) is an industrial system that aims to reduce continuous extraction and consumption of natural resources, often at unsustainable rates and also sensitise the flow of resources from extraction to disposal without much consideration for reuse or recycling. CE replaces the end-of-life concept with principles of restoration and regeneration. It prioritizes superior design across materials, products, systems, and business models to eliminate waste. The Circular Economy (CE) focuses on preserving the value of resources, products, and materials by maximizing their utility throughout their lifecycle. This approach minimizes waste at every stage and emphasizes strategies such as reusing, repairing, recovering, remanufacturing, and regenerating materials and products to extract the maximum value even at the end of their service life.
With favourable support from the government of India for energy transition India has emerged as a prominent global player in the renewable energy sector, securing the fourth position worldwide in terms of total installed renewable energy capacity in various sectors like Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Geothermal Energy, Hydro Power, Ocean Energy, Bio Energy.
Phase-down of coal based thermal energy will require tremendous progress in the field of critical minerals required for renewable energy and battery storage. Favourable policies and investment in innovations for sustainable methods and materials is crucial for holistic development. Lot of advancements have also taken place in renewable energy sector like use of perovskite solar panels, materials like graphene in batteries, hydrogen fuel cells which offer higher efficiencies. Innovation in the field of circular economy will reduce the dependence on raw materials of critical minerals.
Sandhya Mukherjee, graduate in Electronics and Power from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, has been in Power Sector with experience of design engineering, consulting, quality management and operations of thermal power station. She is presently working in Technology Vertical of Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd in the role of Assistant General Manager.
