“Toshiba has a significant presence in India in the T&D Sector…”

Toshiba Transmission & Distribution Systems group is a world leader in the supply of integrated solutions for energy Transmission & Distribution. In an exclusive interview with Electrical India, Dr. Katsutoshi Toda, Chairman & MD of Toshiba Transmission & Distribution Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd. is focusing on his company’s contribution to the Indian Power Sector. Excerpts... 

What kind of potential are you finding in the Indian power sector nowadays?

India’s changing economy is the major driver for its energy requirement and development. The average growth rate is expected to grow @ 7.5% annually for next few years. This is resulting in transformation in the Indian Power Sector. However, the Indian Power Sector is currently facing challenging issues like fuel availability & pricing, environmental clearances, grid stability, high AT&C losses in the transmission and distribution sector, financial health of the SEBs – which is getting addressed by the Central Leadership in terms of e-auctioning of coal blocks, single window clearances, SEBs’ restructuring through schemes like UDAY etc. – may unblock the policy logjam for the sector.

In India, to bridge the gap between the Generation Capacity and Transmission Network an estimated investment of $ 75 bn is expected in next few years. In addition to this, a large opportunity is expected in the agriculture feeder separation, Green Energy Corridor and SMART GRID Technology.

Does Toshiba offer complete customized solutions to the T&D sector?

Toshiba has a significant presence in India in the T&D Sector from MV to UHV segment both in terms of products and solutions. Toshiba has one of its largest Vertically Integrated ‘State of Art’ Manufacturing facilities in India to offer Energy Efficient Amorphous Transformers for the distribution sector, which contributes in bringing down the losses.

Besides this, it has already made significant investment in the infrastructure facilities of Power Transformer to cater to the UHVAC Segment in terms of product technology and services.

Toshiba is already positioned in the MV Switchgears and with Solid Insulated Switchgears & Gas Insulated Switchgears in place it covers the complete value chain of the T&D Sector. Toshiba’s strength is in its offering to the customized requirements for Transformers and Switchgears to its clients.

What kind of new technologies are you introducing in the Indian power sector?

With a Significant Investment in the Infrastructure and Manufacturing facilities in India, Toshiba is bringing in new technologies like ‘Solid Insulated Switchgears’, ‘Gas Insulated Switchgears’ and UHVAC Transformers by transferring its Process and Design Technology from Japan to its Indian manufacturing base.

‘Solid Insulated Switchgear’ is a compact, safe and reliable switchgear, which is completely environmentally friendly – gas and maintenance free and addresses the issues of land and environment.

We shall be offering ‘Gas Insulated Switchgears’ both for the indoor and outdoor applications.

Please tell me something about your energy solution services.

Toshiba is contributing to the creation of infrastructure that enriches the quality of life for people throughout the world. In order to ensure stable supply of electricity, we offer hydro, solar, geothermal and wind power generation facilities in the renewables space, as well as thermal, hydroelectric and nuclear power generation systems.We are also a leading supplier of power transmission and distribution systems that deliver electricity to homes, commercial facilities and other users; rechargeable batteries for the efficient storage of energy; an independent energy supply system utilizing renewable energy and hydrogen; smart grids, next-generation energy distribution systems combining power infrastructure with communications infrastructure; and smart metering infrastructure and services which enable to cater next generation energy solution services.

What are you doing to increase the life of transformers that are used in open environment?

The life of transformer is mainly dependent on its operation and maintenance other than the use of high quality materials and the design aspects. Toshiba uses latest analytical tools for designing transformers considering the short circuit conditions in the grid, and the transformers are designed using very high quality materials in the insulation system – which is the heart of the transformer. The dynamic stability of the transformer is taken care of during the design and manufacturing. Besides these, few of the important diagnostic and monitoring equipments like On-line Moisture monitoring, Gas analyers, are supplied along with the transformer which keep a track on the healthiness and the performance of the transformers. We also ensure with the users on the proper installation and the periodic maintenance as per the O&M manual of Toshiba – as well as offering seminars to the users.

What are your contributions to airfield lighting?

Toshiba Lighting has been an industry leader in development of all kinds of airport lighting and control systems, from apron floodlights to runway illumination. Toshiba provides airfield lighting, control & monitoring systems and stop bar lighting systems as a kind of Advanced Surface Movement Guidance & Control System (A-SMGCS) for domestic and international airports. Providing high quality and reliable airfield lighting systems for more than 40 years, as a leading manufacturer in Japan and has over a 90% market share of inset-type airfield lights and over a 70% market share of airfield lighting control and monitoring systems including Narita, Haneda and Kansai International Airport.
Our systems make a vital contribution to aviation safety, both in Japan and throughout the world, and are manufactured to meet the stringent requirements of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). This is a seperate business segment of Toshiba.

How competitive are your solutions in general?

As explained to you ,Toshiba has a Vertically Integrated manufacturing facility at Hyderabad, which helps in maintaining Quality, On-Time Delivery and Cost effectiveness. Most of the components like Tanks, Radiators, Winding, Copper Coils, Insulation and Oil are made in house under Stringent Quality norms in the Distribution & Power Transformers – and the same model is followed in our upcoming products in Switchgears for MV and HV. This is our strength due to which Toshiba has such a wide spread of customer base in India and Globally.

What are your new plans in 2016?

Toshiba will position TTDI, the new company as a Global Manufacturing base for its T&D business in India and the global market. We aim to be a major player in the T&D segment with new technological products and services being rolled out from TTDI India base – and shall be occupying a significant share in the T&D space with our Quality and Global Competitiveness, which we are building up in our ‘Value – Chain.’ In the current year, we have plans to roll out few of our new products for which the infrastructure facilities are in place and would like to contribute to the power sector by addressing the concerns of land issues by supply of GIS, SIS and by offering the energy efficient transformers to the Distribution Companies to bring down the losses in this sector. Currently TTDI has a significant presence in the export market – we would like to leverage the same and will make our footprints in few new geographies thereby contributing to the foreign exchange earnings for the country.

What is your message to the Indian power sector?

Indian Power Sector is witnessing massive transformation due to the recent initiative and policy measures implemented by the GOI, and hence we see that this will give a boost to this sector in terms of growth and sizeable investment. The power sector globally for the next few years will be very demanding because of the rising energy demand in developed and developing markets. The T&D sector globally is expected to attract investment of $1trn over next 5-7 years. This will certainly drive the demand of Electrical Industry and open up New Technological products like SVC/STATCOM and solutions in the T&D space.

With the ‘Make in India’ thrust by the GOI, the manufacturing sector will see huge opportunities in new technology development, building up manufacturing base to cater to the global markets and claim Global leadership. This needs manufacturing sector to develop high quality process and norms, which shall meet the Global Standard to make the Grid Reliable, Safe and Affordable.

However, skill development, increase in the R&D investment and discipline in the project execution and monitoring are the key for the success of this segment. Participation by private players will be very significant in the growth plan of T&D segment, especially in Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB), SMART GRID Technology projects, and Renewable Sectors.

Leave a Reply