A pilot smart grid project in Tripura, under the aegis of the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), was recently terminated.
According to latest information released by the National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM), under the Union power ministry, a pilot smart grid project in Tripura, being developed by Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL), was terminated in January 2022.
The smart grid project aimed to cover 45,290 consumers in the Electrical No.1 Division of capital city Agartala. The functionalities offered under this project included AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) and PLM (peak load management).
The Rs.63.43-crore project involved Central government support of Rs.31.72 crore, out of which Rs.25.37 crore was released till the time of project termination. Wipro was involved as the smart grid implementation agency (SGIA).
The project was declared “go-live” on June 30, 2019. This “go-live” status indicates that the project is physically complete but subject to testing. According to information available, communication-related issues cropped up during the testing phase, and an alternate plan was being proposed, as of December 2021. However, in January 2022, the project was terminated.
Telangana smart grid project
On the other hand, a smart grid project in Telangana, also under IPDS, was completed in January 2022.
The Telangana project is being implemented in Jeedimetla Industrial Area, involving 11,906 consumers. The Rs.34.93-crore seeks to provide smart grid features like AMI, PLM, OMS (outage management system) and PQ (power quality).
The project was declared “go-live” on March 30, 2019 and as of December 2021, end-to-end testing and project closure activities were underway. As of January 2022, the project was completed and the closure report submitted.
Of the total project cost of Rs.34.93 crore, Central government support amounted to Rs.17.47 crore. Of this, Rs.13.98 crore was released as of end-January 2022. The “final claim” on the pending disbursal of Central government assistance has already been made.
Also read: IPDS Covers Over 500 Towns In 2021, Despite Pandemic Restrictions
All pilots completed
With the completion of the Telangana project and the termination of the Tripura scheme, the entire shelf of smart grid pilot projects currently under IPDS, now stands completed.
A total of ten smart grid pilot projects have so far been completed under IPDS at locations including IIT Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Mysore (Karnataka), Panipat (Haryana), Manesar (Haryana), Kala Amb (Himachal Pradesh), Naroda (Gujarat), Puducherry, Siliguri (West Bengal), Guwahati (Assam) and Jeedimetla Industrial Area (Telangana).
Featured photograph showing a smart meter is for representation only.
