Sitaram Chodimella is the Regional Director – Energy Automation Business Unit for Siemens since 2006. His position covers protection and power quality, substation automation, telecommunication systems and smart grid applications encompassing the Lower Gulf region of the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Yemen. In an interview with Anoop K Menon, Chodimella dwelled on the importance of smart grid and its significance for the Gulf region.
What are the common misconceptions you have encountered about the Smart Grid? Also, how does Siemens view the smart grid?
There are two misconceptions that are widely prevalent. One misconception is that Smart Grid is only a buzz word with no strong technologies or real benefits backing it, while the other one is that it is a universal fix for all problems faced by utilities today. So we have two extremes – no real benefits on the one hand, and a one-solution-that-fits-all on the other.
To answer your second question, from a portfolio point of view, Siemens provides technologies to the entire gamut of energy conversion chain. So we have solutions for generation, transmission & distribution of energy, as well as monitoring and control across generation, transmission & distribution and consumption. Some of the smart grid applications we are involved in include advanced energy management systems for the transmission applications, blackout prevention and FACT (Flexible AC Transmission) systems.
What are the pre-requisites for any smart grid implementation?
At the consumer end, you should have smart metering in place. This will enable you to generate the data from consumption behaviour and consumption patterns within the utility’s scope of work. You should have control and monitoring systems for the T&D network of the utility. These two components are the building blocks on which the smart grid applications are built, by taking data from consumption and generation, and managing the network and the load in such a way that you are always energy positive.
There was quite a large volume of automation being implemented in T&D even before the term smart grid came into vogue. Will these investments be superseded by the smart grid?
As I said earlier, T&D automation serves as the building blocks of the smart grid. The applications for the smart grid are built upon these existing technologies. Utilities that already have these building blocks are in a much better state of preparedness for implementing smart grid than ones that don’t have them in place.
What is the path you recommend for utilities contemplating smart grid implementation?
Utilities should identify their business objectives. Based on these objectives versus the technological problems encountered, they have to evaluate the technologies and based on that, make the investments. They have to choose suppliers, who keep these aspects in mind when designing systems. In other words, utilities have to evaluate their vendors or suppliers to ensure that their business objectives and the technological impact that the future might bring are taken into account. For example, Siemens is taking part in the development of Service Oriented Architecture for utility applications, which provides a future-proof concept so that even if the technology changes tomorrow, the existing installations are not affected. This is the way for the future.
Do you agree that the motivation for implementing smart grid in the Gulf region would be different from elsewhere or are there common grounds?
The challenges and motives are different here than in Europe or North America. Europe, for example, has set a target for achieving 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020. There is a focus on integration of renewable energy into the mix; In the United States, they have a weak distribution network. These are the two different drivers in those markets. In the Gulf, networks in certain areas are very strong, which means they are new. So the issues could well be non-technical losses, improving energy efficiency and reducing future investments. If their economies have to grow at the same rate, they have to invest in generation capacity. But by implementing smart grid, they can reduce these investments. I feel the opportunity to reduce investments in new generation capacity will be a key driver for this region.
How will smart grids transform the utility business the way we know it today?
I think there are different ways that the utilities will get transformed, and this will differ from region to region. What we are seeing in the rest of the world is different business models popping up because of the smart grid technologies. In typical demand response applications, there are new models where the companies are selling negative energy. However, it will be a while before we see such applications in the Gulf region because here, the utility sector is not completely privatised. Once liberalised electricity markets are established, you will see new applications like demand response, distributed generation and micro grids, where small renewable energy sources are integrated, coming into the play. In new and emerging application is e-mobility. Electric vehicles bring a completely new perspective and challenge for the utility market, and are one of the areas where you will see dramatic changes. For example, electric vehicles are a completely different load application, and the load patterns they will bring in would be unlike anything we have seen so far. In the West, pilot projects are up and running to study the impact of electrical vehicles on the network, and on how to operate and integrate them into the network.
What is the weakest link today when it comes to smart grids?
I think one of the weakest links is regulation. In many countries, the regulation is not in place yet or it is ineffective. Today, if households want to integrate renewable energy, they are hampered by the absence of feed-in tariffs, which is the case in most countries. That is why a lot of thought has to be put into this and a lot of study has to be done to improve the regulatory environment, so that the benefits of smart grid technologies are brought to the consumers.
Do you feel that conventional power generation will continue to play a bigger role in the Gulf region’s version of the smart grid vis-à-vis Europe, where the share of renewable energy in power generation is on the uptrend?
In the Gulf, even with smart grid coming into the picture, conventional energy will continue to play a dominant role for some time to come. The major applications for renewable energy here is photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar. These technologies continue to be under development because there are still efficiency issues in capturing solar energy. Once there are breakthroughs in research, I am sure there will be a dramatic change in the region with regard to the percentage of renewable energy within the overall energy consumption. With Abu Dhabi having set a target of generating seven per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, the pace of change in the UAE could be greater than in other Gulf countries.
