Transmission lines:
This has been something that I have thought about a lot of
times, but never gave words to. And recently, given the power situation, my
mind keeps coming back to this. Namely, why don’t the large number of Indian
power companies that generate and more importantly transmit the power to the
millions of customer use HVDC and UHVDC transmission lines.
Currently, 132/220/400kV AC transmission lines are used for
the transmission of current across large distances. This should change as AC
transmission at high voltage is not efficient. So, why is AC transmission being
used? The problem was that the technology needed to handle high DC current did
not exist or was too prohibitive for deployment across the country like India.
Also, AC current has the advantages when transmitting over short distances.
Also, all home appliances operate on AC current, meaning that the current
reaching the plug point has to be in AC form.
That hurdle has been crossed and in India itself, many HVDC
lines have come up. The notable among
them are:
- In 1990, the 1000 mw Rihand - Dadri line was commissioned in UP.
- The 2000 mw Talcher - Kolar link, the biggest so far and spans four states: Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka which was commissioned on feb 14th, 2003.
- A contract to build the highest ever and the world's first, multi-terminal UHVDC transmission line operating at 800 kilovolts (kV) having a converter capacity of 8,000 megawatts (MW) between Agra and Hydroelectric project in North-East has been awarded to ABB in Dec, 2011
This now has to be expanded to all the long distance
transmission lines. Yes, the cost of the such an exercise is huge, but think
long term. The cumulative saving over say a 15-20 years would be huge and this
is only a one time investment.
Another advantage would be that DC lines cannot be illegally
tapped. The reason again, being that the technology to tap into a DC line is
huge. So, no illegal tapping of the lines.
In fact, the current can be transmitted in DC till the
Sub-Division transformers. This would mean a huge reduction in the transmission
losses and no illegal tapping of current. Both, of these would mean that the
deficit in current faced across the country can be reduced.
Smart Grid:
The idea of a smart grid is very old. It has been implemented
in countries like US for electricity and plans are on foot to actually
integrate all public utility systems. (More about this in the next blog, if I
write one.)
The thing about
Indian electricity system is that even though there is a National Power corporation,
we don’t have a national grid. Each state has its own grid. Sure, the grids are
connected but they are not integrated. Just look at the example given above.
Power for Agra is going to be transmitted all the way from the NE states. Just
imagine the amount of wastage (even in UHVDC transmission).
The point I mean to make here is that a national grid has to
be setup, administered by the central federal government. All the power
generated would be pooled into the grid. The power would be distributed from
the grid. This would make the system more efficient. Besides, electricity can
be efficiently transmitted between places where there is surplus generation to
places having deficiency in power supply.
Plus, it would be easy to divert electricity away from lines
where there is a disruption in the grid and route it through some other way to
the place where the current is needed.
China has built the world’s largest battery, we could look
into purchasing the technology and making use of it to store surplus current,
if and when we produce it. The Boom box, which can store energy can be also
made used in large numbers to store energy when there is difference in real
time between production and demand of current.
Smart Box
Thomas L. Friedman made a beautiful suggestion in his books
“The World is Flat” and “The World is Hot, Flat and Crowded”, in both he talks
about how electricity can be saved by people.
For example, he cites Germany, where Solar power is
generated as a community exercise. The power so generated is used by the
communities. If there is any excess power, it is sold to the power grid for a
profit.
Also, he called for setting up of what he called “Smart
Boxes” in each house. The smart box switches off appliances when not in use.
The “Smart Box” will also store energy during off-peak hours (when electricity
rates are lower; some countries have a slab system where off-peak consumption
and peak-consumption are billed at different rates.). Also, since the smart
boxes have to be connected to the grid, the electricity board can effectively
enforce “power holidays” and load shedding times. The smart boxes would have to
built in such a way that it cannot be hacked by unauthorized people.
As stated above, the idea of billing current at different
rates for off-peak and peak periods of demands must be looked in for
implementing in India.
Alternate Energy:
India should also start looking at expanding the production
of electricity from solar (The process of creating the solar cells causes quite
a bit of pollution.) and wind energy. It should also look at generating current
from Wave energy. Given the huge expanse of the Indian coastline, the amount of
energy produced would be huge.
Energy can also be produced from algae, though the technology has not reached the level where large scale production is economic.
Other sources are using waste (except nuclear waste) to produce electricity. In fact, this source has got a been given fresh life since high intensity lasers and plasma technology have come in.
Smart Buildings:
Another suggestion is the use of solar cell, embedded glass
panes as has been done in a few buildings in India.
The concept of smart buildings has to be explored. The
windows can be controlled to allow as much light and heat as required. Thus
reducing the current used for lighting and cooling (or heating) the building.
All, the suggestion above involve investments in both
technology and in setting up of infrastructure. This would obviously cost a lot of money.
There are hidden benefits here. Such a scale of investment would encourage
entrepreneurs in India to start companies that look into the technology aspects.
It would get students interested in science (Not just scoring but the
know-how).
The argument against this plan would be that given the
corruption and the income disparity, this is going to only help the rich and
powerful. The only answer, I can give is that there are systems in place and
new systems are being put in place to tackle corruption. The investment in energy is going to benefit
all classes of people.
I say let’s take a leap and see where it lands instead of
dragging our feet slowly.
Of course, all these will be helpful only and humans should start reducing their energy consumption.
