ABB India signs MoU with IIT Madras to develop multi village microgrid models

As part of the UAY scheme, ABB India and IIT Madras will collaborate to develop a power management system to optimize the operation of multiple micro-grids, with and without grid connection, while managing electricity supply to villages. This system will also enable the integration of individual solar PV rooftops to a village microgrid.

The government of India is looking at a generation capacity of 40 GW in the next five years through grid connected (GC) rooftop solar PV and small scale solar PV plants. Such clusters have the capability of generating and using renewable energy locally from one kilowatt to a few hundred kilowatts. It is imperative to network such locally distributed nano or microgrids for optimal usage of renewable power across users, keeping in mind the dynamic demand/supply situation. Such inter-connection and interleaving of microgrids with the existing distribution system and infrastructure will provide economic benefits for the people, in terms of reduced outages and lower cost of power.

“The UAY scheme is the need of the hour and will foster greater corporate-academia partnerships which can contribute to solving the country’s issues and I am pleased that IIT Madras and ABB have embarked on this journey,” said Sanjeev Sharma, CEO and Managing Director, ABB India. “We are looking forward to adding another facet to our enriching association with IIT Madras. In a country as huge and diverse as India, it is important to design models of integration with power management and load balancing for proven microgrids technology with the existing grid infrastructure. This, along with the modular nature of this technology, will enable access to reliable, sustainable and cost efficient power to even the most disadvantaged, remote areas of the country,” he added.

“While India has set an ambitious target for solar energy generation, IIT Madras has been at the forefront in developing decentralized energy-efficient solar PV microgrid solutions tailored to meet India’s urban, rural and off-grid power requirements” said Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras. He added, “Partnering on this project with ABB India, a pioneer in technologies in electrical grids, enables us to ensure that the solutions we develop integrate seamlessly with large trans-national grids, and also possibly to take these solutions to other geographies where they may find beneficial application.”

The project scope includes microgrids of 20 to 100 kW capacity equipped with battery storage. Detailed studies and simulation of the various system components along with related control and optimization logics, protection criteria, monitoring and communication will also be undertaken.

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