POWER TODAY CONFERENCE

New Delhi

The Power Today 2010 Conference took off on Thursday, March 18, in Hotel Intercontinental in New Delhi, with some majors participating as speakers and delegates. The first day focused on the transmission and distribution (T&D) segment, currently an industry interest area after the government took steps to strengthen private participation in transmission, and after many states have unbundled the sector. Speakers took stock, reviewed, projected and recommended steps for the future both through technology and management solutions. The conference witnessed 15 technical and policy presentations on T&D.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Guest RV Shahi, former Secretary, Ministry of Power, blamed inadequacies of our infrastructure, particularly power fulfilment, for India's inability to step up its GDP growth rate in the past. Even more recently, the case of BHEL's inability to meet sudden spurt in equipment demand was a "case of crying wolf", he said. Guest of Honour Anil Razdan, also former Secretary, Ministry of Power, focused on a brewing human capital problem in the power sector in India--particularly in T&D. He also recommended that incentivisation of states for effective turnaround in aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, coupled with further incentivisation of SEB employees, could go a long way in motivating more states to work on cutting such losses. He called for better measurement of, and control on, flow of electricity, and said the IT element in power, for which 1,421 cities are currently eligible, would mark a significant shift in the way that such controls and measurement will be managed.

North Delhi Power (NDPL)'s Sanjay Kumar Banga envisioned a "virtual metering system" in not too distant a future which could integrate peripheral but important functions, including bill payment reminders and receipts. Kirshore Jayaraman, President, GE Energy India, pointed out how the 33 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions that the power sector contributes can be effectively addressed through, among other systems, the SmartGrid. He cited the case of Miami in the US, which now has one of the most efficient energy delivery systems in the world.

Policies, current scenario, processes and issues in power transmission EPC, financing, power exchange trading were also discussed, with an active and alert audience participation.