As part of the government’s Uchchatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) scheme, an MoU was signed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of the Honorable President of India to formalize the project

New Delhi, November 18, 2016: 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 microgrids, 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.

About ABB
ABB is a pioneering technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing more than a 125-year history of innovation, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization and driving the Energy and Fourth Industrial Revolutions. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 135,000 employees.

Microgrids
ABB is a pioneer and world leader in microgrid technology with more than 30 completed installations across a diverse range of applications, serving remote communities, islands, utilities and industrial campuses. ABB’s comprehensive microgrid offering includes consulting, design and engineering, supply, installation commissioning and lifecycle services. ABB’s Access to Electricity social initiative in India has already demonstrated significant impact in the country. It has brought solar power to 1,200 households in the Rajasthan desert and to over 100 households in the world’s largest delta region of the Sunderbans. This project follows two ongoing CSR projects with IITM; one for the design, installation and commissioning of a microgrid able to supply 50 kW power to a rural village, the other one to help establish and research the Center of Battery Engineering at IITM. ABB recently announced the setting up of India’s first solar powered microgrid to provide uninterrupted power supply to its factories in Vadodara.

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About IIT Madras

(www.iitm.ac.in) Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) was established in 1959 by the Government of India as an institute of national importance. The activities of the Institute in various fields of Technology and Science are carried out in 16 academic departments and several advanced interdisciplinary Research Academic Centers. There are over 100 well-equipped laboratories in the Institute for teaching and research. The Institute offers undergraduate and post - graduate programs leading to the B.Tech., M.Sc., M.B.A., M.Tech., M.S., and Ph.D., degrees in a variety of specializations. IITM is recognized world-wide for its intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of engineering and pure science. IITM is a residential institute with more than 550 faculty and 9000 students. Students from 18 countries are enrolled here. The campus is self-contained and is located on a beautiful wooded area of about 250 hectares. It is home to approximately 300 species of trees and plants. IITM fosters an active entrepreneurial culture with strong curricular support and through the IITM Incubation Cell (www.incubation.iitm.ac.in). IITM has been ranked #1 amongst research and teaching institutions in Engineering in the India Rankings 2016 released by The National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India - https://www.nirfindia.org/engg