Large power consumers in Mumbai can save up to 20 per cent of their electricity bills once Reliance Infrastructure implements an automatic demand response (ADR) system.
RInfra is a major electricity distributor in the city with over 29 lakh consumers. It supplies over 3,100 million units a year.
To be rolled out as pilot project for consumers of over one MW, the ADR system will be extended to other high-end users in a phased manner.
Widely adopted in the US, the ADR involves installing ‘intelligent devices’ on consumer premises which study the in-house consumption pattern and identify where and when power can be saved.
The distribution utility also benefits as it helps avoid sudden power purchases, especially in peak hours, besides forecasting daily demand.
Rinfra will also approach the State Electricity Regulator to propose incentive tariffs for consumers who opt for the ADR system.
High-end consumers such as ITC Hotels, Unilever, Jacob Engineering, Raghuleela Mall and Acme Shelters have agreed to participate in the pilot initiative, Rinfra said.
COST
Many malls and large corporate houses run up power bills of over Rs 2 crore a month.
It will also benefit general consumers as tariffs here are based on cross-subsidy where the lower-end consumption is offset by charging higher tariff to large consumers.
Rinfra has about 21 lakh consumers in the 300-unit consumption category who are charged about Rs 3.50 a unit, while the higher end pay upwards of Rs 12-plus for drawing over 1,000 units a month.
At the consumer end, the system will reduce unwanted power consumption during peak hours.
Rinfra has tied up with US-based Innovari Inc for the technology. As a pilot project, no cost is involved.
A Rinfra official said globally the cost of the system is based on per hour savings on yearly consumption, and assuming it is 10 per cent of total consumption, a percentage share is worked out with the utility or consumer by the system supplier,.
HOW IT WORKS
The power consumption is reduced in stages. First, the lights or other gadgets in non-strategic areas such as showcases, washrooms, changing rooms, lobbies and corridor are controlled.
In the second stage, alternative lighting of the floors and some escalators in the commercial, corporate or industrial installations are closed.
On the distributor’s side, Rinfra will be able to forecast a 24-hour advance load requirement, considering the capacity available.
Rinfra’s IT-based network will also flash the load reduction schedule to its consumers.
Consumers have the right to opt out of the scheduling. However, if they do not do so, the intelligent devices installed on their premises will schedule the load reduction.
This will lead to reduction in Rinfra’s overall demand and help avoid unnecessary purchase of power.
Finally, an automated system at Rinfra will indicate the load reduced by each consumer and also the incentive that needs to be passed on to the consumer.
Asked whether this would not duplicate the building management systems (BMS), which too use intelligent systems to switch off idle power usage in buildings, the Rinfra official said ADR would override the BMS.
The ADR was more technically advanced and had the ability to communicate with the utility unlike the BMS, and help the utility forecast its total demand.
Unless the power utility saves on procurement by curbing idle power at its end, the cost would ultimately be passed on the consumer, he pointed out.