Huge smart grid collaboration opportunities between UK, India: UK minister

New Delhi: Smart grid, broadly defined as a new era interactive energy internet, is one of the key environment friendly technologies for low carbon development said Lord Philip Hunt, minister of state for energy, DECC, UK at the MoU signing ceremony on "Smart Grid Technologies" between Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) & Confederation of British Industry (CBI) on the sidelines of the climate change exhibition, Technology Development & Transfer.

Congratulating the two industry bodies for embarking on collaboration in the area of smart grid technologies, Hunt added that Indian and British industry have huge opportunity to collaborate in these areas.

Responding, Sunil Wadhwa, CEO, North Delhi Power Ltd and chairman, CII task force on power sector reforms and restructuring, said, smart grid technologies can help India's power sector leapfrog to fulfill 'power for all' mission through a low carbon route.

The smart grid concept would help in reducing peaking power consumption, Wadhwa added.

The smart grid technologies has potential to be the "energy internet" of the 21st century society with promise to bring consumer closer to the generators giving access to real time information on usage and cost of energy thereby promoting efficient energy production and consumption.

Wadhwa further added that the regulatory framework in electricity sector in India must be modified to introduce time of the usage tariffs to enable adoption of such innovative technologies that has the potential to enable communication between grid & electrical gadgets and promote usage when it is cost effective & reduce usage when electricity is expensive.