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Tech upgrades to boost power business
THE business of electrical power is quite unique. Power is produced like a commodity. However, when it comes to its usage, it has to be consumed at the time of its production. This unique characteristic creates certain unique opportunities to deploy technology and reshape the business of power.
Today, the power generation capacity of Bangladesh has grown to 16GW, according to the website of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Simultaneously, the transmission capacity has also inaeased, thereby making electricity accessible to many urban and rural homes.
The increased reliance on electrical appliances in households and industries has led to an increase in the consumption of electricity. As per the World Bank data, electricity consumption per capita in Bangladesh was 310 KWh in 2014, while that of India and USA in the same year was 806 KWh and 12,987 KWh respectively.
It is certain that the per capita consumption of electricity in Bangladesh is going to inaease. This inaease will bring in a new set of challenges and will inaease the level of expectations from participants in the power business—that is, power transmission companies, power produaion companies and power distribution companies. The deployment of newer technologies will help these companies to meet new challenges and expeaations, as well as realise the maximum benefits arising from new opportunities.
The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh currently runs more than 10,000 circuit kilometres of high-voltage transmission lines, according to the information available in their website. The transmission and supply of power needs to be uninterrupted, otherwise
the power produced will not reach consumers, thus resulting in the wastage of energy. While traditional power relays give good enough information to detea faults and rectify them, they don't have the ability to predia when the fault is going to occur. Today, power equipment is built with sensors to gather data and store it on the cloud for further processing. Processing of this data can help us generate enough insight so that we know when a particular switchgear or switchboard is likely to fail due to which power transmission would be disrupted.
Further, drone technologies can help us detea carbon shoots on porcelain insulators and the time required to clean them to avoid faults resulting power transmission failure. Drones can also provide forewarnings about mechanical snags that develop on power
lines. These new technologies are going to make power transmission in Bangladesh uninterruptible.
The demand-supply gap in the power business needs to be minimised to ensure minimum electricity is wasted and maximum electricity is sold. Grid monitors usually carry out this coordination by preparing and distributing a schedule of power production and consumption. Such planning can be enriched by data analysis using faster analytics tools and scientific models. Data that is available with power distributors can be aggregated using cloud technologies and analysed using analytics technologies. The insights from the analysis can be used to prepare a granular and realistic produaion plan. Subsequently, that plan can be used by power producers to prepare their generation schedule and run their generating stations.
Modern technologies like GIS maps and mobile apps can assist grid monitors to get
real-time performance of the full grid, thus helping to take timely decisions to manage the grid performance. This technology-assisted collaboration would ensure higher plant load faaor and would help managing the cost per unit of electricity.
It is important for laige generating stations to know whether any component of the power plant is going to fail (eg. boiler tube leakage) so that they can initiate preventive actions. Sensors and Interna of things (loT) devices can collea real-time data and process it This can prevent unscheduled outages of power plants.
The distributors of electrical power run long networks of power lines through overhead and underground cables. They have a lot of distribution transformers across their distribution zones too. Modem technology can provide real-time data about the health of these cables. Software with artificial intelligence and data analysis capabilities will be able to predia when and how faults are going
to develop and how they should be managed.
Thus, the application of disruptive technologies can help prevent disruption in power production, transmission and distribution. However, the most important change is going to take place in the profiles of customers. As the cost of producing renewable energy like solar or wind power is going down, we will see such energy gating produced at the household level. Many customers will produce renewable energy for their own use and will draw power from the grid only when needed. At times, some customers will produce power more than their requirements and will transmit excess power to the grid.
The bidirectional flow of electricity in the grid is going to be the new normal. Further, customers may also earn money for their net contribution of energy to the grid. This will catalyse the formation of a new system of power distribution. Technologies such as net-metering and the hybrid grid system will help
power business participants create a system of suppliers and purchasers.
Finally, the whole mechanism of power trading can be reformed due to emerging technologies such as the blockchain. The blockchain can allow producers and buyers to transaa power on this technology platform with minimal governance and maximum transparency. This will lead to faster transactions, lower trading costs and simpler regulatory work. The blockchain can therefore democratise the power business.
The power seaor in Bangladesh is poised for significant growth in the coming years. The adoption of new technology in an appropriate way will help aeate a modern power business ecosystem. It will also help achieve the ultimate goal of inclusion by providing cheaper and better access to electricity for all.
The writer is partner at PwC. The views expressed here are personal.