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EDITORIAL Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness — Anne Frank

Editor Shashikant Hegde Executive Editor Venugopal Pillai Deputy Editors Sandeep Menezes Renu Rajaram Editorial Advisor Dr M.S. Kapadia DESIGN & PRODUCTION Art Director Satish Kamath Graphic Designers Nitin Parkar Rajendra Vichare Madhukar Ingavale SALES & MARKETING Senior Vice President Sanjeev Singh Product Head Abhishek Mishra Assistant Manager - Sales Hemant Kumar Head - Circulation Raju Chendavankar Subscription Rosebin Mukadam

Printed, published and edited by Shashikant Hegde on behalf of Economic Research India Pvt. Ltd., published at Sterling House, 5/7 Sorabji Santuk Lane, Off. Dr. Cawasji Hormasji Street, Dhobi Talao, Mumbai 400 002 and printed at Jayant Printery, 352/54, J. S. S. Road, Murlidhar Temple Compound, (Near Thakurdwar P. O.), Mumbai 400 002. Editor: Shashikant Hegde

8 Electrical Monitor January 2015

Let there be light his edition marks Electrical Monitor’s entry into its tenth year of service to the electrical equipment industry. The past nine years have been very eventful for the publication, as much as they have been to the power industry. We take this opportunity to thank our advertisers, readers and well-wishers for steadfastly supporting us through this memorable journey. We pledge that we will continue serving the industry with renewed determination and commitment.

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This 9th Anniversary Issue is largely a collection of interviews of the senior management of companies in the power and electrical industry. A generous sprinkling of guest and technical articles on a variety of subjects completes the picture. In keeping with the expansion of the traditional electrical equipment sector into newer areas, we have consciously included companies engaged in fields like renewable energy, Smart Grid, automation, etc. This special edition also includes a theme story “PowerIndia@2020” where we have attempted to prognosticate key contours of the electrical equipment and power industry in 2020. At this time—the early part of the New Year—there is always an air of optimism, partly euphoric and partly real. However, we choose to believe that the mild undercurrents of optimism that one can today perceive are stemming from the sincere intent of new government. Though it is too early to tangibly measure any results, one must acknowledge that there has been a steady build-up of positive policy measures in the power and infrastructure sectors. One of the prime focus areas of the new government has to be power distribution. It is imperative that technical and managerial efficiency be introduced so that the power distribution business becomes commercially viable. Engaging the private sector through conventional and innovative PPP modalities can be a positive approach. India’s aspiration of Smart Cities and Smart Grid cannot materialize with sheer political will; active private sector participation is a must. An enabling policy framework, supported by active private sector engagement, can radically transform the power sector into a true enabler of socio-economic development. India can, and certainly will, emerge not only as an efficient generator of clean, affordable power but an efficient consumer as well. There needs to be growing consciousness to ensure minimum carbon footprint at every link of the power value chain. Electricity is largely about illumination. With a significant part of India yet in the grip of darkness, the country has a long journey to cover. The government’s task straddles two extremes—the reality of “no grid” and the distinct possibility of “Smart Grid”. The mission is not just to illuminate every household but also to illuminate the path from devising policies to completing projects on time. India needs light—not just in every home but in every mind as well.


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Contents COVER STORY 14

IndiaPower@2020

IEEMA is aligning with the new power sector paradigms

GE will soon set up its first showcase project in India

Vishnu Agarwal, President

Prashant K Patil, Distributed Power - Regional Verticals Leader

IEEMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

GE Power & Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

A trained man behind the machine is very important

Recent policy measures could expedite infrastructure growth

Subodh Garg, Director-General

Ramesh D. Chandak, MD & CEO

National Power Training Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

KEC International Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

We are expecting increased exposure in the power sector

In India, it is more about offering the right solution

B. Suresh, Managing Director

Kalidas Bhangare, Managing Director

DEIF India Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Testo India Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

We expect to maintain our focus on market development

We hope to play an active role in India’s Smart Grid

Rajesh K. Mediratta, Director - Business Development

George Punnoose, COO

Indian Energy Exchange Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Kalkitech Communication Technologies Pvt Ltd . . . . . . .84

Understanding Prefabricated Data Centre Architecture

India can emerge as a global supplier of LED lighting

Wendy Torell, Senior Research Analyst

Ved Prakash Mahendru, Chairman & Managing Director

Schneider Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

EON Electric Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

New emission norms can globalize Indian gensets

Anchor aspires to add new value to millions of Indians

Farrokh Cooper, Chairman & Managing Director

Kiyoshi Otaki, Managing Director

Cooper Corporation Pvt. Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Anchor Electricals Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

Lapp India looks forward to the Smart City initiative

Electricity in macro perspective

Marc Jarrault, Managing Director

Dr M.S. Kapadia, Director

Lapp India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Economic Research India Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

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Contents Technology is bringing about price reduction in LED lighting

We expect to grow in the power and infra market

Arun Gupta, Managing Director

Sivasubramanian Natarajan, Managing Director

NTL Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

ThyssenKrupp Industries India Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

‘The Smart Cities project can open up huge business opportunities’

Government should treat private players as partners in success

Sameer Saxena, Vice President - Marketing

Rishabh Seth, Chief Operating Officer

Legrand India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98

SPML Infra Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

Evolution of Bare Overhead Conductor Technology

Two New Devices Help Reinvent the Signal Generator

Dave Bryant, Director - Technology

David Hunter, Engineer

CTC Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

Analog Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Prerequisite for Smart Cities Smart Integrated Infrastructure

The free-space-gesture aspect of 3DTouchPad opens new paths

G Sathiamoorthy, Country Manager & Managing Director

Andreas Guete, Global Marketing Manager

Black & Veatch India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

Microchip Technology Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Use of Nomex can enhance the performance of Indian Railways

Energy savings is a big opportunity area in India

Sailesh Purohit, Scientist,

B. Sreenivas, Executive Director - India Operations

DuPont Protection Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104

Circutor Energy Management India Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . .124

We want to be in the top three Indian transformer companies

India is a large market for power backup products

Jitendra Mamtora, Chairman

Aditya Arora, Chief Operating Officer

Transformers & Rectifiers (India) Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

Base Batteries Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

PPP in power transmission has been largely successful

Trina Solar is committed to changing India's energy landscape

Ajay Bhardwaj, Business Head

Zhiguo Zhu, Senior Vice President

Sterlite Grid Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

Trina Solar Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

LIST OF COMPANIES* Company

Person Interviewed/Author

Page No

Analog Devices Anchor Electricals Base Batteries Black & Veatch India Circutor Energy Management India Cooper Corporation CTC Global DEIF India DuPont Protection Technology EON Electric GE Power & Water IEEMA Indian Energy Exchange Kalkitech Communication Technologies

Hunter, David Otaki, Kiyoshi Arora, Aditya Sathiamoorthy, G. Sreenivas, B. Cooper, Farrokh Bryant, Dave Suresh, B. Purohit, Suresh Mahendru, Ved Prakash Patil, Prashant K. Agarwal, Vishnu Mediratta, Rajesh K. Punnoose, George

118 90 126 102 124 58 100 40 104 88 70 26 46 84

Company

Person Interviewed/Author

KEC International Lapp India Legrand India Microchip Technology National Power Training Institute NTL Group Schneider Electric SPML Infra Sterlite Grid Transformers & Rectifiers (India) Testo India

Chandak, Ramesh D. Jarrault, Marc Saxena, Sameer Guete, Andreas Garg, Subodh Gupta, Arun Torell, Wendy Sethi, Rishabh Bhardwaj, Ajay Mamtora, Jitendra Bhangare, Kalidas

74 64 98 123 34 94 52 112 108 106 80

Thyssenkrupp Industries India

Natarajan, Sivasubramanian

110

Trina Solar

Zhu, Zhigou

128

*Alphabetical list of companies featured in this edition by way of interviews or authored articles

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Cover Story

IndiaPower@2020

ver the past decade, particularly since the passage of Electricity Act in 2003, the power sector has been undergoing a profound change. The transformation has been radical in nature spanning crucial aspects like policy, procedures and practices. The dramatic changes that the power sector has witnessed, albeit a pace that could have desirably been much faster, promise to transform the sector not just superficially but down to the core. For a conservative country like India, implementing reforms has never been an easy task, and the power sector is a particularly acute case. While the intent of reforms is noble, transmuting new policies and new thinking into action has been a hurdle that the country is defiantly trying to surmount with varied degrees of determination. The Indian power sector has traditionally been enmeshed in political hues. With such questionable legacy, the tardy progress that India has been able to manage is quite understandable, but certainly not condonable. Despite the slow pace of progress, it is reassuring to know that the overall direction is right. Team Electrical Monitor believes that the new NDA-led government will accelerate

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the power reforms process initiated by its predecessor. Besides, the new government will also explore unchartered avenues where there exists scope for new thinking and new possibilities. In this special report, Electrical Monitor attempts a prognosis of where one could expect India’s power sector to be in 2020, with respect to various parameters ranging from basic village electrification to ultra modern practices like Smart Grid.


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Cover Story: IndiaPower@2020

China’s share in India’s total imports of electrical equipment stood at around 39 per cent in FY15. Seen here is Adani Power’s Mundra power plant that has deployed supercritical boilers and turbine-generators sourced from Chinese suppliers. VILLAGE ELECTRIFICATION Reaching electricity to all its households is every developing nation’s priority. It is indeed the absence of assured electricity supply that separates developing countries from developed ones. The previous UPA government announced a celebrated mission “Power for All” that was to be achieved by 2012. Intensive village electrification was the biggest agent in realizing this mission. Though the “Power for All” objective could not be achieved in the timeline envisaged, we expect that the village electrification will continue to be pursued as a national priority. As of October 2014, a total of 5.72 lakh villages were electrified across India’s states and Union territories. This meant national village electrification achievement of 95.8 per cent, considering that India had 5.97 lakh villages as per Census 2011. It should be noted that by extant definitions, a village is deemed electrified if a mere 10 per cent of its households have an electricity connection. Thus, one has to cope with the dubious reality of an “electrified” village having most of its households devoid of an electricity connection! A status of 100 per cent village electrification in its absolute sense is elusive, much like another critical parameter—literacy. As of October 2014, nearly 25,000 villages remain non-electrified, which means that not even 10 per cent of its households have an electricity connection. Most of these villages are located in states like Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. By 2020, we do not expect much change from the overall electrification level (by extant definition) of around 96 per cent, but certainly there will be intensification of electrification. Villages despite being electrified by technical definition should have an increasing number of households coming under the ambit of electricity. Reaching electricity to remote villages will continue to be impracticable.

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However, one can expect off-grid solutions like solarpowered lighting to stand up as an efficient alternative. ROLE OF CHINA The growing role of Chinese equipment in India’s power sector has been a very contentious issue. Domestic manufacturers have been crying hoarse over the invasion of the Indian market by Chinese power equipment. Various industry associations have made representations to the government to create a “level-playing field” so that Chinese suppliers would not benefit from any undue advantage. Despite the disadvantages like alleged inferior quality and poor after-sales service, Indian buyers have subscribed to Chinese equipment right from tiny components, to boilers and turbine-generators for power plants. It is officially estimated that the share of China in India’s total imports of electrical equipment has risen to 38.9 per cent in FY14 from around 15.3 per cent in FY06. In value terms, imports of electrical equipment from China amounted to $3.8 billion in FY14, growing annually at a phenomenal 34 per cent over the past eight years. This onslaught from China should also be seen in conjunction with the fact that total import of electrical equipment (from all destinations) accounted for a significant 35 per cent of the domestic market. This has led to significant under-utilization of domestic manufacturing capacity. By 2020, we expect that there would be significant control on the import of Chinese equipment into India. This would take place partly through policy measures and partly through choice. As far as government projects go, there would be wider application of the “domestic manufacturing facility” clause that would preempt Chinese suppliers from participating. This would also be in keeping with the Prime Minister’s “Make in India” mission.


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Cover Story : IndiaPower@2020

By 2020, India should have 1,200kV lines in commercial operation. Seen here is a 1,200kV disconnector manufactured by Alstom India at its Tamil Nadu works. What is also a distinct possibility is a respectable number of Chinese companies setting up manufacturing plants in India so as to comply with the tendering norms of government entities. Already a major Chinese transformer manufacturer TBEA has set up a large manufacturing base in Gujarat and there are reports of another entity in the same line of business, BTW, toeing the line. SUPERCRITICAL POWER EQUIPMENT In line with government expectations, we expect that by 2020, all the upcoming coal-fired power generation capacity will use supercritical technology. Bharat Heavy Electricals is expected to be a key supplier along with a host of joint ventures that are currently in their early days. Joint ventures like BGR-Hitachi, L&T-Mitsubishi, Toshiba-JSW, AlstomBharat Forge are expected to have established a track record with their early orders—currently underway—fulfilled. The government sector—both Central and state—are expected to continue keeping Chinese equipment out of the purview through the “local manufacturing requirement” clause. Large private sector power generators like Reliance Power and Adani Power would be likely buyers of Chinese power equipment. At this juncture, it is worth observing that the Union power ministry’s ultra mega power plant series (a huge market for supercritical power equipment) could need serious rethink as this major programme is not finding takers despite the recent changes in norms favouring bidders. As a possibility—however bleak at the moment— one could very well see large Chinese supercritical equipment suppliers like Dongfang, SEPCO-III or Harbin, seriously contemplating setting up manufacturing base in India. As discussed earlier in this story, one transformer manufacturer from China has already established manufacturing facilities in India. FOREIGN INVESTMENT There has been a noticeable trend of multinationals in the electrical equipment industry acquiring a footprint in India, using the organic or inorganic route. We expect this trend to

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continue. Over the past few years, large homegrown companies like Anchor Electricals, Numeric Power, Vijai Electricals and Luminous Power Technologies have been acquired by Panasonic, Legrand, Toshiba and Schneider Electric, respectively. We believe that when traditional companies grow rapidly, they need special managerial skills to consolidate their presence in the local market and to expand their footprint overseas. This is precisely where multinationals come into the picture. Multinationals would also be interested in tapping business opportunities specialized and upcoming areas like EHV cables, high-efficiency conductors, high voltage transformers, etc. Multinationals would prefer to set up joint ventures with Indian partners or acquiring equity stake in existing Indian companies, as opposed to launching a wholly-owned subsidiary in India. This is because local companies have a deeper understanding of the rather intriguing Indian market. Multinationals, on the other hand, have superior technology. A partnership therefore would offer complementary advantage. Apart from an increasing role of multinationals in India, we also expect major consolidation to take place at the global level in the power equipment and electrical equipment business. A very recent case in point is General Electric (GE) that has proposed to acquire the power business of Alstom. In early 2014, two Japanese giants— Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi—integrated their power generation equipment business into a single entity. In summary, multinationals are expected to have an even deeper engagement with India in the coming years. Their association will take several forms like majority or minority stake in Indian companies, joint ventures, technical collaborations or setting up wholly-owned Indian outfits; the structure would depend on the nature of services offered by the multinationals. NATIONAL GRID In January 2014, India realized its aspiration of creating a National Grid to synchronous interregional transfer of electricity. Today, electricity can be transmitted synchronously (which means at the same frequency of 50Hz) between the five regional grids—north, east, west, northeast and south. The National Grid especially helped in the southern grid to become synchronously unified with the other regional grids. South India has traditionally paid higher tariffs for importing power from other regions due to absence of connectivity. Secondly, south India has substantial wind power generation that could not be exported to other regions, once again due to connectivity-related issues. Tamil Nadu, as of early 2014, accounted for 36 per cent of India’s wind power capacity. Restoring of fiscal incentives to wind power generators is expected to boost wind power capacity additions in the country in the coming years. Tamil Nadu is expected to add 1 GW of new wind power capacity annually in the medium term. By 2020, we expect that the National Grid will get stronger with more interregional lines, especially those


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Cover Story: IndiaPower@2020

By 2020, India should be in a position to see a few Smart Grid projects in commercial operation connecting to the southern grid. The overall transfer capacity of the grid should be in the region of 66,000 mw by 2020, which would be roughly twice the present level. UHVAC POWER TRANSMISSION By 2020, one can very much look forward to India’s pressing a few ultra high voltage AC (UHVAC) power transmission lines of 1,200kV into commercial operations. The voltage level of 1,200kV is the highest anywhere in the world, by current thinking. China, it is reliably learnt, is working on voltage level of 1,150kV. A 2-km test line of 1,200kV at Bina in Madhya Pradesh is fully functional and under testing. The 1,200kV enterprise is being fulfilled entirely through Indian knowhow. All the equipment—including transformers, reactors and hardware—have been supplied by Indian companies like BHEL, CG, Transformers & Rectifiers (India), Vijai Electricals, Siemens, etc. The introduction of 1,200kV architecture on commercial scale will depend on the ongoing test results of the Bina pilot project. We believe that the first commercial 1,200kV lineshould be ready by 2020, although it might not operate continuously at 1,200kV. While 1,200kV would be a national achievement to look forward to, we also expect sufficient traction in high-voltage DC power transmission with significant number of ±800kV lines emerging on the power transmission landscape. GREEN ENERGY Solar energy will be an important agent of India’s green energy aspirations. By 2020, as per the revised targets, India has pledged to achieve 20 GW of grid-connected solar capacity. This would mean annual installations of 3-4 GW per year, which is much higher than the track record so far. All the same, the target is not impossible if the right kind of government support like viability gap funding is made available. We also expect India’s solar power equipment manufacturing base, which is currently highlyunderutilized, to get productive. If domestic solar equipment manufacturers, mainly solar cells and modules, can progressively turn cost competitive, they could have a

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promising local market unmindful of whether or not the government reserves capacity under the domestic content requirement (DCR) norms. Currently, domestic equipment is much costlier than imported ones, resulting among other things, in higher viability gap funding (VGF) by the government. Wind energy is expected to do well thanks to the restoration of fiscal incentives like accelerated deprecation (AD) and generation-based incentives (GBI). By current thinking, India should be able to add around 5 GW per year during the period 2015 to 2020. We also expect that by 2020, India would have its first offshore wind project—a 1 GW enterprise currently in planning stage—in operation. The government must ensure renewable energy accounts for a significant proportion of the country’s overall electricity generation, and not just installed capacity. To this effect, strict enforcement of renewable purchase obligations (RPO) by state power utilities is a must. Currently, there is a huge unsold inventory of nearly 114 lakh renewable energy certificates (REC) as majority of states have not been able to honour their RPO commitment. LED LIGHTING Demand side management will be a focus area in the years ahead, meriting equal or even more importance than augmenting power generation capacity. We expect that by 2020 India will actively pursue consumption-side energy efficiency, through regulatory measures at different levels of consumption—residential, commercial and industrial. We expect LED lighting to be a big contributor to energy efficiency by 2020. Reliable estimates suggest that the Indian overall lighting industry would be in the region of $6 billion by 2019 out of which LED lighting would account for $1.5 billion. Between now and 2019, the LED lighting industry is expected to grow by 35 per cent year-on-year and by at least 20 per cent thereafter. By 2020, costs of LED lamps are expected to come down perceptibly prompting even low-end residential consumers to opt for them. The drop in capital costs is expected to come about by the gradual evolution of innovative technology and by the sheer growth in production volume. The commercial sector including hospitality, BPOs, malls, and ITeS, is expected to be a widespread adopter of LED illumination. The government will play an influential role with LED illumination replacing existing equipment in government offices and street lighting. Considering that capital costs of LED lighting—though declining in recent years—will still be significantly higher relative to CFL and incandescent lights. The government could do well to launch innovative financing or subsidy schemes for retail consumers so that percolation of LED could improve even at the residential level. Currently, lighting accounts for 20 per cent of India’s total electricity consumption. By 2020, experts feel that even with a ten-fold increase in the illumination (measured in lumens), India will spend not more than 12 per cent of its electricity on lighting, thanks to LED illumination.


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Cover Story: IndiaPower@2020 electricity theft. It must be appreciated that private franchisees are sought in circles having high commercial losses. This necessarily means that such circles have inherent commercial inefficiencies, which primarily include non-payment of electricity dues. The government will do well to play its role as a true facilitator of private enterprise in power distribution. There is respectable number of examples, where private franchisees after enduring initial hardship, have achieved significant turnaround in loss-making circles.

Private sector participation can improve technical and commercial efficiency in power distribution. PRIVATIZATION OF DISCOMS One area where India has summarily failed is in bringing commercial viability to its atrophied power distribution sector. The reorganization of erstwhile state electricity boards into separate entities for power generation, transmission and distribution has not served its purpose. It has merely reorganized the old corporate structure with practically no positive bearing on the mindset, ethos and work culture. With decades of mismanagement and financial morass, it is unreasonable to believe that state-owned discoms could extricate themselves out of their present condition on their own. Power distribution needs fresh thinking and efficiency that only private sector participation can provide. India’s attempts to introduce private sector participation have been feeble so far. Clearly, political will is lacking and there is no aggression to pursue the movement earnestly. While there have been cases of distribution circles been handed over to private franchisees, the process appears to be half-hearted. One is not inspired to believe that privatization of power distribution will cover any respectable distance, with such a passive approach. By 2020, we do not expect too many circles to be privatized. But what we certainly expect is that public sector discoms change their attitude towards privatization. The incumbent distribution franchisee should be seen as a partner towards realizing a larger national goal of achieving techno-commercial efficiency in the power distribution space. There have been cases where attempts at proposed privatization of circles have been resisted by state discoms themselves. When privatization passes through and circles are handed over, discoms allegedly keep a grudging distance from the private operator. Some distribution franchisees that Electrical Monitor has interacted in the recent past have alleged that distribution circles and simply “dumped” on the franchisee. There is simply no hand-holding, which is very critical in the early days of the franchise. The attempts made by the franchisee to improve metering and revenue collection appear “threatening” to the consumer who is not used to paying fairly for the electricity consumed. Without adequate state support and protection, it becomes difficult and even risky for the private franchisee to act upon

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SMART GRID Prima facie, Smart Grid is a culture that will catapult India into the league of developed nations. The degree of sophistication and the penetration of Smart Grid would of course be much lower in India. A beginning in the direction of Smart Grid has already been made and by 2020, one can expect that there would be a few areas (not necessarily entire cities) where basic Smart Grid features would be deployed on a commercial scale. Smart Grid is an evolving culture and there is no tangible point where a power grid could be deemed “smart”. Smart Grids will need to get smarter with time, even as they retain their basic nomenclature. A pilot project is currently underway at Puducherry where a commercial-scale Smart Grid is being developed, with significant integration of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. By 2020, we expect the Puducherry Smart Grid project to be fully complete and to be in a position to provide feedback to other Smart Grid ventures in the country. Puducherry is the largest of the 14 pilot Smart Grid projects planned by the government. The remaining 13, spread all over the country, are under various stages of implementation. By 2020, we expect a few of these come into operation. Apart from these pilot projects that are being pursued specifically as “Smart Grid” projects, we expect some metropolitan distribution circles to imbibe the quintessential features of Smart Grid, such as automatic meter reading (AMR), advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and time-ofday usage (ToD). It is evident that these modern features would be inducted in areas that have private distribution licensees or franchisees. In fact, Delhi that has private operators like Reliance Infrastructure and Tata Power has already made significant progress in this direction. In summary, by 2020, we can expect multifaceted progress on the Smart Grid front. Firstly, the India Smart Grid Task Force (ISGTF) formed in September 2010 is expected to cover significant distance in preparing a roadmap for Smart Grid in India and towards formalizing standards and protocols. Secondly, there would be pilot Smart Grid projects in operations that would largely be “showcase” or “learning curve” projects. These will basically assist in building overall national experience and knowledge. Thirdly, there will be key Smart Grid-like features in regular distribution networks, especially those under private operatorship. It must also be appreciated that the government’s success in privatization of power distribution would also directly influence the spread of Smart Grid in India.


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Interview

Founded in 1948, the Indian Electrical & Electronics Equipment Manufacturers' Association, popularly known as IEEMA, is India's apex association of manufacturers of electrical, industrial electronics and allied equipment in India. We have IEEMA President Vishnu Agarwal sharing his views on the performance of the electrical equipment industry and a host of other issues affecting the industry. Sensitizing policymakers to issues affecting the electrical equipment industry is high on his agenda, notes Agarwal. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

IEEMA is aligning with the new power sector paradigms

How has been the performance of the electrical equipment industry in the current financial year 2014-15 so far? Based on the projections of the government for capacity enhancement in the power sector, the domestic electrical equipment manufacturing industry has made huge investments in doubling and, in some cases, even trebling its production capacity. However, this built-up capacity currently stands under-utilized due to sluggish domestic demand on account of the slowdown in the power sector and a surge in imports of electrical equipment in recent years. This is significantly impacting the commercial viability of the domestic electrical equipment industry, besides

— Vishnu Agarwal, President, IEEMA

pulling down both the top line and bottom line of the manufacturers. India's electrical equipment industry has shown some signs of growth in the first half of FY15, with a 7.82 per cent growth as compared to the same period last year. On one side the major drivers are cables, LV and HV switchgear while on the other side power transformers, transmission lines and conductors continue to show a declining trend. The growth in LV products and FHP motors indicates some industrial activity. However, exports in general are helping the industrial growth in positive directions. But huge imports of EHV transformers, reactors, cables and insulators at alarmingly high value mainly from China, Sweden and Germany are worsening the situation. What is your reading for the full year 2014-15, and how would it compare with 2013-14? FY14 had witnessed sluggish growth in the country's power sector directly impacting the domestic electrical equipment manufacturing industry. There had been a miniscule growth of 3.5 per cent in production. The T&D equipment sector and equipment manufacturers were broadly working at less than 70 per cent of their production capacity. At the going rate, we do not see things improving in the rest of the months of the current year.

The electrical equipment industry grew by 7.8 per cent in the first half of FY15

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India's power distribution sector is in financial morass. How does one address this issue? The entire power sector value chain is dependent on the financial


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IEEMA membership now also has manufacturers of renewable energy equipment.

India's needs to improve the commercial viability of its power distribution sector.

viability of the power distribution sector since this is essentially the funnel which feeds revenues to the transmission and generation sectors. We need to focus on improving its performance, especially of the government-owned power distribution utilities. Reducing the aggregate technical & commercial (AT&C) losses is going to be a critical component of this entire strategy. While there have been surfeits of schemes aimed at reduction of AT&C losses, the desired results are still far from being achieved. We are however, hopeful that the Government will give high priority to the power sector and put it back on a high growth trajectory path, while also providing a level playing field to Indian manufacturers to compete with imported equipment in the domestic market. Moving ahead, we feel it is essential to create an enabling environment which leads lenders and financial institutions to develop confidence in the long term growth and profitability of this industry, thereby easing availability of credit for the huge investment that needs to be made in this sector. IEEMA strongly recommends the restructuring of discoms and their financial turnaround as the need of the hour. It is essential to make the distribution sector profitable as it is this very sector that is the agent of growth for the entire power industry.

comprises of 38 members while the Smart Grid services division has 36 members and the automation division has eight.

Briefly tell us how IEEMA membership has grown in recent years. Comparing the graph of the last one and half decade, IEEMA membership has shown a positive growth. In the year 2000, the number of members stood at 356, while it touched 456 in the year 2005. In 2010 the total members were 683 which eventually increased to 803 in the year 2014. These numbers include the ordinary as well as the associate members of IEEMA. Eighty five per cent of our members comprise of SMEs. New business segments like renewable energy equipment, Smart Grid services, automation, etc are slowly getting included in the electrical equipment industry due their strong linkages. Is this being reflected in IEEMA membership? Yes, segments like renewable energy equipment, Smart Grid services, automation surely do have a positive impact on IEEMA's membership. The renewable energy equipment division of IEEMA

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Over the past few years there has been much debate about the growing import of Chinese equipment into India, and its detrimental impact on domestic manufacturers. How do matters stand today, and what has been IEEMA's stance on the subject? The need of the hour is not just to protect Indian industry but to also intelligently safeguard a strategic sector from a neighbour with whom we have had a history of chequered relations in the past, and whose expansionist intent in political, strategic, and economic spheres is well known. During the period 2005-06 to 2013-14, India's imports of electrical equipment have increased at a CAGR of 19.73 per cent in Rupee terms, standing at Rs.58,354 crore ($9.7 billion) for the FY14. Imports of electrical equipment in the country have now captured over 35 per cent of the Indian market. The industry has witnessed a significant under-utilization of installed domestic capacity, resulting in loss of employment of qualified engineers, technicians and workers. The Indian electrical equipment industry was valued at over Rs.1.31 lakh crore in FY14, with generation equipment sector accounting for 18 per cent, and T&D equipment sector, 82 per cent. The T&D industry is 9.92 per cent of the manufacturing sector in terms of value and 1.39 per cent of the GDP. It also provides direct and indirect employment to 15 lakh people and over 50 lakh across the entire value chain. The industry's exports stood at $5 billion. A rugged performance design of domestically manufactured electrical equipment has evolved over the years to meet the tough network demand in the country. The domestic industry is fully geared up to meet the likely demand arising out of the XII Plan and even beyond. Yet, in this scenario, disproportionate reliance on imported power equipment, with uncertain quality and lifecycle, and with no domestic manufacturing facility to provide emergency repairs, spares, replacements, etc. especially for heavy equipment, the long term risks are unimaginable. Also, with the integration of automation and communication technology into the T&D network, there is also a possibility of a major security concerns.


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Interview: Ieema highlighted the inefficiency of Chinese equipment. At a time when 30 per cent of the recent capacity addition in Indian power generation sector has been made through use of Chinese equipment, the inefficiency of the installed equipment has become a major cause of concern. If projection made by one of the leading players in the Indian power sector is anything to go by, 1 per cent inefficiency in the operations of this equipment, having collective capacity of 18,000 mw, for their entire life span of 30 years, can lead to a loss of Rs.1 lakh crore for the nation.

China's share in India's imports of electrical equipment has grown dramatically in the past few years.

Could you quantify the impact of Chinese imports? China's share in Indian imports of electrical equipment has dramatically increased in the last few years and now it stands at 38.87 per cent (FY14) of the total from 15.26 per cent in FY06. Imports from China have grown at a CAGR of 34.57 per cent in the last eight years and were Rs.22,680 crore ($3.8 billion) in FY14. Despite growing economic and strategic ties, there are several hurdles for India and China to overcome in order to establish favourable relations. Over the past one and half years, China has reportedly mounted attacks almost daily on Indian computer networks, both government and private, showing its intent and capability. Under such a critical scenario, awarding projects related to power generation, transmission and distribution network to Chinese companies will be a serious threat to national security as electric distribution systems carry power to pipelines, water systems, telecommunications and other critical infrastructure, while also serving critical government or military facilities. Distribution-level cyber attacks that disrupt electric service to such facilities can have important economic and security consequences. As Chinese companies do not have any manufacturing facility in India, they source the entire preconfigured system from China. Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has also conducted a detailed comparative study between Chinese and BHEL boilers and

The ‘Make in India’ campaign aims at making the country a manufacturing hub with a focus on 25 industry segments.

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What is your overall view on the Prime Minister's "Make in India" mission? As I mentioned earlier, the last two years were difficult for all sectors of the economy and particularly for the electrical equipment industry. Some of the products were recording negative growth rates quarter after quarter. The call of 'Make in India' given by the Hon'ble Prime Minister resounds similarly with the call of 'Swadeshi' given by Gandhiji during the British Raj. Two centuries of subjugation seem to have converted us into a nation where we have lost hope in the capability of our countrymen. We are enamored by everything which is manufactured overseas, even if our own products are of equal or better quality. It is therefore not surprising that unbridled imports of electrical equipment (for which adequate technology and capability was available in the country) reached new peaks during the last few years, even at the cost of the nation suffering higher CAD. I am sure that just as "Swadeshi" captured the imagination of the masses, similarly, "Make in India" too promises to be the harbinger of renewed economic development. With a focus on bringing labour intensive manufacturing back to the country, I am sure that the Indian electrical equipment industry will be the largest beneficiary of this clarion call. The 'Make in India' campaign is aimed at making India a manufacturing hub with a focus on 25 sectors. Even today manufacturing (16 per cent of GDP) pays more excise duty than the services sector (60 per cent of GDP) pays service tax. Manufacturing cannot survive without reliable, good quality and reasonably priced electricity. We have a situation where consumers cannot get electricity at Rs.6 per unit and producers cannot sell electricity at Rs.3 per unit. Power sector propels per capita income and also creates jobs for over 10 million people, who join the workforce every year. To create jobs, the country needs to move away from the services-driven growth model to laborintensive manufacturing-driven growth. Paucity of skilled manpower has been a contentious issue in the electrical equipment industry. How has IEEMA been addressing the matter? IEEMA recognizes that the skill gap, which is the gap between skills imparted to our youth and what are needed by the country, is a major issue that has the potential to reduce our demographic dividend into a demographic disaster. We are in the process of evaluating this skill gap through the participation of our members and will then strive to work with multiple government agencies in order to devise both curricula as well as pedagogies that can help reduce this massive gap. One of the small steps taken by IEEMA in this domain has been "Engineer Infinite" - a platform given to budding engineers from


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India's "skill gap" threatens to vitiate its demographic dividend.

India’s target is to annually produce a billion tonnes of coal by 2020.

across the country, concurrent with our biannual industry conference and expo Elecrama to demonstrate their engineering innovations to leaders from the industry. This helps in encouraging these young engineers and also gives them an opportunity to connect with industry leaders, venture capitalists and incubators validating the strength of their ideas and also creating opportunities for entrepreneurship.

opportunity for electrical equipment manufacturers to showcase their latest equipment, technology & services and interact with utility officials. We intend to meet and nurture the objective of "24x7 Smart Electricity from Street to Home", energy efficiency and more significantly be part of the India mission of 'Electricity for All by 2022'. As per the power ministry, a billion tonnes of coal production is planned over the next five years. In parallel, 100 GW of solar power capacity is proposed to be added along with investments of about $50 billion in the T&D segment. This will create a massive demand for smart power and smart grid based solutions, as well as solutions to help make the distribution sector more efficient. Hence the timing of IEEMA and IEEE is perfect to respond to the government and the dire need of electricity for the nation.

We understand that IEEMA would be organizing "Intelect 2015", which, we feel, would its first exposure to Smart Grids as a fullfledged event. Tell us more on the event and its objectives. Yes, IEEMA has partnered with IEEE, which is the world's largest engineering society with members in over 160 countries, encompassing the field of electrical, electronics, computer engineering and science and related technologies. Together with IEEE we are launching - INTELECT in January 2015 - which will be a technology showcase and conference on the future of Intelligent Electricity - connecting to and enabling intelligent and smart business for smart utilities and the smart end consumer. The conference cum exposition will cover the entire gamut of smart homes and buildings, offices and how the utilities and consumers are future-ready to conform to the future of smart electricity. There is also a dedicated show for low-voltage distribution products. Yes, a concurrent show 'UP TO 11 kV' in line with distribution reforms will also be held. This show will give a unique

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As IEEMA President, what would be three most important items in your tenure's agenda? As IEEMA President, I would like to focus principally on three objectives during my tenure and hope to create the right kind of impetus for it to be unswervingly driven post my tenure too. The first one is: connectivity with IEEMA membership and creating opportunities for connecting them to their customers; second: connectivity with policy makers and sensitizing them to issues facing the power equipment industry, and third: aligning the association with the paradigm shift that is occurring in the power sector, not just in India, but also in the rest of the world.


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Interview

National Power Training Institute is a national apex body for training and human resources development in the power sector, serving the nation for over four decades. Subodh Garg, who has been DirectorGeneral of NPTI for the past four years, speaks about the various initiatives that the institute has taken in recent years. E-learning, supercritical power generation technology and Smart Grid are some of the key growth planks of NPTI, notes Garg. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

A trained man behind the machine is very important

— Subodh Garg, Director-General, National Power Training Institute

Please take us quickly thr ough major developments at N PTI since your appointment, ar ound four year s ago. NPTI touched historical new peaks in its key performance parameters during the financial year 2013-14, training 19,759 trainees with 1,30,758 trainee-weeks and is on an accelerated path. The quality of education and training provided to the power sector has taken a quantum leap and an exponential swing with various measures such as providing 100 per cent textbooks through book banks to trainees/students, creating a conscious awareness through daily upload of power news on NPTI website, creating an exclusive knowledge bank on the website for easy visibility and understanding of every area in power sector wherein lot of study material related to thermal, hydel, transmission, distribution, regulatory affairs and miscellaneous topics is regularly being uploaded. This knowledge bank is very useful to students, trainees, faculty of NPTI and all the employees working in various Central, state and private sector utilities and is consciously improving the quality of power education and training. Today’s net-savvy generation is continuously upgrading itself with these measures. Induction and specialized training programs have picked up for both

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public and private sector organizations. Consultancy assignments in the areas of RGGVY-Third Party Inspections, RAPDRP (Part-B) DPR preparations, Transnational training programs, feasibility studies for establishing Power Training Institutes in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria etc. Training in the areas of DSM and energy efficiency, solar training, system operator training & certification for the first time in India have all added new dimensions, repute and prestige to NPTI. Tell us about the capital investment outlined for NPTI . All the aforementioned measures led NPTI to newer platforms of accelerated growth with sanction of Plan Schemes of over Rs.200 crore in the XII Plan as compared to an amount of Rs.67.80 crore during the XI Plan. The amount is more than double with respect to the previous Plan allocations and this money shall be utilized for renovation, modernization and augmentation of training infrastructure of all the nine institutes of NPTI, for procurement of six multi-functional training simulators, computerization and networking of all nine institutes and setting up of two new NPTI Institutes at Alappuzha in Kerala and Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. This shall add to the power training infrastructure in the country.


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Interview: National Power Training Institute management, 3-year part-time MBA program and also a 2-year MBA Program in power management through correspondence. We are also embarking on a very ambitious innovative project for an online MBA Program in power management that shall provide video recording as well as text of all the subjects online. We are striving to make power management education available to all students—anytime and anywhere.

We appreciate that “ee-learning ” has generally become a popular mode of education and training. How is NPTI faring with respect to offering e-training? NPTI took up the IT initiatives for training purposes in the early 1980s through establishing simulators at its institutes and subsequently the development of Multimedia Computer Based Training (CBT) packages that are cost effective, self-paced, interactive learning tools for delivering consistent high quality training without a specialist teacher’s physical presence. NPTI developed several CBT packages on various technical areas related to power generation, T&D and management. These self-interactive packages are widely used by trainees across various organizations in the country including academic institutions. NPTI has equipped itself with state-of-the-art high-quality, high-fidelity, real-time, full-scope and DDC-based training simulators. One 500-mw and two 210-mw thermal power plant simulators, a 430-mw combined cycle gas turbine simulator, a 250-mw hydro simulator and a load despatch simulator have ever since been used for training purposes. Beginning September, 2014, we have also started a sixmonth certification course on “Regulatory Framework & Commercial Aspects of Indian Power Sector” through distance learning mode for senior executives of JSW Energy. The course apprises participants to policy and regulatory framework of the power sector through modules and assignments at their doorstep/workplace and has been very well appreciated by the corporate. Contact sessions have also been arranged for enriched learning and doubt-clearing of participants. We would also like to take forward this exercise in a big way to develop a thorough understanding of the all-important regulatory framework to the power professionals in the country. We have also for the first time in the country conducted training and certification of power system operators for executives of various load dispatch centres of the country in the basic as well as specialist level learning & development courses. In particular, has NPTI started MBA (Power Management) course through distance learning? Yes, we have ambitious plans to spread power management education all over the country. We are planning to start oneand-a-half year Executive MBA Program in power

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Traditionally, NPTI has set up its institutes at locations of power assets of Central power PSUs. Tell us about the new institutes in the offing, by NPTI. NPTI institutes have been setup to take care of the needs of the various power zones of the country. Since the training programs are completely power sector interfaced, it was customary to set up these institutes near large power plants for plant specific training and assimilation of various aspects taught by the sector specialist teachers at the institute. As mentioned earlier, NPTI is setting up two new power training institutes at Alappuzha, Kerala and Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh which shall cater to the needs of all aspects of the power sector and that will house multifunctional simulators to address operational area specific needs. In the XIII Plan period (2017-22), the entire thermal power capacity planned in India will be based on supercritical parameters. How is NPTI gearing up to meet the training and knowledge requirement of supercritical technology? NPTI is in the process of procuring an 800-mw supercritical thermal power plant simulator expected to be installed by 2015. Once installed, this will be the country’s first 800-mw supercritical thermal simulator owned by a government utility. We are also in the process of procuring six multifunctional training simulators replicating the real-time integrated unit operations of 210-mw, 500-mw and 800-mw thermal power plants, 250-mw hydropower unit with additional functionalities of SCADA and Smart Grid for our six institutes. We believe that India produces enough electrical engineers to meet its demand. However, the quality or skill sets of these engineers is not uniform and sometimes below expectations. What is your overall view on this subject? Though there are enough institutions, the industry-specific requirements are not being met by the students passing out of these institutes. The skill-sets required at the executive, supervisory and technician levels for the industry are far from actually being met. NPTI is endeavoring to cover this gap in the areas of generation, transmission, sub-transmission and distribution areas and thus conduct courses which are highly industry-interfaced for ready deployment in the power sector. Our various courses meet the actual industry-set standards and the CEA’s Gazette Notification (September 2010) requirements. NPTI is making all-out efforts in this direction to ensure the ready availability of skilled and specialized manpower in power sector by providing the requisite training. Is NPTI planning to offer training in the field of extra and ultra high voltage power transmission—an area where India is taking rapid strides?


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Interview: National Power Training Institute training. NPTI is setting up two new multi-functional training institutes. NPTI has also taken up the task of preparing study material to meet the Gazette notifications syllabi in all the areas. Multifunctional training simulators are also being set up. There is continuous updation of NPTI’s specialist trainers by deputation to seminars, workshops and conferences. Recruitment of new specialist faculty is also on the anvil. All these measures, I am sure, would meet the emergent as well as exigent requirements of the power sector in many ways.

NPTI has a separate Power System Training Institute at Bengaluru catering to the specific and exigent requirements of the T&D systems. Several long-term and short-term training courses in these areas are conducted which include EHV and UHV systems. In the same breath, I would also like to mention that NPTI has a Hot Line Training Centre also at Bengaluru for live line maintenance of transmission lines up to 400kV which develops specialized skill sets to personnel to attend to maintenance requirements without power interruptions. We have also been conducting six-month course on O&M of transmission & distribution systems for engineers and a oneyear post graduate diploma course in sub-transmission and distribution systems. These courses create technically-trained manpower readily available for recruitment to the power companies in the areas of EHV and UHV transmission/ distribution of electrical power. Reputed organizations pick up this fully-trained manpower off the shelf. Solar energy is a fast emerging area, thanks to the National Solar Mission. Please tell us about NPTI’s plans in this area. Yes, NPTI has conducted an eight-week comprehensive training program on solar technology and also has the expertise to conduct these programs successfully. This was the first long-term training program of its kind organized in the country covering all aspects of solar energy. India is currently adding around 15,000 MW of new power generation capacity along with matching T&D infrastructure per year. This will give rise to a substantial body of power assets which will need periodic O&M. What is NPTI’s endeavour towards improving the O&M skills of India’s powerrelated workforce? CEA’s Gazette Notification issued in September 2010 mandates training for the personnel engaged in operation and maintenance of thermal projects, hydel projects, gas projects and transmission & distribution systems which includes class room, on-job and simulator training at all levels such as engineers, supervisors and technicians. To meet the present and forthcoming needs, NPTI is carrying out the R&M with state-of-the-art training facilities, infrastructure, labs, workshops etc. to make available quality

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Briefly tell us about NTPI’s plans in futuristic areas like Smart Grid. Smart Grid operations are at times difficult to understand without practical exposure. In order to enable better understanding in a real-time mode, six new multifunctional simulators are being procured and commissioned at NPTI’s various institutes. These simulators will also have additional functionalities of real-time integration of SCADA and Smart Grid operations for conceptual understanding and assimilation of these forthcoming all-important operations. I am sure the conceptual clarity required would be better understood on these simulators. Please summarize the broad objectives that you would like NPTI to attain in the next (say) five years. NPTI faces the huge challenges in the years to come and we have the following vision ahead for us: Renovation & modernization of existing institutes with stateof-the-art facilities Establishment of more power training institutes Improvement and upgradation of skill and knowledge of existing faculty to keep pace with fast changing technological advancements Our several post graduate & post diploma courses will also provide the much required specialist personnel to man the various power sector areas The 800-mw supercritical thermal power plant training simulator and the other multifunctional simulators would address the mandatory needs of training Starting new MBA programs in power management through correspondence, part-time and also executive program for experienced power professionals to address the huge techno-managerial vacuum Starting an on-line MBA program in power management to meet the student requirements anytime, anywhere reaching their doorsteps. This mode of education will revolutionize our power management education in the country and will vastly improve the power sector as a whole The above initiatives, I am confident, would address and improve the quality of power education and training being provided by NPTI. We at NPTI are aware and conscious of the enormous training needs, which the country needs today, as proper training shall only help in reduction of aggregate technical & commercial (AT&C) losses and improvement of PLF. This, in turn, shall make available more power to the country and will help in the growth of GDP of the country. We all are working hard to achieve this objective with a belief that a trained man behind the machine is very important.


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Interview

Danish company DEIF made a modest beginning way back in 1933 as a precision analogue measuring instrument company. Today, DEIF is a global leader in power management and control solutions for land and marine applications as well as renewable energy. In this exchange, B. Suresh, who heads the Indian operations of DEIF, explains to Venugopal Pillai that India, thanks to its powerdeficiency, is a big market for DEIF. Optimally integrating various power sources into a harmonious scheme will be India's requirement—and DEIF's solution, Suresh notes.

We are expecting increased exposure in the power sector

Do you see improvement in the investment climate after the new government has taken over? The sentiment has improved. The fear that "nothing good will happen" that persisted last year has gone way. The political situation is also settling down. Though this Winter Session of Parliament could still be turbulent, the next (Budget) session will be much more focused on growth is what I feel.

— B. Suresh, Managing Director, DEIF India Pvt Ltd

then you need to have a harmonized system where you use the maximum of gas, followed by grid power. When there is shortage, you go for diesel. Then we started doing power management by combining different modes. Now, there is also the entry of solar. So now we have created a solution that can seamlessly Automatic Genset Controller AGC-4 integrate even solar. So we have power management with direct communication with the inverters. We are working with manufacturers like Danfoss, so that we can directly "talk" to their inverter. As a supplier of power management and control solutions, how do you fit into the scheme of things of energy efficiency? How will the communication with devices of various manufacturers be coordinated? Though we were primarily working with the diesel genset market, we tried to make solutions that make it more efficient within the There is an emerging protocol called the "SunSpeck" protocol. This market. Though the segment is "black" in the sense of its carbon is something like the J1939 protocol that is used in automobiles. footprint, we started working on how to bring about efficiency and With the new solar protocol, there can be smooth communication mitigate the environmental impact. We also worked on how between systems. generators can share variable loads. You can load the generator at Will this be a global standard? the optimum level. However, this changes with age. If you look at the same genset after five years, the "efficiency point" would have Yes, this will be global. I expect that in the next 3-4 years, there will changed. If you could identify this point and put it as a reference in seamless integration with respect to solar inverters. Currently, if the controller, the controller will be able to load the generator to we go for one supplier, we have to stick to his standards. the optimum level, ensuring efficiency, instead of loading the When you supply power controls to gensets, is it strictly only OEM? generators equally, which was the common practice. We can work with the genset manufacturer and make our Tell us about your hybrid solutions. controllers part of the OEM. We can also go to the end-users to Yes, secondly, when you have utility (grid) power, gas and diesel, retrofit our controller on their gensets. Any level of retrofit is

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Interview: DEIF India controllers are added and integrated with the existing control system. DEIF systems can work with any engine and can work in a group. This is our biggest advantage and has been responsible for us pushing out conventional PLC-based systems in this (diesel engine) segment. I also feel that in the coming years, load-side management will become very critical in matching generation and consumption. Here, we have a lot of technologies that can help. We have, for instance, metering solutions that can be used at the point of consumption. The feedback can be sent to the managing system. This gives advance information of changes in load patterns, enabling more efficient management of power generation.

possible. Basically, we can work with any engine in the world— right from the first engine ever made to the latest one! We have the technology to work with any technology and any programming language-be it binary, hexadecimal or C++. What about hydropower turbines? In the hydropower segment, we do the complete governing solution and also the protection of alternators and connection to the grid. Hydropower plants usually work as base plants with load sharing done very rarely. A hydropower plant is started off and power is fed to the grid. Our solutions are mainly sold to OEMs (turbine manufacturers) or even as retrofits.

If you are entering load management, will you be not dealing with distribution utilities? What are your apprehensions? Yes, that is where the marriage to happen! Discoms are still in the old-thinking mode. Even today, they resist injection of power into the grid from smaller sources like solar plants. Discoms are basically into "no" mode and have to change into the "yes" mode. They have to adapt to various sources of energy. In UK for instance, a power generator with even 50 kW of capacity can pump into the grid. The grid does not differentiate. The system in developed countries is more mature. At a point if there is high demand for electricity and users are willing to pay a higher price,

Do you work on control and management for all sources of power generation? We work with diesel, gas, wind and solar. We are not too much into large coal-fired thermal power plants. However, we can integrate our solutions into small power plants like biomass-fired ones. What will be your major business drivers? The major business driver that we expect will from the growing consciousness of having an intelligent mix of various sources of power. This calls for an intelligent control system that can be upgraded over time, more intelligent than conventional PLC (programmable logic control)-based systems. The main problem with a PLC system is that it is designed with just one system in mind, and it is not portable or upgradeable. In the case of DEIF controls, even if say two more gensets are added, two more

they (the utilities) also pay a higher price and ask generators to run even on diesel. The first objective of a power utility is to meet the required demand, and second is to go green as much as possible. These two are not mutually exclusive. At this stage, how do you think discoms could make more efficient, at least from a commercial standpoint? There are two steps. The first step is to avoid giving huge subsidies to discoms. They actually make the discoms weaker. Users must appreciate that if they need assured and reliable power, it has to be paid for. The second step is privatization. At the moment, no private sector feels confident to enter the power distribution sector as they (private utilities) will face the same problems that the discoms are facing. However, privatization is possible in cities where power is generally paid for. Incidentally, have you been part of the 14 pilot Smart Grid projects currently underway in different parts of India? Not actively but we have been studying the projects in terms of the technology used. Based on this, we are evaluating the possibility of something from our side. Since we are not the key "drivers" of

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Interview: DEIF India

the project, we can support the role of the primary players. Coming back to solar power, what will be your focus area? Right now, our focus is on the mid-range (above 100 kw up to 1.5-2 mw). This is the best field where we can add value. Today, if a solar power plant is running in parallel to utility (grid) power and there is a grid failure, the solar plant has to be shut down. A solar power plant today cannot be run without a reference; it cannot run in parallel with diesel. There is no technology available. However, with our new solution, it will be possible to run the solar plant even with diesel. You can load the diesel to the minimum level and let the solar power plant generate its maximum. Because of this communication, if the solar power generation is likely to fall-this is detected by the charging rate-generation from the diesel plant is ramped up. There will be no impact at the load side; it will get the power that it needs regardless of the source. Has DEIF developed this technology fully, or is R&D still underway? The solution has been established and we are continuously improvising since there is no single philosophy on which this solution can work. Have you executed any project based on this technology? Yes, it was for a university campus in Dubai. As diesel is very cheap, it is used for prime power generation. During winter, the load drops almost to 70 per cent because majority of the load is for air-conditioning. The university is trying to minimize the use of diesel and use solar as the energy requirement during winter is only 30 per cent of the normal. We have provided a solution by ensuring that solar is used to the maximum extent and if the load increases, for some reasons, electricity will be generated through diesel gensets. What is the level of localization of DEIF products and solutions? We have a centralized manufacturing unit in Denmark. The way we operate is that the product has to be customized according to the application. This customization can happen in different parts of the world. This is the philosophy we will use because the extent of manufacturing is no so large that we can do it in (say) five different locations. The reason that we can still be competitive despite doing the manufacturing in Denmark is that we have a very strong vendor base there-right from PCB to components. Do you have an R&D base in India? Here, in India, we specialize in application development,

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especially in hydro and steam. We are the Centre of Excellence for the entire DEIF group. Solutions are developed here to be delivered to other parts of the world. Similarly we have the gas competence centre in Germany. Where the centre for solar development? It is in Europe because most of the solar power equipment manufacturers are located there, especially Germany and Spain. How does India and China compare when it comes to DEIF's presence? China is definitely ten times bigger than India in terms of volumes. One of the reasons that DEIF is big in that country is due to the shipbuilding industry. The marine industry has grown tremendously in China; today 50 per cent of the world's shipping fleet is made in China. How do the coming years look to you for the Indian industry in general? If we can get the infrastructure projects moving and we can get down to local manufacturing in the defence sector, it can open up a lot of possibilities in India. Money flowing into these areas will generate opportunities for other sectors as well. The other part is about handling the country's financial part well. I think we should keep away from increasing our subsidy burden. The best approach that Prime Minister Modi has is to make people earn money rather than giving it away free in the form of subsidy. And for DEIF? We very much look forward to increasing our presence the power sector. Interestingly for DEIF, we are not very much worried whether there are more power cuts or more power supply! We are happy both ways! That is a good situation to be in! Power is of course the principal driver. Second is the level of sophistication that will get absorbed. I think if the proposed Smart Cities become a reality, we will definitely have a much bigger role to play in how we integrate and manage our power supply. The "intelligence" part is our core strength. From the governance perspective how do you rate the coming years vis-Ă -vis the last five years? In terms of India's potential and what we actually delivered in the past 4-5 years, the rating would be 5-6 on a scale of 10. But in terms of the next 3-4 years, I think we will move to at least 8 with decent governance, even if there are obstructions and difficulties. It is collective consciousness that can propel us forward.


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046-051] Interview - Rajesh K. Mediratta - India Energy Exchange.qxp

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Interview

Launched in 2008, India Energy Exchange is India's leading power exchange that trades in electricity and renewable energy certificates. Soon, it will be trading in energy saving certificates as well. In this exclusive exchange, we have Rajesh K. Mediratta telling us more on IEX—its current operations and future plans—and also on power trading in India as an emerging subject. Mediratta expects the power trading market to grow substantially in the coming years with IEX continuing to maintain its leadership. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

We expect to maintain our focus on market development — Rajesh K. Mediratta, Director - Business Development, Indian Energy Exchange Ltd

Tell us about the membership strength and profile of IEX, and discuss how it has grown over the year s. Indian Energy Exchange Ltd (IEX) is India's premier power trading platform. We have two active market segments—the Electricity Market and the REC Market. Within the Electricity Market we have the Day-Ahead Market (DAM)—the most dynamic market-and Term-Ahead Market (TAM) comprising of intra-day market, day-ahead contingency market, and daily and weekly contracts for trade in electricity. In terms of participation on IEX, today, more than 3,300 participants across utilities from all states and Union territories, 200+ private generators and more than 3,000 open access

Though India's total power generation capacity has nearly doubled over the past 7-8 years, growth in power transmission infrastructure has not been commensurate.

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consumers are leveraging the exchange platform to manage their power portfolio in the most competitive and reliable way. Over the last six years IEX has grown at a CAGR of 49 per cent and is now trading 80 MUs (million kwh) on a daily average basis. In our first year (2008) we traded 2.7 BU (billion kwh) with some 197 participants. Today, we have over 3,300+ participants and are trading almost 29 BU on a yearly basis. Inadequate power transmission infrastructure is widely cited as one of the reasons for poor volume of trading on power exchanges. In the last 7-8 years, the generation capacity has almost doubled from 132 GW to 250 GW however commensurate transmission infrastructure has not developed, making it difficult for power to flow from surplus regions to the deficit regions. At present the interstate transfer capability is close to 5 per cent of the total generation capacity. Norms adopted by European Union in this matter is cross-border transmission capacity should be 10 per cent of generating capacity. Utilities have to source expensive power while the cheaper power remains unutilized. The transmission has wrongly been driven by long-term power transmission requirements and a wholesome view considering all types of requirements including considerations of economic transactions on short to medium term is not being followed. As a consequence, the short-term open access (STOA) survives on the inherent margins provided for required redundancies leading to transmission congestion which has rather become a


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Interview: Indian Energy Exchange

Currently, there is a huge inventory of nearly 114 lac RECs alluding to lack of demand from obligated entities.

chronic problem. There also exists the problem that there is no major capacity being set up for short term markets. It is worth mentioning that the emergence of short term market, specifically liquid power exchanges, has started to give true price signals for setting up new generation capacities for short term markets but when it comes to evacuation then the developer feel the heat as it only gets the capacity from the inherent margin, if available. Thus we witness the absence of policy tool for creating capacity addition based on short term market. Also on a day-to-day basis interregional flow of power has been restricted at the exchange platform as a result of transmission congestion. In FY14 about 18 per cent of total volume was lost due to unavailability of transmission network. However, latent loss estimated is close to 40 per cent since many utilities did not bid and moved to medium and long-term procurement. Do you see any improvement in view of the synchronous connection of the Southern Grid, enabling a truly National Grid? As regards the synchronous connection of the Southern Grid with the NEW Grid, Sholapur-Raichur 765 KV double-circuit line with capacity of evacuating nearly 2,000 mw of power was commissioned in 2014. However, in absence of upstream and downstream networks at Solapur and Raichur respectively, there is no improvement in the transmission capacity allocation to the market. Several up and downstream lines that are currently under construction and are likely to be commissioned by end of fiscal 2015, the situation in the market may improve once these lines are commissioned. What percentage of the total electricity generated in India is currently traded over energy exchanges (not just IEX but all exchanges put together)? Has this fraction improved significantly over the recent past? The short-term market has a share of about 11 per cent in the total generation in the country. In the short-term market, power

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exchanges constitute around 30 BUs, which is 30 per cent of the quantum. Over the last six years, power traded via power exchanges has grown at an exponential rate and today, power exchanges are a key constituent in the short-term market. We understand that much of power generation is "locked up" under long-term power purchase agreements, leaving little "fr ee" volume to be tr aded on exchanges . N ever theles s , exper ts believe that power distribution utilities are not active buyers le a d in g t o e v e n lo w e r v o lu me s . W h a t is y o u r o v e r a ll v ie w ? Today, 89 per cent of the power purchase by discoms is through long term power purchase agreements while the remaining 11 per cent is traded through the short-term markets, including power exchanges. As regards IEX, state utilities are active participants in our electricity market, both DAM and TAM. Discoms from all states and UTs are trading at our platform. Though discoms have been active buyers on IEX, they seem to be largely buying to meet their power deficit. In addition, there is huge potential for discoms to participate on the power exchanges in order to optimize their power procurement. By that we mean, whenever rates on exchange are low, discoms can shut down their units with high variable cost and procure through the power exchanges. States with pumped storage schemes can buy power at cheaper rates during off-peak hours to pump water. Similarly, the bilateral banking arrangements being followed in some states are not very lucrative when compared with power exchange rates. This constant practice to optimize power purchase can lead to immense savings for the discoms and ultimately for the consumers. What has been the role of Open Access consumers in volumes traded on IEX? Has it boosted volumes on IEX? Open Access consumers are a very important constituent on IEX. We pioneered the implementation of Open Access for 1 mw and above energy-intensive consumers following enactment of the


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Today, 89 per cent of the power purchase by discoms is through long term PPAs while the remaining 11 per cent is traded through the shortterm markets, including power exchanges.

Electricity Act, 2003 that enables such consumers to have a choice of their power supplier. Open Access is the key cornerstone of Electricity Act 2003 and facilitates competition in the power market as large retail consumers can approach power exchanges for procurement of uninterrupted power supply at competitive prices. From the first Open Access consumer choosing options in August 2009, the number has increased to over 3,000+ as on date. The key industrial segments at IEX are textile, manufacturing, metal, chemical, automobile, paper, cement etc. In FY14, open access consumers bought almost 18 BUs of electricity on IEX while the total volume cleared was almost 29 BUs. This year, in particular, significant private sector power gener ation capacity has come up, w ith a s izeable "mer chant power" component? Do you see this having a positive impact on electricity trading on IEX? Yes, the addition of merchant power indeed has a positive impact on electricity trading at IEX. The generators have responded proactively to increasing demand from the buyers. In 2014, IEX registered the highest buy of 4,720 MUs in the month of August. In the month of October the demand increased as high as 131 MUs on a given day in our Day-Ahead Market. On October 11, 2014, we had set a new record for cleared volume of 131 MUs in DAM. How has trading in RECs on IEX been after its launch in early 2011? Since the launch of the REC Market in 2011, almost 184 lakh RECs have been generated, 70 lakh have been sold leaving an inventory of nearly 114 lakh RECs. This huge inventory clearly illustrates lack of demand from the obligated entities. The inability of the obligated entities in fulfilling their Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) is the key reason for low demand and high supply in the REC market. Thus, RPO enforcement holds the key to success of the REC market.

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We understand that volatility in prices under "spot trading" can be significantly ironed out through longer-duration term-ahead contracts. How has IEX been faring in this respect? Today, the power exchanges are allowed to offer contracts and ensure physical delivery of electricity within 11 days owing to restrictions within Forward Contract Regulations Act, 1952. The electricity regulator and the forward market regulator are in process of resolving the issue of jurisdiction of the forward/future market on the exchanges and the matter is subjudice in the Supreme Court. The forward and derivative contracts are need of the market participants as they help physical participants to hedge price risks over longer duration thus safeguarding them from price volatility. The long-term price visibility gives signals for capacity addition. Furthermore, to encourage competitive procurement as required under Electricity Act 2003, exchange-traded longer duration contracts is need of the hour. From the perspective of the developers who have invested in generating plants, hedging against price volatility is imperative to ensure cost recovery. Hedging can be best done through exchange market with minimum cost of entry/exit. Similarly, the distribution companies and industries can use exchange based markets for hedging the purchase price. Therefore, the exchange can provide very liquid markets for electricity purchase/sale. In absence of these markets, bulk power industry participants including distribution companies, generators are missing opportunities transacting on a long-term basis in an economically beneficial way. Competition is emerging in electricity exchanges as well. How do you intend to maintain IEX's leadership? IEX has consistently been a market leader ever since its inception in 2008 and we have been successfully retaining our leadership. Today we enjoy a market share of 97 per cent in the electricity market. We believe competition forces us to keep striving in market development and providing best in terms of tools and services to our clients. We expect to maintain our focus on market development and working in most transparent and neutral manner. What are your key plans for IEX for the medium term, say 2-3 years ahead? At IEX we envision the power exchanges to have at least 6 per cent share in total generation by the year 2019, while today this share is about 3 per cent. For the market to grow and for us to maintain our leadership, we strive to not only strengthen the existing market but to also facilitate introduction of new market segments as discussed earlier. Our objective in the next 2-3 years would be to achieve the following: Extend the intra-day and contingency market to address the regulatory concerns related to grid security and discipline and at the same time providing greater avenues to the market participants to buy and sell power closer to their real-time requirements. Facilitate cross-border electricity trade with SAARC nations through the exchange platform. Facilitate introduction of forwards/futures market on power exchanges.


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052-057] Expert View - Wendy Torell - Schneider Electric.qxp

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Expert View

Understanding Prefabricated Data Centre Architecture Wendy Torell

T

oday's digital environment has created new demands for the data centre. The skyrocketing growth of data-generated from social media updates, mobile purchases, connected devices and more, has driven the need for increased data centre storage and processing capacity. This, in turn, has led to a renewed focus on how these facilities can effectively and efficiently store and manage an ever-larger volume of data. To ensure their data centre can scale to the needs of their business, many data centre facility managers have considered prefabricated architecture for their new builds or retrofits, as the design concept enables them to easily 'plug-in' additional cooling or power capacity as needed while also realizing benefits including speed of deployment, predictability, and lifecycle cost. But while the advantages of such an architectural system may be known, the process of deploying prefabricated data centre modules can differ greatly from that of a traditional build, and can be less familiar to facility professionals.

Prefabricated architecture is increasingly getting popular for building data centre facilities as the concept offers advantages like greater speed of deployment, increased predictability, and lower lifecycle cost.

IT Module Outside

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PLANNING AND DESIGN While there have been major advances in modeling and analytics technology, the data centre planning process remains a major challenge. Communication challenges, including discussions held at counterproductive levels of abstraction and difficulty securing stakeholder buy-in are just a couple of the hurdles managers can face within any data centre planning process. Once the initial project parameters—criticality, capacity, growth plan, efficiency, density, and budget—are determined, prefabricated data centre architecture can shorten the remaining steps. Reference designs depicting well developed prefabricated data centre systems bring simplicity, efficiency and consistency to the planning and design process. Reference designs are tested, validated and well documented "blueprints" for prefabricated, modular construction, intended to help those involved in a data centre deployment simplify and shorten the planning process. These documents convey recommended and proven best practices, and act as a starting point for the design process, allowing data centre professionals to compare possible design scenarios and avoid common construction complications. However, there are many variables associated with preparation of prefabricated data centre sites.

IT Module Inside


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Expert View: Prefabricated Data Centre Architecture

Site Preparation: Whether the data centre project is a retrofit or new greenfield facility, some degree of work-possibly including applying for permits, readying the land, and installing pipes and wires-will generally be necessary. In cases where prefabricated architectures are used, the steps and the process tend to be simpler. Permits and inspection: In general, the permitting process for prefabricated data centre deployments is similar to that of traditional builds. However, because all necessary information is available directly from a single manufacturer, construction drawings for modular data centres can be more simply drawn, in turn enabling reviews and inspections to be completed more quickly. Location (indoors versus outdoors): Designed to be weathertight enclosures, most prefabricated data centre modules are well suited for outdoor installation. However, there are various reasons why a module may be installed indoors. These include: The module is skid-mounted The module is an enclosure that is intended for indoor use Protection of personnel from inclement weather during operation and maintenance activities Added security of critical systems Foundations for modules: Site planning documents usually include a "civil site plan," "electrical site plan" and a "mechanical site plan." Found within these are the foundations used to support the modules, of which there are three common types: continuous concrete slabs, multiple concrete slabs and piers (or a combination thereof). The site's physical properties, such as soil conditions, surface water drainage, the presence of frost, and seismic and wind loading requirements for the geographical location, are typically used to identify the appropriate style and type of foundation:

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Continuous concrete slabs are the most common module foundation; provides a 360 degree walkable perimeter around the facility. Multiple independent slabs are most often used when a module is surrounded by impervious cover and proper water drainage is difficult. Piers and concrete columns are smaller than slabs and used to provide support to the module's load bearing contact points in areas where leaching is used for drainage. Underground wire and piping interconnections: Utilities supplied to and received from data centre modules are usually accomplished with less complexity and lower cost materials if these features are installed underground. Underground feeders and circuits, along with related communications raceways, and most mechanical connections install more simply and with lower cost installation materials when accomplished in this manner. With underground interconnections, the need for multiple support structures diminishes and lower cost-to-implement materials can be used. In its final stages of deployment, facility managers may experience certain conveniences and logistical considerations while procuring and installing prefabricated data centre modules. Procurement: Because prefabricated modules are purchased from the vendor as a complete, integrated system, rather than a collection of individual parts, the procurement process is considerably simpler and quicker than that of a traditional data centre. However, in order to ship and transport the modules, regulations outlining the dimensions and weight of the system must be met. Transportation: Transportation of data centre modules to a site must adhere to prevailing local, state and central


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Expert View: Prefabricated Data Centre Architecture

Product Profile MECO Digital Multimeter

Power Module Outside

Power Module Inside

transportation rules that regulate cargo weight, dimensions and the distribution of loads on a truck bed. These regulations are well communicated and well known to the broad and competitive transportation and logistics industry that is well equipped to handle prefabricated data centre modules. Packaging: Because much of a prefabricated data centre's physical infrastructure is secure within the modules prior to delivery, the need for extensive amounts of packaging is reduced. In the case of the uninterruptible power supply, heavy batteries are removed after factory testing and prior to shipment to reduce potential damage. Protection from the elements: Modules are readied for shipment at the factory, and protection from the elements and physical damage is a joint effort of the manufacturer and the manufacture's shipping company, removing all of the risk from the customer. Site Installation: Well-designed prefabricated modules facilitate a simpler, quicker installation process. Since the process of delivery, placement and connection can be executed very quickly but the key considerations during the installation process include the timely execution of the delivery plan, handling and placement plan, and integration plan that includes the physical attachment (for wind and seismic resistance), electrical, mechanical, and communications work. Positioning and orientation: A module's placement outdoors can have a significant impact on the delivery and operation of the module. To achieve optimal reliability, efficiency, accessibility, and maintainability, modules should be oriented so their shortest side faces the sun, minimizing heat gain. Modules should be placed

away from trees, lamps, wires or other objects that can pose a hazard during a natural event and the site layout should discourage potential vehicular collisions with the module. Beyond this, modules should be free from obstruction and located in an area that allows proper water drainage. Handling & Placement: Data centre modules should arrive at the installation site during the night prior to their placement on their foundations. Many common material handling machines can be used to properly move modules as needed. With truck cranes, several modules can be placed per hour, and modules built within ISO containers generally provide the greatest flexibility with attachment and placement. Seismic considerations: Once a module is placed in its intended location, it is important that it be fixed in place. This is often accomplished with anchor brackets which are fixed to the supporting structure by very secure fasteners, particularly in geographies where seismic or wind events have resulted in prescriptive requirements. Data centre manufacturers generally offer a seismic planning guide to all prospective customers. Implementation and deployment of prefabricated data centre modules is substantially different than that of a traditional data centre build. By recognizing and employing appropriate and usually simpler steps for planning and design, site preparation, and procurement and installation, facility managers can more fully realize the inherent benefits of such an architecture including speed of deployment, predictability, scalability, and lifecycle cost.

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[Wendy Torell is Senior Research Analyst, Data Centre Science Centre, Schneider Electric]

ECO-G has introduced a new series of handheld digital multimeters 3½digit with backlight LCD display incorporating latest technology. These digital multimeters can measure AC voltage, DC voltage, DC current, AC current, resistance, capacitance, temperature, battery test voltage and frequency. Additional features like diode test, transistor check, continuity check, low battery display, data hold and auto power off is also available. These multimeters have a built in holster for anti-sliding. These meters are useful for various industries, manufacturing units and domestic purposes.

M

Contact: Goliya Instruments Pvt Ltd 311, Bharat Industrial Estate T.J. Road, Sewree Mumbai 400 015 T: 91-22-24149657, 24179467 F: 91-22-24130747 E:sales@goliyainstruments.com; info@goliyainstruments.com W: www.goliyainstruments.com


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058-063] Interview - Farrokh Cooper - Cooper Corporation.qxp

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Interview

Genset manufacturer Cooper Corporation recently launched its ECOPACK range that is fuel efficient, silent and compliant with global emission norms. We have Farrokh Cooper discussing the significance of the ECOPACK range given the imminent phasing out of diesel subsidy and stricter emission norms. Even as grid power supply improves, there will be perennial need for standby power, boding well for the genset industry, notes Cooper.

New emission norms can globalize Indian gensets

— Farrokh Cooper, Chairman & Managing Director, Cooper Corporation Pvt. Ltd

ECOPACK, as we understand, has been a successful product range from Cooper. Tell us about the distinct advantages that ECOPACK enjoys over its competitors. Cooper Corporation's cost efficient, silent revolution with ecofriendly diesel generators under the brand name 'Cooper ECOPACK' is a low fuel consumption generator which is lighter in weight, smaller in size and is built with emissions that meet US and European norms. The in-house research process at Cooper, the technical collaboration with Ricardo, UK along with our over ninety year legacy in India allows Cooper to bring market competitive products that comply with regulations and norms in India.

The engines have an advanced ECU module which controls all critical parameters of the engine, making the Cooper ECOPACK efficient and customer friendly. With the longest maintenance interval of 500 hours and lube oil consumption of less than 0.1 per cent, this technology makes Cooper ECOPACK the most economic and efficient brand of generators to operate and maintain. Cooper Corp's ECOPACK series gensets come with a complete Cooper assurance with maximum uptime. A nationwide network of service dealers who are well equipped with genuine spare parts in stock are geared to provide prompt after sales support. Can you elaborate on your collaboration with Ricardo? Cooper got into a technical collaboration with Ricardo, UK in 2008 for designing its state-of-the-art family of engines in 2, 3, 4 and 6 cylinder configurations. These engines are designed to meet all future emission norms while delivering the best-inclass fuel efficiency. This technical collaboration along with the nearly century-long experience in India has allowed us to bring market competitive products that comply with regulations and norms in India. What is your view on the CPCB-II norms that came into effect from July 2014? We strongly believe that the latest CPCB II emission norms are a breakthrough legislation which will help Indian engines to compete with those in Europe and America. These norms will not just to create a sustainable environment but also help us

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Interview: Cooper Corporation reign in pollution; much needed steps towards achieving global standards. Cooper Corporation was the first in the country to be ready with its Eco Pack gensets that comply with the latest CPCB II emission limits for new diesel gensets up to 200KVA, bringing it closer to its customer base in India and other international markets. Is the entire range of Cooper compliant with these norms? Even before the CPCB II norm was made mandatory by the regulatory authorities, Cooper created products that are sustainable and abide by various environmental norms and regulations. Currently all gensets that are being manufactured at the Satara facility of Cooper Corporation are CPCB II compliant and adhere to all the recent emission norms. We at Cooper had the foresight way back in 2008 to rope in the services of Ricardo UK to create an engine family which would meet the latest global emission norms. Our in-house research and close association with Ricardo has created the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) II Emission Limits for diesel engines up to 200KVA. At Cooper, we invested in this 4-5 years ago so that we could comply with CPCB emission norms; for the norms to come in to place, it was always a question of when, not if. With strict enforcement of these CPCB-II norms, do you feel that marginal players in the genset industry might get weeded out, and serious players can even become globally competitive? Yes, the enforcement of CPCB-II norms will increase the overall industry and manufacturing standards. It will allow Indian manufactured engines to compete with those in the Europe and America and thereby create better export opportunities. Talking of exports, which are the countries to which Cooper exports its products? Are there any high-potential but yetuntapped geographies? The company is not only looking at catering to the domestic demand but has also expanded its global foot print with orders from countries like Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Panama, Afghanistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka etc. Cooper Corporation has already exported close to 1,000 units of CPCB II compliant gensets so far and has over 600 orders in the pipeline. For gensets the share of revenue of the export is around 22 per cent last year this year it is expected to be around 25 per cent; with major chunk of the export going to markets like South America, Africa and the Middle East. Which industries does Cooper cater to? What are your biggest demand drivers? With a genset power range of 10KVA - 200 KVA, the Indian market is about 100,000 units per year. Major volume comes from smaller gensets considering the preference of small consumers in the market. Major contribution for the segment is from real estate, banking and financial services, retail and hospitality. Now the telecom industry is also pushing the demand.

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Interview: Cooper Corporation Cooper Corp's Eco Pack also finds takers in homes, farmhouses, bungalows, hotels, retail outlets, IT offices, telecom towers and hospitals among others. Cooper Corporation has a strong network presence with both dealers and regional offices across the country to cater to the demands from the domestic market. Today, diesel gensets are relatively affordable because diesel is still subsidized. With talks of diesel subsidy being phased out, what impact do you see? Since diesel prices are shooting up in the country, cost per unit of power produced from gensets will also escalate. Here technology plays a pivotal role in the segment. Our technical association with Ricardo UK and in-house R&D team has helped us produce cost efficient, silent revolution and eco-friendly diesel generators under the brand name 'Cooper ECOPACK. The engines are low on fuel consumption, lighter in weight, smaller in size and are built with Emissions that meet US and European norms. Is there any scope for blending renewable energy sources to make diesel-fired gensets a little more cost-effective? Efforts are on to provide hybrid solutions wherein combinations of solar power/wind energy are in combination with diesel gensets to provide power solutions. This are ideal for remote sites of telecom towers.

In the long run, do you feel that improvement in grid supply could affect the genset industry? With improvement of grid supply, we see an enhancement of genset demand as the applications will move to standby usage. We have an issue not only of availability of power but also the consistent availability of good quality power. With increase in the grid network, will come increased industrialization, leading to more gensets required in stand by supplementary power. Please discuss your future plans in general. Specifically, do you have plans to make gensets of higher than 200kVA rating? At Cooper, we want to evolve as a leading engine manufacturer of diesel/gas engines in the country designing as per world class technologies, meeting international standards. Going forward we would like to further strength our foothold and plan to venture into new segments like aluminum, agricultural engines and vehicle projects among other things. Also new models in the engine business will create ample opportunities for Cooper Corporation and help us become the largest manufacturer of components and engines. The expertise and capabilities that we have at Cooper Corporation will help us cater to increasing demand in engines with specific technical requirements, stringent CPCB norms and more power and fuel efficiencies. Currently we produce gensets from 10KVA to 200 KVA and have plans to increase the range up to 1 mw.

Profile: K-Lite Industries -LITE INDUSTRIES an ISO company, a manufacturer of indoor and outdoor luminaires, has launched a new series of architectural lighting. Being the trend setters in outdoor lighting and inspired by the "Make in India" vision, K-LITE, through their innovative outlook, have showcased a whole range of an all-new product portfolio under architectural lighting. The range is all the more very special because of the light source. It is all the energy saving, environment friendly "green" lighting with LED. The application includes facade lighting, pathway lighting, in-ground luminaire, uplighter, up-down lighting, billboard lighting, vertical light bars, wall washers, area lighting poles and above all,

K

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popular sleek polar lighting solutions. The solutions offered are backed by extensive understanding of illumination in urban spaces and the expertise gained over a period of three decades. The fixture and the control gear (drivers, surge protected) are designed to provide value technology, ideally suited to Indian conditions. The LEDs comply to LM80 testing requirements and from internationally reputed makes such as Nichia/Cree/Lumiled. The luminaires are

RoHS, LM 79 and CE certification compliant. The luminaire efficacy (lumens/ per watt) is much above 100 for all luminaires. Varied optical options for lighting distribution and correlated colour temperature (CCT) for cool white, neutral white or warm white are available to suit specific requirements. The outstanding item of the series, namely the sleek polar lighting solutions is a contemporary design that is both timeless and unique in its impression. Compact without visible mounting equipment and optimised integration, Polar Lighting is in perfect continuity with the geometric lines of the square column. These assemblies are ideal for surroundings of contemporary architectural constructions. The prices range from Rs.2,400 to Rs.20,000. Contact: K-Lite Industries T: +91.44.26257710 M: +91.95000-79797 E: sales@klite.in W: www.klite.in


058-063] Interview - Farrokh Cooper - Cooper Corporation.qxp

1/17/2015

5:11 PM

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064-069] Interview - Marc Jarrault - Lapp India.qxp

1/17/2015

5:12 PM

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Interview

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Lapp India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Germany-based Lapp Group, started its operations in 2006. Today, Lapp India has two world-class manufacturing facilities that are serving the market. The company started off in India with its celebrated Olflex control cable brand and has now planned to diversify into other product segments. We have Marc Jarrault tracing Lapp India's growth in the subcontinent and its imminent diversification into the building wire segment. An interaction by Venugopal Pillai.

‘

Lapp India looks forward to the Smart City initiative

We have heard of Lapp India's long-term plan of entering the building wire segment. What is the current status? Our current focus is to establish the single core business for the building segment and control cabinet application. To achieve the long term goals that we have set for our business in future, we are investing extensively on distribution. Lapp India intends to focus on creating a wide retail presence in the building segment. Hence we are associating with new retailers and distributors to achieve the milestone. Given that Lapp has been in the B2B segment, largely through control cables, what would be your marketing strategy whilst entering the building wire segment that is largely B2C? We have embarked on augmenting our customer service and the way we respond to customer requirements. To win a competitive edge over the players in the field we believe in delivering unbeatable quality and ensuring our excellent logistics enables supplies to reach in the shortest time. Our second Indian manufacturing facility set up in 2012 in Pilukhedi, Bhopal is helping us strengthen our base in the single core wires segment and today has a capacity of producing 216,000 km in single core wires. We have entered the building segment through an extensive distribution network comprising of distributors and dealers in Bangalore, Indore and Bhopal. We hope to cover over 300

64 Electrical Monitor January 2015

— Marc Jarrault, Managing Director, Lapp India

dealers this year. We have also embarked on an extensive media campaign through radio, bus shelters, hoardings, auto to spread awareness of Lapp wires. We have planned a lot of activation campaigns with retailers, dealers, electricians to engage with them. Going forward we plan to expand our footprint in other southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Lapp Group has always backed patronizing research and development; our R&D and Innovation centers back in Europe have been developing new compounds, deploying new raw materials and are looking at generating more efficient and advanced ways of transmitting energy. Our products are known for their unbeatable quality; we never compromise on raw material inputs and ensure that when our customers buy a product they buy peace of mind and our strong trust value that we have built with the customers which helps us gain a competitive edge. We also hear of Lapp India's e-commerce platform. Yes, in November 2014, we introduced 'e-Shop', an e-commerce portal for the cabling industry. With this venture, Lapp India takes the big step forward to catapult its online presence across India. The Lapp India e-Shop is a first-of-its-kind dedicated online shop offering the widest range of cabling solutions to the customers in India. The e-Shop will ensure


064-069] Interview - Marc Jarrault - Lapp India.qxp

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064-069] Interview - Marc Jarrault - Lapp India.qxp

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Interview: Lapp India

speedy delivery of cables/accessories to customers who require them urgently. Lapp India believes that the digital platform will be an excellent tool to build its customer intimacy by understanding, anticipating and catering to customized needs. Lapp India has been investing extensively on strengthening the dealer network to penetrate deeper into the market. Further, as the tier-II and tier-III cities have been developing vigorously, we are focusing our efforts on exploring the market potential in these regions by educating buyers about the significance of quality products. Tell us about the proposed expansion at your Jigani (Bangalore) plant. Please discuss how this would help consolidate Lapp's position in India. In November 2014, Lapp India announced the expansion of its Bangalore manufacturing facility. The project will increase the company's production area from the existing 5,227 sqm to 10,803 sqm. The Bangalore facility has the capacity to manufacture 60,000 km of multi core cables and 78,000 km of single core wires per annum. The company has invested approximately Rs.165 million (2.1 million euros) for this project. With this new expansion Lapp India aims at tapping into the increased demand for quality control cables in the market. This expansion with state-of-the-art safety and environmental features will enhance the facility layout, ensure better flow for effective lean management and also help generate more space for the new machines to sustain

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company's long term growth plans and establish leadership in the control cable market. The rapid growth in urbanization and the increased focus on infrastructure development has propelled the demand for quality connectivity solutions in India. We expect a promising growth opportunity in the Indian cable industry; with our range of products we are looking at addressable market potential of Rs.55 billion (0.7 billion euros) growing at an average of 10 per cent year-on-year until 2020 and beyond. The expansions of the Jigani and Bhopal plants are an active step to cater effectively to the vast potential the industry has to offer. Expanding operations in India has been a key focus for Lapp Group owing to the promising growth opportunities of the country. Lapp India is the second largest company of the Lapp Group; the milestone set here in terms of business and the success garnered in retaining the position in the market has proved to be an example for other Lapp companies located worldwide. Do you have near-term expansion plans for Bhopal as well? In 2012, Lapp India set-up its second Indian manufacturing facility in Pilukhedi, Bhopal which is helping us strengthen our base in the single core wires segment as well as cater efficiently to growing customer demands in India. Lapp India is currently commissioning a new leading edge multi core line in Bhopal which can produce 36,000 km of multi core cables resulting in overall capacity increase of 60 per cent


064-069] Interview - Marc Jarrault - Lapp India.qxp

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064-069] Interview - Marc Jarrault - Lapp India.qxp

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Interview: Lapp India in multi-core cables in addition to the existing 216,000 km capacity in single core wires. Further, our state-of-the-art infrastructure in manufacturing facilities and adherence to highest safety standards has earned our manufacturing plant in Bhopal an ISO 9001: 2008 certification on March 22, 2013, recommended by TUV India, VDE and IEC certification for HO5-VK and HO7-VK for a range up to 6 sqmm and IS694 extension certification for producing FRLS wires up to 6 sqmm. Lapp India recently opened a new warehouse at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra. Tell us about the logistical advantages that this has provided. Yes, in June 2014, Lapp India set up a new warehouse in Maharashtra. The warehouse facility spread over an area of 5,000 sqft currently has capacity of 200 pallet positions and can be scaled up further based on any future requirements. Set up with a capital expenditure of Rs.50 lakh, the facility has an inventory of Rs.50 lakh which can be increased up to Rs.2 crore in a phased manner. Located strategically in Bhiwandi, the warehouse caters to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, among other regions. It offers the advantage of being located outside the octroi limits of the region, thus helping Lapp India cater in a cost effective manner to neighbouring cities such as Pune, Nashik, Baroda and Ahmedabad. Also, with proximity to the Mumbai Port, the new warehouse can help Lapp India significantly reduce the duration of any import delivery as compared to the Chennai Port which was the primary import location earlier. This will in turn help Lapp India pass on the benefit of faster product delivery to customers. Further, with the implementation of SAP, the new warehouse will also enable customers to have access to the stock status on a real-time basis. The warehouse location offers Lapp India's supply chain management team the advantage of saving a minimum of one week's time otherwise utilized for the delivery process. Thus it will help us cater more efficiently to our customers in the Western region and therefore enhance the customer experience at large. In the home/building wire segment, there is lack of understanding of safe wiring practices in India as most electricians are not technically qualified. What is your take on the matter; do you intend to contribute to the cause in any way? Yes, the primary challenge in this sector is the lack of welltrained electricians implementing cabling solutions across homes or buildings. This can result in safety often being compromised. It is highly essential to educate the electrician community regularly on safe wiring practices and innovative cabling technologies developed by companies in the sector. Lapp India has been organizing product/application

68 Electrical Monitor January 2015

seminars for panel builders and electrical retailers to create awareness on innovative cabling solutions for buildings, control cabinet application, automation, robotics railways etc. In the seminar we showcase the new products, new applications, introducing the entire product range for the application. Also, the seminar attendees get the opportunity to touch and feel the product. How does Lapp intend to capitalize on emerging opportunities from the government's plan of building 100 Smart Cities? As the leading connectivity solutions provider, Lapp India looks forward to promising business opportunities from the smart city initiative announced in the Union Budget 2014. With the government allocating Rs.71 billion (0.9 billion euros) for 100 smart cities, there will be an increased demand for quality smart cabling solutions for urban infrastructure. The potential for cabling solutions in India is enormous. As a company which is into manufacturing of low voltage cables, Lapp India is extremely bullish. The low voltage cable market in India is currently valued at Rs.195 billion (2.5 billion euros) and is expected to grow to Rs.360 billion (4.7 billion euros) by 2020. Tell us about how you see Lapp's growth in India over the medium term, say next 5-7 years. The industry-friendly measures announced in the Union Budget 2014 along with a strong emphasis on the need to revive manufacturing industry has offered a new lease of life to the Indian electrical equipment industry. PM Narendra Modi's strong emphasis on turning India into a manufacturing hub implementing the 'Make in India' campaign has been a great initiative to attract foreign investment in India. Lapp India expects a significant rise in demand for quality cables with the increased thrust by the new government to develop infrastructure with creation of new roads, ports, airports, rails. Lapp India is closely observing diverse sectors on the basis of which we are developing or procuring products that can serve the needs of respective sectors. Also, we are increasing capacity to focus on verticals like renewable (solar and wind), building connectivity solutions and instrumentation cables for process industries. We have introduced two new products to the market this year—field foundation bus cable and fire survival cable. The IEEMA Mission Plan 2012-2022 gives a good overview of the future of the industry. As stated by IEEMA, there is immense scope for the Indian electrical products market to boost its exports. The global electricity equipments market stands at around $450 billion of which India's share is barely $4 billion, which is less than 1 per cent. As far as the cables industry is concerned, we can expect the market to grow between 8-10 per cent in the next 2-3 years.


064-069] Interview - Marc Jarrault - Lapp India.qxp

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070-073] Interview - Prashant K Patil - GE Power.qxp

1/17/2015

6:42 PM

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Interview

GE provides integrated gasification solutions where syngas is generated from a variety of feedstock through a gasifier. This syngas is then fed to a GE engine to generate electricity. We have Prashant K. Patil telling us about this technology and GE's alliance with Indian Institute of Science for the gasifier. Patil notes that GE is working with MNRE on identifying potential biomass gasification projects and the first showcase project in India is on the cards. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

GE will soon set up its first showcase project in India

— Prashant K Patil, Distributed Power - Regional Verticals Leader, GE Power & Water

In simple terms, tell us what gasification means and how it differs from combustion. Gasification differs from more traditional energy-generating schemes in that it is not a combustion process, but rather a conversion process. Instead of the carbonaceous feedstock being wholly burned in air to create heat to raise steam which is used to drive turbines, the feedstock is gasified with limited oxygen in a heated, pressurized vessel. The atmosphere inside the vessel is starved of oxygen, and the result is a complex series of reactions of the feedstock to produce syngas. The syngas can be cleaned relatively easily, and sent to a gas engine to produce power. Gasification is somewhat more recent and less known than combustion, which has been known for a long time technically and commercially. Combustion is the total oxidation of carbon, hydrogen and other elements, which releases thermal energy. Combustion is generally less thermally efficient than gasification. Gasification is carried out at high temperatures in a reducing (O2 poor / H2 rich) environment to produce syngas by means of the chemical reactions. Combustion produces a higher concentration of pollutant gasses such as SOx and NOx than gasification. What are the various fuels that can be used for gasification? An advantage of gasification is its applicability to a variety of feedstock, either singly or in combination. Almost any

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carbonaceous substance can be gasified. In general, fossil fuels such as coal (varying in rank) and oil, refinery waste, byproducts such as asphalt or black liquor, biomass, can be gasified. Coming to biomass gasification, any kind of agricultural waste such as corn stover or various crops can be used. GE gasification technology offers various biomass gasification in stages based on test of results of each category of biomass. With regard to GE's integrated biomass gasification technology, tell us about the role of Indian Institute of Science for the gasifier. The Indian Institute of Science has developed a particular type of gasification, which is called downward gasification. After systematic evaluation of available biomass gasification technology, GE selected IISc technology for its integrated biomass gasification. GE has executed a technology tie-up with IISc, through which GE provides an integrated solution of GE gasifer and GE gas engine. Tell us about the integration of the gasifier with GE engines to produce steam for heat and electricity generation. GE has been supplying its gas engine for power generation through gasification technology. GE gas engines are most preferred by customers for such applications of power


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070-073] Interview - Prashant K Patil - GE Power.qxp

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Interview: GE Power & Water user. GE provides a complete solution to the customer from design, equipment to servicing support with its established team in the region.

Overview of Duke Energy's Edwardsport generating station in Indiana, USA, built by GE.

generation. Now GE also has its own gasifier through the technology tie-up with IISc, where GE provides complete turnkey solution of power generation through biomass gasification. The same gasifier can also be used for producing producer gas, which can be burnt in a boiler for steam generation application. How has the Indian market been so far especially in view of fiscal concessions offered by the new & renewable energy ministry to power producers? The Indian market has been growing and many more IPPs are coming forward to set up biomass gasification power plants. GE has been working with MNRE and to support customers in setting up these distributed biomass power plants. At the same time, there are improvements needed in establishing the structured long term supply chain mechanisms of biomass. Similarly, there is a need of showcase projects, addressing the operational issues, which GE has been working to build at one or two model projects in India. Discuss how GE as a group offers end-to-end solutions in setting up integrated biomass gasification units for end-users. GE provides the key technology equipment which is critical for plant output, efficiency, emission and availability. This helps the customer balance the localization flexibility and also ensures that the solution becomes bankable. The purpose of providing an integrated solution is to optimize the entire system and balance the right ingredient for an economically viable product for the end

Tell us about GE's 630-mw integrated biomass gasification plant, which we understand is the world's largest of its kind. GE has built a 630-mw coal gasification plant for customer Duke Energy at Edwardsport. Duke Energy's Edwardsport Generating Station in Indiana, USA, began commercial operations in June 2013. The plant is one of the world's cleanest coal-fired power generating stations and is the first to use integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology on this scale. The 618-mw advanced technology plant substantially reduces the impact of burning coal to produce electricity. It replaces the company's former 160-mw Edwardsport plant which has been retired. It also helps fill the power gap from other power generation retirements due to new federal environmental regulations, while still using an abundant local resource, coal. At full capacity, Edwardsport will generate enough energy to power approximately half a million homes.

As the first new coal-fired power plant built in Indiana in more than 20 years, Edwardsport is a key step in modernizing the state's aging electric system. The plant's advanced technology gasifies coal, strips out pollutants, and then burns that cleaner gas to produce electricity. The plant will produce 10 times as much power as the former plant at Edwardsport, with about 70 per cent fewer emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulates combined. Edwardsport's efficiency also reduces its carbon emissions per megawatt-hour by nearly half. What is the potential of biomass-based power in India and how do you see the road ahead for GE's integrated biomass gasification technology? The Government of India has estimated the availability of biomass to a corresponding potential of about 18,000 mw generation capacity. This apart, about 5,000 mw additional power could be generated through bagasse-based cogeneration in the country's 550 sugar mills, if these sugar mills were to adopt technically and economically optimal levels of cogeneration for extracting power from the bagasse produced by them. GE is working with MNRE on identifying potential biomass gasification projects. GE is very positive on establishing the first showcase project. GE is also bringing in next generation technology in gasifiers, in the domain of handling various feedstock of biomass, efficiency, and safety features of technology.

72 Electrical Monitor January 2015


070-073] Interview - Prashant K Patil - GE Power.qxp

1/17/2015

6:42 PM

Page 73


074-079] Interview - Ramesh D. Chandak - KEC International Ltd.qxp

1/17/2015

5:18 PM

Page 74

Interview

KEC International is a global EPC major, predominantly in the power T&D space. Ramesh D. Chandak discusses how KEC is expanding its presence in other verticals like water management and even renewable energy. Chandak is confident that all SBUs of the company will attain the same glorious status of the power T&D SBU that has marked its footprint in over 50 countries. As former Chairman of IEEMA, Chandak also shares his views on the road ahead for the electrical equipment industry. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

Recent policy measures could expedite infrastructure growth

Tell us how this fiscal year (2014-15) been so far in terms of the overall order book position. For the first half of FY15 our revenue stood at Rs.3,893 crore as compared to Rs.3,524 crore for the same period last year, reflecting a growth of 10.5 per cent. Our current order book is around Rs.9,000 crore. Further, we are at L1 position in projects worth over Rs.2,000 crore, which we expect will materialize into orders in the near term. With this, we are expecting our order book to improve by the fiscal year end. While we understand that overall power sector did not do too well in FY15, did the international business compensate, at least to some extent? Our revenue mix is more tilted towards the international markets, which consistently comprises of more than 55 per cent of our total

— Ramesh D. Chandak, MD & CEO, KEC International Ltd

revenues. During H1 of FY15 we bagged some good international orders, especially from Saudi Arabia, which accounted for around 25 per cent of our order intake in the first half. However we are also getting good orders from state power utilities in the domestic market. Tell us about recent trends in KEC's cables division (erstwhile RPG Cables) especially after commissioning of the new EHV cable plant in Gujarat. We manufacture wide range of HT and EHV power and telecom cables. Since 2013, we began commercial production from our greenfield Vadodara factory that is built as a world-class manufacturing unit replete with the best-in-class technology, processes and people. In addition, the unit also received a 'Platinum' rated Green Certification from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) making it the first manufacturing unit in the electrical sector in India. In EHV, we have developed our capabilities in the 220kV cables segment for which we have received the short test approval from KEMA. Other long term test approval will take another 6-8 months. Based on short test certificate, we have booked couple of small orders for 220kV cables. The long term test approval, once received, will definitely provide a boost our Vadodara facility. We expect that future power transmission infrastructure will progressively be of extra high voltages like 765kV and 800kV. How is KEC gearing up to meet this demand? Definitely, the industry is moving towards EHV transmission

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074-079] Interview - Ramesh D. Chandak - KEC International Ltd.qxp

1/17/2015

5:19 PM

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Interview: KEC International infrastructure and our company's progression is in line with the progress on industry front. We are already executing 765kV transmission projects and are geared up to cater to even higher levels of power transmission. KEC was involved in setting up the 1,200kV double circuit transmission test line as a part of PGCIL's 1,200kV test station at Bina. This is the first 1,200kV transmission line in the world. Each tower weighed more than 400 tonnes and had a height of 130m. Our Nagpur testing station is one of the few testing stations in the world capable of testing towers up to 1,200kV. Further, on the distribution front, we offer complete turnkey solutions from concept to commissioning on turnkey basis for high voltage air insulated substations (AIS) and gas insulated substations (GIS) up to 1,150kV level as per IEC or other international standards. How is KEC's recent diversification into EPC contracting of waterrelated projects shaping up? We are emerging slowly and steadily as far as water is concerned. We are currently executing projects for sewage water treatment system, canals and dam construction. We had secured some good orders in wastewater treatment, which are progressing well. We understand that KEC wants to expand its scope as an EPC contractor in the overall infrastructure space and not just power transmission. To this effect, what other areas are on your radar? Apart from water and railways in the infrastructure space, we are also focusing on solar projects. We recently secured our first turnkey order in solar space. The order includes design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of a solar PV power plant. The government's thrust on renewable energy is expected to boost the progress of this sector. Measures are being taken to promote solar manufacturing in India through the "Make in India" programme. The Electricity Amendment Bill, 2014 also focuses on promotion of renewable energy. All this along with the expected solar parks and ultra-mega solar power projects, is likely to create ample growth opportunities. What has been KEC's stance as a developer of transmission lines? Have you been bidding for inter-state or intra-state lines? Currently, we do construction work for private transmission players like Sterlite, Visa Power, CESC, etc. We perceive EPC contracting and ownership of assets as two different business models, involving different strategies. EPC contracting is based on generating profit on the construction activities whereas PPP is the annuity business on the development of assets created.

Nonetheless with the recent measures, there seems to be progressive effort by the government that is expected to expedite infrastructure growth in India. Recent reports of passing of an ordinance towards amending the current Land Acquisition Act will remove bottlenecks and accelerate the pace of acquiring land. This is likely to fast-track development and result in timely execution of projects. RBI's extension of its flexible refinancing and repayment option for long-term infrastructure projects to cover existing projects will enable banks to lend for 20-25 years as against its current lending period of 10-12 years. This will take care of funding constraints associated with most infrastructure projects since they are longgestation projects. Further, the emphasis and approach of the government on providing 24x7 power to all along with the proposed development of Smart Cities, green energy corridor, metro rails, river interconnection, solar energy etc is expected to provide impetus to growth of the electrical equipment sector.

As former President of IEEMA, what in your view are the biggest challenges that the electrical equipment industry is today facing? What are your expectations from the new government? The electrical industry is faced with myriad of challenges. Progress is largely hampered on account of issues like securing right of way, forest clearance, land acquisition, funding constraints etc. Apart from this issues like inadequate fuel linkages for generation capacity additions and poor financial health of SEBs also add to the woes of equipment manufacturers.

What are the cherished corporate objectives that you would like to see KEC International attaining in the coming years, say by 2020? Our T&D SBU is a world leader in power transmission and is constantly expanding its footprint on the global arena. We have marked our presence in 52 countries and are currently executing projects in 30+ countries. In the coming years, I would like to see the rest of our SBUs coming on par with our T&D SBU as far as capturing international markets is concerned.

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080-082] Interview - Kalidas Bhangare - Testo India.qxp

1/17/2015

5:19 PM

Page 80

Interview

Pune-headquartered Testo India Pvt Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of German T&M major Testo AG. Testo is a world leader in portable T&M equipment catering to a host of industry segments, and specializes in thermal imagers. Kalidas Bhangare outlines the strengths of Testo and how it is serving the growing Indian market. Bhangare observes that the Indian industry is today more willing to invest in measurement technology. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

In India, it is more about offering the right solution

Briefly tell us about Testo’s range of T&M instruments that can be used in the power value chain – generation, transmission and distribution. Preventing costly failures and malfunctions is extremely important in the field of power generation and distribution in particular. Power stations and utility companies can use preventive thermographic measurements to ensure the prevention of any potential failures of the electrical and mechanical components involved in power generation. Faulty connections on highvoltage masts or switchyards for example, can be critical in power distribution. The testo 885 thermal imager in the new camcorder design offers highresolution infrared quality and excellent thermal sensitivity, which is ideal for sophisticated mechanical or electrical maintenance. Besides thermal imagers, Testo India offers an extensive product range that includes: Portable measuring instruments & systems for: temperature, humidity, dew point, pressure, air velocity, rpm, sound and light Compressed air flow solutions such as compressed air flow meter and dew point transmitter Data loggers and wireless data monitoring system Portable flue gas analyzers for combustion and emission analysis

80 Electrical Monitor January 2015

— Kalidas Bhangare, Managing Director, Testo India Pvt Ltd

Does Testo has a manufacturing base in India or is equipment imported from the German parent? Testo’s state of the art manufacturing facility and an extensive R&D unit is located at Black Forest in Germany. All the products are manufactured in Germany under high quality standards. They are manufactured in compliance with different industry standards. Some of our products are TUV approved while we also comply with different EN standards in addition to others. We give two years warranty on many of our products. German engineering allows no leeway to quality assurance! We offer certified calibration according to all valid guidelines. The calibrations take place at Testo’s own accredited high-tech laboratory at our facility in Pune. Thermal imaging has been Testo’s strength. Tell us what thermal imaging is all about, and how Testo has succeeded in maintaining its stronghold in this segment. All objects warmer than absolute zero (-273ºC) emit infrared heat radiation which cannot be seen by human eye. Thermal imagers, however, can convert this infrared radiation into electrical signals and present them as a thermal image. The thermal image shows the temperature distribution on the surface of an object. Thermography finds applications in: Electrical maintenance for poor connections, unbalanced loads, etc


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Interview: Testo India

Preventive mechanical maintenance of motors, compressors, pulleys, etc Quality assurance & production monitoring Variable high temperature measurement Building diagnostics Automotive climate R&D testing With over 50 years of experience in the field of measurement technology, Testo's thermal imagers are the ultimate in quality: high-quality Germanium lens, the best detector technology and optimally coordinated system components all guarantee outstanding measurement results in any application.

Please discuss your Testo’s R&D setup in India. Testo has always placed immense importance on its R&D activities. A substantial portion of budget allocation year after year is its testimony. Staff from different disciplines continuously conducts applied research in sensor and measurement technology. Testo maintains international cooperation with research institutes, universities and committees which are concerned with innovative measurement technology in various fields. At Testo, we recognize our customer requirements and translate them permanently into new technologies. We successfully launch several new products every year. We also release upgrades on existing products. Like the super resolution technology for Testo’s thermal imagers imparts thermal imagers, power to capture even finer details of the images. Strong R& D is the backbone of Testo products and it explains Testo’s undisputed leadership in measurement technology worldwide.

Do some instruments need to be customized for application in Indian conditions? India is a unique market. It throws open various areas of applications and therefore it not just about selling a product but offering the right solution. Thermal imager, for example, find applications, as unique as stress analysis of plants in agriculture research institutes or detecting the exact area of coating inside the cement kiln in cement plants. Our qualified sales and application engineers work closely with the customers to understand their precise requirements and accordingly offer the right solution. And it doesn’t end there. We give after-sales support and calibration services too to support the customer life-long. We provide users quick assistance and reliable consultation for all questions pertaining to measuring technology. It is generally felt that test & measurement as a practice is rather under-developed in India. What is your view? Various industry standards and norms are already set and are being followed strictly in several other countries. It automatically brings the need of measurement technology in various fields where as in India, it is just the beginning. Indian industry, today, is more willing to invest in measurement technology as it is moving towards quality. It is now more focused on optimizing its processes effectively, using its resources and turning savings into profits. I think, we need to further encourage the revolution of safer and more quality processes across different industry verticals. With the launch of testo’s new thermal imager—testo 870, Testo attempted to take thermography to the masses and not keep its usage restricted to only huge plants. With this launch, testo offered thermal imaging with features that are simply the best in the given price range. It brought best-inclass thermal imaging within the reach of small time buyers also. We often hear of Chinese T&M instrument being available in India at very low cost. How does this affect your market? What has been the level of acceptance of Chinese T&M instruments in India? There are many Chinese low-cost T&M instruments that are now readily available in Indian markets. However, there is a clear bifurcation of market segments going for Chinese

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080-082] Interview - Kalidas Bhangare - Testo India.qxp

1/17/2015

5:20 PM

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Interview: Testo India products are packed with brilliant features and technology that is simply incredible.

made low-cost instruments and those going for high quality measuring instruments. Chinese low cost products are in no way a substitute to top class products such as those of Testo’s. There is no question of price comparison here as there is a tremendous difference between product features, innovation, quality and reliability offered by Testo and those by other low cost players. Testo, today, is the most trusted brand for high-precision measurement technology. Its

India is beginning to see its industrial sector reviving in recent months. What is your reading? Which industrial segments have been Testo India’s major business drivers? I see high business confidence around. There are positive cues on the economy. Manufacturing sector is set to do well in the coming year. Testo has such a wide range of measuring instruments with varied applications that we have an opportunity in every other sector–be it power, steel and cement, food and beverages, pharma, HVAC, automobile or any other processing and manufacturing industry. We have solutions catering to industry specific applications. Today high energy plants such as cement, steel and power find Testo flue gas analyzer as an inevitable solution for emission monitoring and complying with pollution control board norms. Any maintenance department—be it electrical or mechanical— finds extensive applications of Testo thermal imagers for predictive and preventive maintenance. How is India placed on Testo’s global portfolio? India is termed as an emerging market and the numbers are only growing. In a very short span of time from its inception, Testo India grew from a small-sized subsidiary to a midsized one and is on its way ahead to further increase its sales turnover exponentially.

Event: Energy Storage India 2014 exudes positive outlook he 2nd annual Energy Storage India Conference and Expo, hosted by the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) in December 2014, in New Delhi, was a successful event that brought together 532 industry professionals and 65 speakers from 15+ countries. It was the largest such gathering ever held in India, and highlighted the many opportunities available in a fast-growing market. Energy Storage India 2014 was attended by a diverse, business-focused group that included utilities, developers, energy storage OEMs, solution providers, ministries, regulatory and policy officials, commercial and industrial end users, and other stakeholders. Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, Executive Director of IESA, stated: "We expect the next five years will see a dramatic transformation towards decentralized energy solutions in India. ESI 2014 demonstrated the progress India has made over the past 12 months in creating a solid ecosystem for advanced energy storage, with the country poised to become a global hub for technology deployment as well as manufacturing.”

T

82 Electrical Monitor January 2015

In addition, the event focused on opportunities for advanced storage solutions in India including renewable integration, rural electrification, micro-grids, smart cities, utility and industrial applications, and transportation. Other sessions covered financing models, project development, incentives and subsidies, and manufacturing options, with special panels on “Make in India” and “International Perspectives on Energy Storage” that generated significant interest among delegates. Some of the highlights brought out during the conference include: The energy storage market in India is expected to grow to an aggregate capacity of between 15 to 20 GW by 2020. Massive expansion of renewable energy

installations over the next five years in India will drive the need for energy storage to manage variations in renewable energy and maintain grid stability. India's “100 Smart Cities” initiative is a smart grid deployment program aimed at increasing urban grid reliability and accessibility and that can be supported by energy storage. Actions being taken by the Modi government should provide stimulus for the growth of the country's energy storage industry. Ongoing innovations in energy storage technologies will lead to cost reductions over the next 5-10 years. The India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) was launched in 2012 by Customized Energy Solutions to promote energy storage and micro-grid technologies and their applications in India. IESA's vision is to make India a global leader in energy storage and micro-grid technology adoption and a hub for manufacturing these emerging technologies by 2020. (www.indiaesa.info)


083] Profile - Rajesh Company.qxp

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Profile

Rajesh & Company

R

Andon CONTROL visualises production issues. The term "Andon" originates from Japan. A signal tower or beacon mounted in a prominent position to signal that a problem has arisen and request an immediate response. Werma's Andon Control functions according to the same principle: when an optical or audible signal is activated, the supervisor or logistics person is made aware of the fact that immediate response is required. Up to eight different states can be activated at the touch of a button with Andon Control. The call system is equipped with intelligent electronics that enable specific status display via four push buttons. At a workstation, for example, the yellow signal element permanently lights up when Material A is required and blinks to signal need for Material B. Please reach us for more details on both the smart solutions systems. For immediate attention, put Ref Code: RPP/EM-A.

CONTACT

ajesh & Company can provide smart solutions for very important applications like metering and solutions for lean manufacturing. Smart metering from IME (Italy): Many applications can be utilized with use of our smart meters to provide energy management analysis to optimize your energy and power requirements. Typical applications are: productions lines monitoring, office complexes, large malls, large warehousing facilities, and all industries. Connecting and monitoring of meters is possible through RS485-wired devices access to PC through RS485 or Ethernet interface, and also by LAN/Ethernet connection. The use of WAN internet as well as other protocols like Bacnet, Profibus, Modbus and Lonworks is also possible. Andon Systems from Werma (Germany): Rajesh & Co also provides smart solutions, called Andon Systems from Werma of Germany, for lean manufacturing. ANDON Control can make important contribution to the implementation of lean production methods. Salient features of Andon systems are: A flexible call system and wireless technology provides a complete overview A wide range of applications Process optimisation and greater efficiency

Rajesh Parikh, Rajesh & Company, 211, Mahavir Commercial Complex M.G. Road, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400 077 T: +91.22.25012848 / +91.22.25011189 E: parikh.rajesh@vsnl.net / hardchemelectronics@vsnl.net W: www.rajeshcompany.com

Electrical Monitor January 2015 83


084-087] Interview - George Punnoose - Kalkitech.qxp

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Interview

Bengaluru-based Kalkitech provides smart grid communication and optimization products and services to utilities and customers to improve energy efficiency. We have George Punnoose explain Kalkitech’s active engagement with Indian power utilities in providing automation and metering solutions. George Punnoose analyses the challenges ahead of India in its Smart Grid ambitions, and is confident that Kalkitech will be a faithful partner in India’s Smart Grid story. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

We hope to play an active role in India’s Smart Grid — George Punnoose, COO, Kalkitech Communication Technologies Pvt Ltd

Tell us about the various services that Kalkitech offers in the power distribution space. In the power distribution space Kalkitech's prime offerings are advanced metering and distribution automation. In advance metering, we build automatic metering infrastructure (AMI) for residential, commercial and industrial customers. We also provide AMR solutions to collect data automatically from meters installed at distribution transformers and from substation feeders, for aggregate technical & commercial (AT&C) loss management. In distribution automation space we provide Automation RMU, autoreclosures and sectionalizers, and FPI. We also provide solutions for monitoring transformers and distributed

84 Electrical Monitor January 2015

generation including solar and wind. Kalkitech solutions include both data collection hardware and software, and various software application functions, all developed at Kalkitech’s in-house R&D centre. Please describe Kalkitech scope of service offering in the Smart Grid space. We offer our AMI and advanced distribution automation products and solutions to transform existing distribution networks into smarter ones. We also offer hardware and software products and solutions for monitoring and integration of distributed assets like transformers and solar/wind generation plants.


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Interview: Kalkitech

While we appreciate that Smart Grid is an evolving culture and can have no specific definition, can you describe what basic objectives does the Smart Grid movement aim to address in India? Yes, Smart Grid does mean different things to different stakeholders. What is required in transmission is different from what is needed today in the distribution network. I believe the Smart Grid movement in the Indian power distribution space should first focus on deploying automatic metering infrastructure (AMI)-based on sub-GHz RF (radio frequency) technology in every city and town. Meters, as we know, act as a good sensory node at different locations, from consumption to source of feed. Meters can provide both quantitative and qualitative information about the power and energy in the network, thereby acting as a good data source for building intelligent networks. Availability of this data will not only help in improving billing and operational efficiency, but also empower users to monitor and control/modify their own energy usage pattern. Migrating acquired data to cloud will enhance the scaling possibilities of such systems. Once we build a strong last-mile communication infrastructure like RF for AMI, we should then leverage this RF network for deploying distribution feeder automation. We understand that Kalkitech is involved in the 14 pilot Smart Grid projects being implemented by various power utilities in India. Tell us more. Over the last two years, Kalkitech has steadily built its capabilities in deploying AMI solutions. The first pilot deployment was done in Puducherry as a part of a PGCIL Smart Grid initiative. Kalkitech also deployed its Smart Grid products and solutions at MSEDCL, the state power distribution utility of Maharashtra. With this experience, Kalkitech took on an active role in the Indian Smart Grid pilot projects. We are playing the lead role in some of the projects and for others we are supporting the leading system integrators in the country with our products and solutions. We expect to play a key role in the first phase of this Smart Grid initiative. Was Kalkitech involved in the R-APDRP (Part A) programme that aimed at creating an IT base for power distribution utilities? Yes, Kalkitech played a significant role; we are working with five states as their SCADA/DMS consultants. We have also contributed to some projects as a product

supplier with our flagship products like data concentrators/FRTUs. With knowledge on both operational and enterprise systems, we are also helping system integrators (SI) with data integration solutions. What are the challenges that you foresee in India’s Smart Grid ambitions? We will continue to see challenges similar to what we faced in R-APDRP during the execution phase. This will become even more severe when we move into large scale rollouts. Lack of skilled manpower and GIS data pose challenges during execution. Some of the technology and products are new to both suppliers and users, requiring extensive training and maintenance support. With the same sub-GHz network to be shared by both AMI and DA, we will need a larger licence-free frequency band for successful deployment and improved performance of the system. Please discuss some key projects that Kalkitech is doing for Indian power utilities. Kalkitech is part of some key projects by Power Grid Corporation of India and state utilities. As part of National Transmission Asset Management Centre (NTAMC) project, Kalkitech is deploying its centralized protection management and automated disturbance collection system covering all PGCIL substations. This system will not only facilitate faster disturbance collection and analysis, but also plays an important role monitoring the performance of primary and secondary equipment. We also supplied data archiving solutions to the ongoing load dispatch centre (LDC) upgrade projects in the north, south and western regions, and will be supplying the same for the northeast. With numerous LDC level installations for energy scheduling, accounting and settlement solutions, we are currently deploying the same in Bihar. We are also working with various generation utilities providing our ELTRIX performance analysis and optimization solutions. Our unique competency on various automation and metering protocols means that we work with private and government utilities and testing labs to set up automation and meter testing facilities. Tell us about some major assignments in the power sector for overseas clients. Our continuous engagement with some of the international

Electrical Monitor January 2015 85


084-087] Interview - George Punnoose - Kalkitech.qxp

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Interview: Kalkitech leading DCS vendors to the Middle East, Africa and South East Asian market. Where do you see India’s Smart Grid endeavours reaching by 2020 and what role do you see Kalkitech playing? After the successful execution of the current pilot projects, we expect large roll outs to begin in the next two years and by 2020 we will start seeing the benefits of these investments. We also expect advanced distribution automation to be a part of the large roll out. utilities over the last couple of years has started yielding results now. We were part of two major projects of MEA Thailand; as part of the distribution automation and transformer monitoring projects, we supplied them with a large number of our FRTU and meter data management (MDM) solutions. Our gateways and substation DCU are approved and standardized by multiple utilities in South America and European OEMS. We are currently working on important pilots both in Europe and South America, on AMI and centralized protection and disturbance management projects. Our performance monitoring and optimization solutions for power plants are been supplied through one of the

Kalkitech is preparing itself to meet the technical and deployment challenges when large scale Smart Grid roll outs happen in the next five years in our country. And with years of experience in the utility communication and optimization space and with an appreciation of the technical and deployment challenges, we hope to play a key role in the country’s Smart Grid mission of building 100 Smart cities.

Profile: Myriad Industrial Solutions ightning arresters are important components of a power system. Condition monitoring of lightning arresters is being seriously implemented in India. The Indian industry has been waiting for economical conditional monitoring tool for lightning arresters. Myriad Industrial Solutions offers ALCL-40 digital arrester clamp tester manufactured by Multi- Japan. Rising trend of resistive leakage current in the LA can indicate deterioration of insulating properties of LA. The Third harmonic component of the total leakage current gives better idea of insulating properties of LAs. High third harmonic leakage current is direct indication that insulating properties of LA are deteriorating. ALCL 40 allows measuring of total third harmonic leakage current and third harmonic leakage current with a resolution of 100 ?A which is highest in the industry. The clamp on CT supplied with ALCL-40 is least influenced by external magnetic field and noise because of triple shielding for CT. IEC 60099-5 has recommended measurement of third order harmonic analysis of leakage current. This method is indirect method of determination of resistive leakage

L

86 Electrical Monitor January 2015

current. An increase in the third harmonic resistive component of leakage current brings the arrester to thermal overloading and finally causes breakdown. The faithfulness of measurement depends on how accurately the measuring instrument measures the smallest amount of total leakage current and its third harmonic component. The accuracy can be

verified and external source generating very small leakage current with third harmonic superimposed on it. Contact: Interested readers can contact supplier at mail@myriadindustrialsolutions.co.in or call on (0) 84-54-94-07-31


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088-089] Interview - Ved Prakash Mahendru - EON Electric.qxp

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Interview

EON Electric is the new incarnation of Indo Asian Fusegear that ruled the Indian market for over fifty years with its quality circuit breakers and wiring devices. With its switchgear business now divested, EON is focusing on a wide portfolio of strategic energyefficient products that includes wires & cables, lighting, solar-power devices, etc. We have V.P. Mahendru describing EON’s LED lighting business and sharing optimism about LED lighting becoming India’s biggest commitment towards energy efficiency and savings.

India can emerge as a global supplier of LED lighting

— Ved Prakash Mahendru, Chairman & Managing Director, EON Electric Ltd

Tell us about how EON Electric’s new LED business is progressing, and your association with OMS of Europe. LED lights are the latest and most efficient sources of light which are 100 per cent more energy-efficient than CFLs and over 250 per cent more efficient than GLS lamps. In view of this outstanding efficiency, the Indian LED market is growing at nearly 50 per cent year-on-year despite the comparatively high cost of replacing GLS lamps by LED lamps. With ever more efficient LED chips continuously emerging from research laboratories, it is believed that LED lights will glitter more than ever before and with lower electricity bills, ensuring overall substantial saving of power for the nation. Their use will spread from bigger towns to smaller towns and even to villages in the larger interest of BPL consumers and convenience of replacement. As the need to conserve power is considered equally critical by developed nations, demand for sophisticated LED lights and lamps is growing fast in Europe too. Appreciating this growth phenomenon, EON has tied up a joint venture with a European company so as to develop new products as per their requirements from time to time and produce them in India for supply to them regularly. Despite its advantages, the capital costs of LED are still quite steep deterring the average consumer. What is your view? Two great things have lately been happening in our country. The first is the comparatively enhanced earning capacity of each family because of more members of the family getting

88 Electrical Monitor January 2015

educated and finding jobs as they grow and secondly R&D work has helped LED companies reduce cost of LED bulbs compared with yesteryears. Thus, despite slight increase in capital cost of LEDs, the higher earning capacity of the families is encouraging them from changing over their light sources including from CFLs to LED lights.


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Interview: EON Electric

The government itself is a big consumer of lighting in government offices, street lighting, etc. How can the government accelerate the usage of LED lighting? It is true that the government itself is a big consumer of lighting in offices, street lights as is evident from the large single purchase tender of Rs.100-Rs.300 crore of LED lighting that have been issued and finalized in favour of Indian companies, manufacturing these products locally. The government has already drawn plans to encourage large companies to set up LED chips manufacturing units in India which will further make it easy and economic for the manufacturers of LED lights in India to procure the variety of chips from within India at lower cost. All this will encourage wider acceptance and use of LED lights in replacement of traditional lights. Also, as LED lights are electronic equipment, they can be adequately controlled from central control stations and can be dimmed or brightened up as required. Much like what happened in CFL, we see a large number of “ unbranded ” L E D l i g h t s b e i n g s o l d a t l e s s t h a n h a l f t h e p r i c e o f branded LEDs. What impact could this have on the market? Yes, unfortunately, as it happened in the case of CFLs where substandard CFLs were imported from China or other third-world countries, substandard or unbranded LED Lights too have started appearing in the market thereby damaging the consumers’ confidence. We as members of the progressive LED lighting industry in India have been persuading and pressing Bureau of Indian Standards and the government departments concerned to finalize the BIS specifications not only for LED bulbs, but also for LED tubes and LED street lights and then make them mandatory for use in India so that the BIS mark itself on the LED Lighting products

will inspire enough confidence and faith of the consumer's of satisfactory performance of LED lights and saving of power for the consumers, as also for the nation. The industry highly appreciates initiatives taken by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) that is shortly starting a scheme of starrating of LED lights so as to make it convenient for the consumers to buy appropriately tested and certified products. In accordance with BEE specifications, LED lights will be star-rated 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 according to their comparative high efficiency. What is your view on India’s self-sufficiency in the LED lighting business? Do we rely on imported components and drivers? India will also soon start producing high efficiency LED chips which when duly processed can be used by the existing and new manufacturers of LED lights to meet not only the Indian requirements of LED Lights but also global requirements. In fact India is emerging as an important source of LED lights for the developed countries as Indian excellence in R&D and its base for manufacturing, assembly and testing will be a great tool to popularize all kinds of LED lights all over the developed countries where their own cost of production is bound to be higher. What is your reading of the growth of the LED lighting business in India over the next 5-7 years? We believe that in the next 5-7 years, the total lumens of light used in Indian homes, work places and open areas will be 10 times more than the total lumens of light currently used. What is most interesting is that despite this very substantial growth in requirement of total lumens, we will still be consuming only 10–12 per cent of the total electrical power consumption of our country compared to 18–20 per cent today.

Electrical Monitor January 2015 89


090-091] Interview - Kiyoshi Otaki - Anchor Electricals.qxp

1/17/2015

5:24 PM

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Interview

The taking over of a traditional homegrown brand “Anchor” by Panasonic in 2007 was a watershed development in the Indian electrical equipment history. Kiyoshi Otaki tells us how the global expertise of Panasonic has brought a positive change in three main areas—products, design and manufacturing. In turn, the wellentrenched network of Anchor has ensured faster penetration of Panasonic products in India. The symbiosis will continue and both brands will coexist, asserts Otaki. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

Anchor aspires to add new value to millions of Indians

It has been around seven years since Panasonic took over Anchor Electricals. How has the journey been so far? Anchor and Panasonic’s journey together, since 2007 has set significant milestones. Panasonic has helped Anchor to bring synergy in three areas—product, design and manufacturing— and has been able to introduce new product categories suitable for the Indian market. The product designs are aesthetically and technically superior while Anchor’s manufacturing processes have become more energy-efficient and costeffective. We see that the brand “PPanasonic ” is also now available alongside “AAnchor ” is some products like switchgear. How do you manage this segmentation? Panasonic is one of the world’s largest players in the electrical construction business. It is known to provide market switchgear of top-notch quality. The same technology has been introduced by Anchor for India and the top-end products under brand Panasonic exclusively meet some additional criteria on which their premium is based. Panasonic lighting products are now ready to entrench the Indian market alongside Anchor. The segmentation is based on aesthetic appeal and additional technical features. Both the brands have one common point and that is no

90 Electrical Monitor January 2015

— Kiyoshi Otaki, Managing Director, Anchor Electricals Pvt Ltd

compromise on quality of the product irrespective of the pricepoints. The brand “AAnchor ” has been in existence for nearly 50 years and has strong recall value. Going ahead, do you intend to retain it or will it be phased out by “PPanasonic ”?? Anchor has very strong brand equity with consumers across the Indian socio-economic strata and across geographies. Panasonic in itself connotes innovation and advanced technology. We intend using both brands for specific segments and end-user area of the market. How has the existing network and brand value of Anchor helped in promoting of new Panasonic products like video phones, etc? In addition to its trade partners, Anchor has a strong network of direct sales to projects and a good relationship with electrical consultants, architects and interior designers. This is helping us to establish the new line-up of state-of-the-art Panasonic products, faster and more effectively. How has the foray into energy-efficient lighting like CFL and LED been? Anchor was the first manufacturer in the country to stop GLS (incandescent lamp) production aligned with its mission of manufacturing eco-friendly, energysaving products. Today, it is one of the


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Interview: Anchor Electricals Tell us about your entry into the fire-fighting equipment market through the acquisition of Firepro. Firepro is not into the sale of any equipment. It is a leading EPC player in the area of fire detection and protection and has proven its engineering and project execution competence across all segments of the infrastructure industry. We may utilize this expertise further driving a synergy while executing smart lifestyle projects. There is a feeling that electricians, especially those working at the residential level, lack skills. As a respected name in the industry, are you providing training towards safe wiring practices? Yes, Anchor has a special pan-India voluntary skill upgradation largest CFL manufacturers in the country and the only one to incorporate special CFL design machinery in-house that manufactures spiral glass shell from the straight tube. It is steadily growing its market share in the CFL business. Since 2012, it also markets LED lighting under Anchor as well as Panasonic brands. Recently it has unveiled one of the stellar LED lighting ranges for residential, commercial, retail and hospitality premises under Panasonic brand. The range is custom-designed keeping in mind the changing tastes of the diverse Indian socio-economic spectrum. It aims to deliver optimum value for money and reliable illumination through LED as well as CFL lighting. Please discuss any expansion plans at your Gujarat and Uttarakhand manufacturing plants. We have been constantly investing in all our factories to expand capacity and improve manufacturing and quality control processes. We will continue to invest in the above areas and for manufacturing new products. In the next five years, our intention is to invest at least Rs.400 crore for the above. Panasonic is already marketing its consumer electronic products in India. Please discuss how Anchor is integrating the product portfolio. As part of Panasonic Corporation-Eco Solutions Company, Anchor caters to the electrical constructions segment that includes solutions for generating energy, conserving energy and managing energy. Panasonic has introduced ventilation fans that base their premium on offering better indoor air quality, LED lighting products focusing on reliable lighting and HIT solar PV modules generate maximum power in minimum space. It has thus seamlessly integrated Panasonic technology and products complementing its existing product line-up. In the near future, it may team up with Panasonic companies in India to cater to the requirements depending on the product portfolio by suitably combining several resources. In the near future, it may play a vital role of being an integrated solutions provider creating a smart lifestyle switch. With Panasonic’s comprehensive expertise right from designing to developing an eco-system, Anchor may use the same to boost India’s infrastructural development, especially in the area of Smart Cities and Smart Living—for instance, the Fujisawa Smart City model in Japan.

program for electricians enabling them to acquire additional knowledge of the domain. Additionally, we conduct periodic seminars and workshops, amidst fraternity as well as individually as a company to keep all the company stakeholders apprised of our new products and unique technology that goes into them. How do you see the road ahead for Panasonic and Anchor say five years down the line? Panasonic’s larger than life brand promise “A Better Life, a Better World” focuses on adding value to individual lives by catering to their needs in every space. As part of Panasonic Corporation Eco Solutions Company, Anchor will endeavor to add new value in lives of millions of Indians. The road ahead starts with Anchor venturing in the spaces of energy generation, conservation and management gradually emerging as an energy solutions provider.

Electrical Monitor January 2015 91


092-093] View Point MSK.qxp

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View Point

Electricity in macro perspective Dr M.S. Kapadia

T One of the reasons for very low shares of electricity in macro income over the period could be grossly inadequate recoveries of costs and the consequent hidden subsidies.

92 Electrical Monitor January 2015

he share of incomes from electricity, gas and water supply in total GDP at factor cost had remained sub-one per cent till around 1968-69. This share rose to around 2 per cent over the next one and a half decade, and to 2.5 per cent at the end of 20th century. However, the share has fallen more or less steadily to 1.61.7 per cent till 2012-13, with a slight rise to 1.9 per cent during 2013-14 and 2.2 per cent during H1 of the ongoing fiscal 2014-15. The rise during 2013-14 and H1 of 2014-15 reflects strong growth in power infrastructure. The secular decline in the share of electricity in the economy reflects structural changes in the economy resulting in faster growth of low energy-intensive service sectors. But, then significantly the ratio of GDP from electricity to manufacturing incomes has also been on the decline and the fall is more dramatic. Thus, the ratio has fallen from 17.2 per cent on the eve of the new millennium to 11 per cent by 2011-12. The ratio has risen in the following two years; to 11.9 per cent during 2012-13 and a sharper 15 per cent during 2013-14 and 17.4 per cent during H1 of the ongoing fiscal. The rise reflects subdued manufacturing on the one hand and strongly growing electricity along with rate revisions for power users under power sector reforms. Examining the contribution of electricity in manufacturing activities from another angle, we find that the share of power & fuels in total input cost in factories (as reflected in findings in Annual Survey of Industries) has been on the decline. The share of power & fuel consumed to total input cost had gone down almost steadily from around 7.8-7.9 per cent during 1999-00 and 2000-01 to 5.1 per cent during 2010-11 and 2011-12, with a slight rise to 5.3 per cent in the following year 201213 (the latest year for which the relevant data are available). Obviously, electricity cost has been relatively undermined in cost structure of production enterprises. One of the reasons for very low shares of electricity in macro income over the period could be grossly inadequate recoveries of costs and the consequent hidden subsidies. With the entry of return-seeking private sector in power sector, this is likely to change in the coming years and the sector is expected to be more visible in macro numbers. Gross Capital Formation: Now, let us take the share of electricity in gross capital formation (GCF). Here, capital investment in electricity accounted for just around 6.9 per cent of total project spending in the country in 2012-13. The share is no doubt better than 5.3 per cent during 2004-05, but is lower than the recent years’ peaks of 8.0 per cent in 2000-01 and 8.9 per cent in 2001-02, following dotcom busts and consequent investment slack. The ratio of capital investment in power sector to that in manufacturing has nosedived from over 40 per cent in 2001-02 to 15 per cent by 2007-08, due to pick up in manufacturing investment over the period. However, the subsequent years saw rapid rise in the ratio to 32 per cent in 2012-13, due to subdued manufacturing income and investment


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View Point particularly during 2011-12 and 2012-13. With continued atrophy in manufacturing during the subsequent year, the ratio of electricity GCF to manufacturing GCF is likely to rise further during 2013-14.The value of net fixed capital stock (NFCS) in the sector was estimated at Rs.19.7 trillion in 2012-13, which is 7 per cent of the total NFCS in the country or around 29 per cent of that in manufacturing industries. Household consumption: The share of fuel & power in private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) has got stuck at 3.7-3.8 per cent between 2009-10 and 2012-13, from a recent years’ high of 4.4 per cent during 2005-06. Employment: Electricity including gas and water provided employment to around 8.81 lakh persons in the organized sector—bulk of it in the public sector, accounting for 3 per cent of total organized sector employment at the end of fiscal 2011-12. The share has remained more same over the five years' period. Global perspective: With its share of 5 per cent in global power generation, India ranks third in the world, after China (22 per cent) and USA (18 per cent). However, with its per capita consumption of just 760 kwh, the country ranks much lower, considering average per capita consumption of 2,972 kwh in the world. China has per capita consumption of 3,488 kwh and USA’s metric is 12,947 kwh.

(Dr M.S. Kapadia is Director, Economic Research India Pvt Ltd)

SHARE OF ELECTRICITY, GAS & WATER SUPPLY IN MACRO NUMBERS (%) GDP at factor cost

Gross capital formation

PFCE

Factory input*

Overall

Mfg

Overall

Mfg

1999-00

2.5

17.2

7.4

21.4

3.5

7.8

2000-01

2.4

15.7

8.0

27.6

4.3

7.9

2001-02

2.3

15.6

8.9

40.2

4.3

7.7

2002-03

2.4

16.4

7.0

24.9

4.3

7.3

2003-04

2.3

15.1

7.2

23.9

4.2

8.8

2004-05

2.1

13.8

5.3

15.5

4.4

6.3

2005-06

2.0

13.2

5.5

16.1

4.3

6.3

2006-07

1.9

12.0

5.6

16.4

4.2

6.2

2007-08

1.8

11.4

5.3

14.3

4.0

5.8

2008-09

1.7

11.1

6.1

24.0

3.9

5.7

2009-10

1.9

12.3

6.1

19.5

3.8

5.3

2010-11

1.6

11.1

6.8

20.5

3.7

5.1

2011-12

1.6

11.0

6.9

27.4

3.7

5.1

2012-13

1.7

11.9

6.9

32.4

3.8

5.3

2013-14

1.9

15.0

NA

NA

NA

NA

*Share of power & fuels in total input cost in factories

Electrical Monitor January 2015 93


094-096] Interview - Arun Gupta - NTL Group.qxp

1/17/2015

6:23 PM

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Interview

NTL entered the lighting business in 2002 as a small manufacturer of ballasts for CFLs. Today, NTL is perhaps the largest electronics manufacturing company in the lighting industry in India. NTL has also partnered with Lemnis of Netherlands, marking its foray in the LED lighting business. Arun Gupta discusses the bright prospects of the LED lighting industry in India and asserts that the challenges notwithstanding, LED is the future of lighting.

Technology is bringing about price reduction in LED lighting — Arun Gupta Managing Director, NTL Group

You have said that NTL has been a “ppartner of choice” as a supplier of lighting electronics to a large number of manufacturers of lighting devices. What have been NTL’s strong points to have created such a lasting relationship? Focus on better quality, transparency in all dealings and customization according to the local needs and understanding of the statutory requirements are factors that contributed to lasting relationship with our customers. In addition, while dealing with the international customers, we develop a clear understanding of their local market and local culture. We also continuously update ourselves on all the legal aspects involved. Also, our products are backed up by strong planning and equally good customer care support. Your collaboration with Lemnis of Netherlands for “PPharox” marked your entry in the B2C segment. How has the journey so far been? Yes, in April 2012, NTL entered into a joint venture with Lemnis Lighting of Netherlands. Lemnis is the global leader in energy efficient lighting and they are supporting the venture through supply of technology, design and IP, while NTL is contributing through its competencies in operations and electronics design & development. The new company, NTL Lemnis, has been producing LED lighting products and solutions for the European, African and Indian markets under the brand name “Pharox.” Today, NTL Lemnis has an installed capacity of 5 million pieces per year and has already sold 8 million LED lamps till now. There are plans to increase the installed capacity to above 15 million

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products over the next five years. The journey so far has been very enriching and satisfying and we believe that in future the joining hands will bring in more such moments. How do you see the future of LED lighting in India? Though prices have definitely reduced over the years they are still relatively high. LED-based lighting is a new technology and in the near future, with evolving technology, LEDs will take a major share in the lighting industry. Today, in general lighting, the percentage of home buyers for LEDs is still low due to high costs but this is changing rapidly.


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The recent Nobel Prize for Japanese and US scientists working of Blue LEDs has also put the technology in the centre stage and the Government of India announcing the availability of LEDs from the current Rs.400 per unit to Rs.10 per unit shortly will also change things for the end-consumer. We understand that the government is a big consumer of lighting itself and can switch to LED lighting to bring about demand-side efficiency? How feasible is this? The government sector is the single largest user for LED lights in India today. Apart from the large scale street lighting projects,

increasing usage of LED lights for in-cabin lighting as well as the lighting of railway stations have contributed to the government sector being the single largest adopter and growth trigger. The commercial sector in India is the second largest user of LED lights, followed by the industrial and automotive segments. Hospitality and retail sector, street lighting applications within factories, special economic zones and information technology parks are key contributors to the commercial and industrial segments. Indian consumers appear to be consciously phasing out of incandescent lamps with CFLs. The Indian market is full of

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Interview: NTL Group

“uunbranded” CFLs that are available at even one-fourth the price of “bbranded” CFLs. What explains this disparity? Today, there is a gradual shift from the consumer all across the world towards sustainable lighting solution and India is no different. In India the transition is relatively slow but it is happening. Incandescent were replaced by CFLs and now with LEDs. LED is the most talked about technology and Indian consumer today is willing to spend on quality. While there is drastic need to educate majority of the consumer regarding quality of such products the transition is happening more sooner than later. The phasing out of incandescent lamps with CFLs is not new. It has been happening now for over a decade. The price disparity between branded and unbranded CFLs that you are talking about is hardly 25-50 per cent now. Initially what you say about unbranded CFLs being available at one fourth price was true but that is not the case any longer. The disparity will always be there in the initial phase of the life cycle of any product. The reasons range from scale of manufacturing to substandard products to avoidance of taxes by the unorganized sector. LEDs today are witnessing the same phenomenon where unorganized sector is offering products at one fourth of the price of the branded product. But gradually this difference is narrowing. The cheaper imports lack adequate quality control, are liable to fail and do not provide the luminescence that a similar branded product would provide. Do you expect prices of LED lighting to reduce further in the coming years? What factors could bring about this? Yes, as the demand for eco-friendly lighting products grows, the production volume will also increase and the economies of scale will come into play, therefore the ‘per unit’ cost of the LED lamps will surely come down drastically. However the major reduction in prices will come from technological advancements which are already happening in the industry. Experts believe that LED is the future of lighting. Is there any research going on, in your knowledge, towards a radically different lighting technology that could be truly affordable? There is a strong movement towards sustainable solutions in lighting and as of today, LEDs seem to be the next big thing. Today, the advantages that LEDs offer far outnumber the advantages of CFLs. LEDs are energy efficient, last longer than any other light source and the only light source which can be used in every application after incandescent lamp and finally is available for

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both home as well as commercial applications. While LEDs still have to reach its full potential as of now there is no light source today that can match this technology. However, there is OLED (organic LED) on which research is going on so that this can be used for general lighting purpose. This is an expensive technology and currently being found in various devices including phones, computer monitors and large TV screens amongst many others. What is your prognosis for the Indian lighting industry by 2025? India’s lighting industry as per ELCOMA estimates will be $6 billion while India’s LED market is forecast to reach $1457.8 million by 2019, at a CAGR of 35.9 per cent, during the period 2014-19. We do not have the estimates for 2025 primarily because of the rapid change and advancement in technology. However one can safely say that there would still be a CAGR of 20 per cent for the lighting industry post 2020. As far as technology is concerned we are seeing a rapid deployment of LEDs across sectors and the pace of adoption is astounding. Nowadays LEDs are replacing CFLs in almost all the applications. For example office lighting, retail lighting, home lighting, lighting in hospitality industry, etc. But still, the major momentum is only in the applications which have more than 8 hours to 24 hours usage, likes street lights, BPOs, IT and ITeS companies. However slowly but surely we are seeing home buyers also going in for LEDs and this change is going to face increasing positive traction more so because of the falling price of LED lighting source which is making the technology affordable by the day. How do you see the road ahead for NTL Electronics, both in its B2B and B2C avatars, over the next 5-7 years? We propose to continue focusing on the B2B category where we are the leaders and keep providing our OEM customers with the best lighting electronics for their requirements. In the lighting solutions category, NTL Lemnis will focus on creating newer and more innovative products for every lighting need and emerge as a substantial player over the next 3-5 year timeframe. From our current turnover of Rs.750 crore, we are expecting that our sales turnover will reach around Rs.2,500 crore in the next five years. We expect that NTL Lemnis will contribute almost 35 per cent of this through lighting solutions. We will also expand the capacity of LED lights to 15-20 million units annually in the next five years, from the current 7 million.


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Wire & Cable India concludes successfully

he fifth edition of WIRE & CABLE INDIA was held from 28 to 30 October 2014, thus running in parallel with Tube India International and Metallurgy India. A total of 388 exhibitors from 25 countries came to the trade fair trio where they presented their products from the wire and cable industry as well as the latest technologies in metallurgy and in the treatment and processing of tubes. The trade fairs also featured official pavilions from Austria, China, Germany, Italy and North America. All three trade fairs had been organised by Messe Düsseldorf and its subsidiary Messe Düsseldorf India. In all, 10,600 trade visitors came to the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre in Mumbai to find out about innovations, technologies and

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trends in the relevant sectors. The Indian industrial sector is greatly dependent on the automotive engineering, telecommunications and construction industries. Despite a slowdown in India’s economic growth in 2014, the trade fair stands at WIRE & CABLE INDIA, Tube India International and Metallurgy India 2014 attracted a lot of interest. By running in parallel, the three trade fairs offered visitors not only a broad basis for communication in India, but also important synergies on the visitors’ side. Pleased to see so many visitors with major decision-making powers and praising the information activities of those visitors, many exhibitors have already announced that they would come again in 2016. Werner M. Dornscheidt, Chairman and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf came to the following assessment of the trade fair: “Speaking on behalf of Messe Düsseldorf and Messe Düsseldorf India, we are very pleased that by setting up Wire & Cable India, Tube India International and Metallurgy India 2014, we have established an ideal industry platform for the Indian market.” The next set of trade fairs – WIRE & CABLE INDIA 2016, Tube India International 2016, Metallurgy India 2016 and India Essen Welding & Cutting 2016 – has been scheduled for 5 to 7 October 2016 and will be held at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.

DCM Shriram forms JV with US-based Axiall Corporation CM Shriram Ltd, an integrated business entity with presence in the agri-rural, chloro-vinyl sector and polymer compounding in India, has entered into a joint venture agreement for its polymer compounding business with Axiall Corporation, a North American manufacturer of chloro-vinyl, aromatics and building products. Under the agreement, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, Axiall invested Rs.34.65 crore in SVP (a 100 per cent subsidiary of DSCL) to acquire 50 per cent stake in SVP. Consequently, SVP will have access to Axiall’s polymer compounding technology and market knowledge. This arrangement is intended to enable SVP to launch latest-generation polymer compounds in India, offering more cost-effective polymer solutions for different applications to Indian customers. Speaking on the development, Ajay Shriram, Chairman & Senior Managing Director, and Vikram Shriram, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, said, “We are excited to partner with Axiall, given its expertise and technology in the PVC and CPVC compounding industry. We believe the JV has been able to offer innovative and competitive solutions to its customers. This partnership is intended to allow us to adapt Axiall’s proven successes in the International marketplace using state-of-the-art technology in combination with the strengths of Shriram Vinyl Polytech in the Indian Polymer space.”

D

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098-099] Interview - Sameer Saxena - Legrand India.qxp

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Interview

Legrand is known to be the global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures. In this exchange, we have Sameer Saxena discussing Legrand India's performance and how strategic acquisitions have helped the company gain domestic market share. Speaking of new government initiatives, Saxena is particularly optimistic of the Smart Cities initiative that can potentially boost various segments of the electrical equipment industry. He also exudes confidence of Legrand India making a bigger contribution to Legrand Group's global business.

The Smart Cities project can open up huge business opportunities

The last few years were marked by a distinct slowdown across the economy. What is your perception of the electrical equipment market now? The fortunes of the electrical equipment industry are linked to that of the Indian power sector. The Indian government has aggressive plans for the power sector and is targeting solar power generation capacity addition of 89 GW in the XII Plan period (2012-17) and 100 GW in the XIII Plan period (2017-22). All this is expected to result in greater demand for the electrical equipment industry. There is also a renewed thrust on manufacturing enunciated by the government through the 'Make in India' initiative. The Indian GDP growth on the whole is expected to accelerate. Add to this the overall feel-good factor that the new government at the centre has brought in. The market is expected to grow. The government expects an investment of $100 billion in the next four years. In the light of these facts, the mid-term prospects for the industry look good and Legrand will be part of this growth story. How has been the market response to DX3 that was launched at around this time last year? DX3, the next generation of modular devices from Legrand, offers variety of functions and characteristics suited to all types of installations. The response from the market is really encouraging.

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— Sameer Saxena Vice President - Marketing, Legrand India

The exciting new features launched in DX3 are well appreciated by all customers like consultants, contractors, panel builders, end users etc. DX3 has helped customers reduce installation time and make installations more safe, compact and integrated. Some of the features that were specially appreciated are sliding bottom clamp, integrated label holder, easy fixing of accessories and high breaking capacity range. Of the broad segments that you cater to— residential, commercial, hospitality, industry and infrastructure—what would be your principal business driver in the coming years? With the advent of the concept of Smart Cities, the residential and commercial segments are set to grow. Since our product range caters to both the residential and commercial segments, we expect to see revenues from both these segments. The hospitality segment is however expected to emerge as a growth driver in the next few years. Growth will be led by the demand for budget and mid-size hotel segments across the country. The other contributors to this growth story will be private engineering and medical colleges as well as government schools in small towns. Given that the new government is committed to reviving the pace of infrastructure development, how do you see the demand for


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Interview: Legrand India committed to make further investments in these units and to maintain leadership position in all these categories.

Legrand products improving, especially in government-promoted projects? Growth in infrastructure will definitely have a multiplier effect on the economy as a whole. Particularly, the growth in the power sector will definitely lead to a renewed demand for our products. As stated earlier, the Indian government is definitely planning an aggressive push as on capacity addition in power generation and this in turn will benefit the electrical equipment industry. The 'Make in India' initiative aims to boost infrastructure in industries with strategic significance like electronics and communication. With our wide range of products that cater to these industries, Legrand is in agreement and is ready for the plan. Acquisitions have played an important role for Legrand's growth in India. Please discuss how Indo-Asian has improved Legrand's penetration in the circuit breaker market. How do you ensure that the "Indo Asian" and "Legrand" brands coexist harmoniously? The Indo-Asian acquisition has definitely helped improve the penetration in the protection business markets. The products of the two companies complement each other as Indo-Asian has significant presence in the mid-level product categories while Legrand has products positioned at the high end. This complementary fit also ensures that the product brands of the two companies exist harmoniously.

How does the government's plan of rolling out 100 Smart Cities appeal to Legrand? It appeals to us at two levels. The vision of a Smart City is about providing better quality of life to the people in urban India and Legrand is in agreement with it. Secondly, as a part of this vision, the government is planning to offer 24x7 uninterrupted power supply and encourage the setting up of industrial parks/export processing zones and IT parks. All of this means a significantly huge opportunity for the electrical and associated industries. This opens up business opportunities for Legrand as well. Given this, we will be looking at growth opportunities in the residential and commercial spaces and will be working to interconnect these two. Do you see India's share in Legrand's global portfolio changing significantly in the years ahead. Please discuss. It is possible to grow faster from our existing base in India than in many other markets across the world where we have higher market shares. Legrand India's growth has slowly but steadily contributed to the Legrand Group business. Pushed by acquisitions and steady growth, we have been performing above market expectations for the past five years. Our exports to the group have increased in the form of products such as MCBs. We believe that the contribution of India's sales to global sales will increase hereon.

How has the power continuity division been performing after the acquisition of Numeric Power System's UPS business? The power continuity division has gained by the acquisition of Numeric which is a market leader in the uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) in line-interactive and single-phase UPS. Numeric is now in the process of strengthening its product portfolio. Onfiniti is our product offering in the segment. In threephase models, we have been working closely with the Legrand Group to strengthen our position in the power continuity division. This year, we have launched two versions of modular UPS, namely Archimode and Trimode, for which initial feedback from the market has been positive and encouraging. Legrand is

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100-101] Guest Article - Dave Bryant - CTC Global.qxp

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Technical Insight

Evolution of Bare Overhead Conductor Technology Dave Bryant

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The author traces the evolution of bare overhead conductors from pure copper ones used prior to World War I to the modern Aluminum Conductor Composite Core conductors.

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s demand for clean, reliable and low-cost electricity grows, the importance of leveraging efficient technologies is paramount. On the generation side, much has been done to develop efficient generation. More recently, substantial effort has revolved around improving the efficiency of demand-side appliances and smart meters. However, common overhead conductor technology used to transmit the electricity from the generation source to the consumer is literally more than one-hundred years old! Prior to World War I, copper wire was the conductor of choice for most power lines due to its strength and conductivity. The war effort required that copper supplies be diverted, so aluminum conductors were developed and used as a substitute. Aluminum was a good alternative due to its lighter weight and relatively good conductivity, but its decreased strength inspired manufacturers to incorporate steel core wires to enable greater spans between fewer and or shorter structures. The new conductor was called ACSR (Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced). While all-aluminum conductor (AAC) was and continues to be used in certain circumstances, a higher strength All Aluminum Alloy Conductor (AAAC) was also developed to improve overall conductor strength. Unfortunately, the AAAC conductor’s electrical resistance increased as a result. For reference, the conductivity of materials is based on the International Annealed Copper Standard (“IACS”). A value of 100 per cent refers to the conductivity of fully annealed pure copper with a conductivity of 5.80 x 107 Siemens per meter. Type 1350-H aluminum commonly used for AAC and ACSR conductors is generally measured at around 61 per cent IACS while Type 6201T81 used in AAAC conductors drops to 52.5 per cent IACS. Fully annealed Type 1350-O used in a number of other conductor types is rated at 63 per cent IACS. Because aluminum will anneal and weaken when exposed to temperatures above 93°C, utilities were prevented from increasing line current as demand grew. To counter this, manufacturers developed a pre-annealed version of ACSR which they now call ACSS (Aluminum Conductor Steel Supported) which uses Type 1350-0 fully annealed aluminum. ACSS conductor could be used to enable increased levels of current without degrading conductor properties. However, because both the steel core and conductive aluminum strands carry tensile load and the fully annealed aluminum is weaker than “full-hard” Type 1350-H, the ACSS conductor was not as strong as ACSR. A few manufacturers tackled this problem by incorporating a higher strength grade of steel to match ACSR. Unfortunately when a conductor carries higher levels of current the electrical resistance of the wires causes them to heat up as current levels rise. The conductor’s coefficient of thermal expansion then causes the wires to elongate and sag. To address this, a number of manufacturers began using Invar steel core strands to


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Technical Insight: Overhead Conductor Technology Following the introduction of GAP, 3M Corporation also introduced a conductor known as ACCR (Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced). The ACCR conductor replaced the steel core strands with aluminum core strands to improve conductivity. The aluminum core strands are strengthened by incorporating microscopic ceramic fibers. The ACCR design also utilizes aluminum-zirconium (AlZr) alloy conductive strands that resist annealing. In 2002, following the Western Energy Crisis in the United States, wherein a number of thermally constrained and congested transmission pathways prevented power delivery to load centers, a group of engineers in Southern California developed a composite core alternative using a carbon and

replace conventional and high-strength steel core strands. While the Invar conductor’s nickel-iron alloy core exhibits a coefficient of thermal expansion much lower than conventional steel, its high iron content causes substantial magnetic hysteresis losses which are not favorable. Another conductor type evolved wherein all tensile loading was placed on the steel or Invar steel core strands during installation. This conductor, known as GAP, incorporated a gap between the core and conductive aluminum strands which was filled with grease. While the design served to reduce conductor sag, it introduced new installation challenges and could not be spliced.

glass fiber rod to replace the steel core strands. The composite core conductor ACCC (Aluminum Conductor Composite Core) offered much greater strength and a coefficient of thermal expansion nearly ten times less than steel. The composite core was also 70 per cent lighter than steel which enabled the incorporation of up to 30 per cent more aluminum without a weight or diameter penalty through the use of compact trapezoidal shaped strands. The new ACCC conductor technology allowed existing transmission and distribution lines to carry up to twice the current without the need to strengthen or replace existing structures. The added aluminum content also serves to reduce line losses by 25 to 40 per cent compared to other conventional or high-capacity conductors, depending upon load level. The substantial reduction in line losses not only conserves fuel (while reducing associated emissions), it also has the effect of ‘freeing-up’ generation capacity that is otherwise lost. This unrealized generation resource can then be delivered to customers without additional generation investment. To date, more than 25,000 km of ACCC have been deployed to more than 300 project sites in 30 countries worldwide. These include a number of installations in India at Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nashik (all in Maharashtra), Cuttack (Orissa) and Barmer (Rajasthan). Additional installations are currently underway in Bangalore (Karnataka), Malda (West Bengal) Bhubaneshwar (Orissa.) [Note: All photographs relate to CTC Global’s ACCC conductor.]

Dave Bryant is Director—Technology, CTC Global

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102-103] Guest Article - G Sathiamoorthy - Black & Veatch.qxp

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Guest Article PREREQUISITE FOR SMART CITIES

Smart Integrated Infrastructure G Sathiamoorthy

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ith over one sixth of her population residing in urban centres which is thirty times more populated than those in Europe, India is beset with the challenge of making her cities more efficient, livable and sustainable. The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has estimated that population in urban India is set to increase from 377 million at present to 600 million in 2031 due to the likelihood of nearly 70 per cent of new jobs being generated in these centres. The 100 Smart Cities initiative by the Indian Government is thus a way of trying to ensure that cities meet the needs of both the businesses and people they become home to, by offering a better quality of life and ensuring social and environmental sustainability. Though a variety of definitions abound on what a smart city entails, this article is aimed at emphasizing the need for focusing on the elements that constitute Critical Human Infrastructure – power, water and telecommunications; which when integrated using technology, form the core of Smart Integrated Infrastructure (SII) – the heart of any Smart City.

The use of network connectivity, automation and data analytics provides the foundation for Smart Integrated Infrastructure to improve the efficiency of utilities.

SMART UTILITIES MAKE SMART CITIES Electricity and water utilities are confronted with common challenges associated with the availability of natural resources, rising costs, regulation and growing customer requirements. The first step the government bodies need to undertake is to make utilities of all types and sizes ‘Smart’ by implementing real-time monitoring and diagnostics to enable enhanced asset management. By integrating multiple systems such as generation, distribution and demand side management, utilities catering to cities can reduce resource requirements and costs while enhancing reliability and performance.

ELECTRICITY 24X7 Power leakages pose the biggest challenge to 24x7 electricity supply. Electricity transmission losses in India are upwards of 25 per cent of what is generated, making India suffer a deficit of 12,000 mw with losses mounting up to $111 million in the last fiscal. Deployment of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) that improves billing accuracy is a good starting point. Distribution automation for electric utilities is becoming increasingly important as organizations prepare for greater levels of distributed generation and renewable energy use. Solar power in the form of distributed roof top generation will have a significant role in providing smart cities with an environmentally sustainable power supply. Half a dozen state governments have already introduced net metering for renewable energy allowing the generation of power on individual properties. Distributed generation, such as rooftop solar, can have a profound impact on daily demand curves. Smart Integrated Infrastructure, in the form of distribution automation, can provide an excellent way to integrate power from renewable and traditional sources, by scheduling each energy source to optimize value. It would also enable the identification of customer outages before individual customers call the utility to report them.

RELIABLE WATER SUPPLY Deployment of AMI can greatly improve billing efficiency

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Water supply in India characterized by poor coverage, inadequate treatment and high non revenue water (NRW) with low user charges and lower collection efficiency. According to the 65th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), only 47 per cent of urban households have individual water connections. The current


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Guest Article: Smart Integrated Infrastructure

distribution system is the cause behind loss of 40-50 per cent of water. Water utilities are increasingly trying to “do more with less.” To maximize performance, new automated systems that can interpret data from factors such as water source, pump efficiency and others need to be deployed to estimate customer usage and making billing more efficient and accurate.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS: THE COG IN THE WHEEL Transferring data generated from smart meters and sensors across a utility’s enterprise to a central control location requires a robust telecommunications backbone. Wireless networks represent an efficient means for meeting growing smart grid network requirements. Yet, the lack of available wireless spectrum and ongoing financial pressures are limiting utilities’ ability to incorporate smart grid programs into their private communications network. It can be beneficial for utilities to share communications infrastructure. Wireless infrastructure needed for remote meter reading is just one example of where utilities could collaborate to leverage the investment costs between utilities implementing similar functions. Network convergence lowers the operational and maintenance costs of supporting mission critical infrastructure, while providing scalability.

ANALYTICS: LEVERAGING THE POWER OF DATA Converting data into actionable information is what adds the edge to a Smart utility. Regardless of utility type, all Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems generate data – and a lot of it. Many utilities will be challenged to develop the in-house infrastructure or expertise necessary to manage, store and secure the data generated across their operations. Cloud services, whether privately owned or outsourced, are envisioned to emerge as an essential component of future utility operations. To manage

the huge volumes of data generated by advanced metering infrastructure cloud services offer a level of flexibility and efficiency previously unavailable through hard-wired connections. Application of data analytics and management programs will allow utility managers to make smarter operating decisions and efficiently deliver on the business goals of the utility enterprise. Evolving a program toward the use of predictive and prescriptive analytics will provide utility leaders with better information to support future action. The value of such analytics programs is the ability to identify and address maintenance and/or operational issues in a manner that could prevent catastrophic equipment failures, thereby having a big impact on budgets and performance.

THE ROAD AHEAD The use of network connectivity, automation and data analytics provides the foundation for Smart Integrated Infrastructure (SII) to improve the efficiency of utilities which in turn would make communities more adaptive, resilient and sustainable. Current work to help the introduction of SII includes 14 pilot projects being undertaken by India’s Smart Grid Task Force. The pilot projects involve deployment of advanced metering infrastructure, peak load management systems, outage management systems, power quality management, distributed generation and microgrids. With a smartphone in the hand of every Indian by 2019, the cloud based Smart Integrated Infrastructure platform would pave the way for every urban citizen to utilize resources in the most optimal manner.

[G Sathiamoorthy is Country Manager & Managing Director, Black & Veatch India]

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104-105] Interview - Sailesh Purohit - DuPont.qxp

1/17/2015

5:32 PM

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Interview

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DuPont has launched an innovative insulation material called Nomex that promises to offer superior insulation compared with conventional cellulose material. Studies have proven that better insulation material in traction transformers used in Indian Railways could lower the failure rate of transformers. Shailesh Purohit gives a technical orientation of Nomex and explains why its use could bring about more overall efficiency in the Indian Railways. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

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Use of Nomex can enhance the performance of Indian Railways — Sailesh Purohit, Application Research & Field Technical Scientist, South Asia Energy Solutions, DuPont Protection Technology

Please discuss the importance of traction transformers in rolling stock, particularly in the case of the "overworked" equipment of Indian Railways. The rolling stock transformers are the heart of the traction equipment. These transformers run the train by feeding power to the motors and the auxiliary equipment on board an electric loco. The train runs is subjected to frequent starts and stops during the travel and all the equipment are subjected to the initial heavy loading during the starting and set the whole train rolling. What are the typical faults that could occur in traction transformers, and what are the common reasons? We have tried analyzing the trends in the faults by looking at the failed units received for the repair and have also done some detailed analysis using data from the Vadodara loco shed. Based on analysis of DGA data of units of 5400 KVA loco transformers, we came to a conclusion that approximately 50 per cent of the failure arise from the auxiliary winding or the taping winding. Looking at the data and the details of kind of failures, it can be said that the cellulose material gets heated up in the auxiliary or the taping coil of the transformer unit because of multiple bracing and connections leads. The heated-up cellulose results in development of local hot spots, degrading the insulation. The degraded insulation results in the collapsing of the insulation and blocking of the oil flow causing

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further degradation of the insulation, leading to an ultimate dielectric failure of the unit. In terms of design and engineering, how does a traction transformer basically differ from a power transformer? In fact, the design of a traction loco transformer is totally different from a normal power transformer. The HV and LV windings are mostly on the same limb, they are single phase transformers, all the required voltages in the traction loco unit are tapped to run the locomotive. Whereas a normal power transformer shall have three-phase input and a three phase/4wire output depending on the need. Further, HV and LV windings for each phase are on separate limbs. Tell us in some detail about the difficulties that Indian Railways faced when it came to repairing traction transformers that developed faults relating to insulation material. Traction loco units are manufactured by very few manufacturers in the country. The repair and rework is difficult as the repairer needs to understand all kinds of the prevailing designs; the repairer should have the capability to redesign the transformer. The space available to redesign and reshape the coils is limited. Thus, the repairer needs higher degree of skill and understanding to perform the repair work. Proper use of insulation material is important to provide reliability to the repairs, the analysis of the failed units suggest that over 50 per cent failures occur due to hot


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Interview: DuPont Protection Technology windings using Nomex® insulation will retain mechanical tightness reducing the risk of failure due to short-circuit forces. From a dielectric standpoint, Nomex® paper and pressboard have also been demonstrated as being superior to those of the cellulose materials. Tests on aramid paper wrapped conductors have shown that under AC power frequency conditions, dielectric strength is similar to cellulose, but under impulse conditions Nomex® paper shows a 25 per cent better behaviour. As a consequence, aramid insulation can be electrically stressed under the same levels as oil-impregnated cellulose insulation.

Fig 1: Static compression of cellulose and Nomex® pressboard under 10MPa

spots in the auxiliary winding. The major difficulties are: 1. There is no design deficiency since design requirements are within the thermal limits of cellulose insulation 2. The weakest winding in a transformer, in terms of thermal performance, is the tapping winding because of: The multiple sections of different conductor sizes The multiple connections to be brought out resulting in joints and bends and additional insulation required to be added to cover the joints and bends The possible higher resistance created by the joints and bends resulting in hot spots The possible poorer thermal cooling due to the additional insulation added 3. From the DGA results, thermal failure would be the initial cause which then escalates to dielectric failure of the insulation system Tell us more about DuPont™ Nomex® solution and how it is superior to conventional insulation material. DuPont™ Nomex® insulation material thermal stability, at 220°C in air, is related to the strong chemical links within the molecular structure. These links also provide very good chemical stability and compatibility with all kinds of oil and resins used as insulating materials. Many studies have shown that a Nomex® and mineral oil system can have extremely long life at very high temperature, on the order of 180°C in the winding hottest spot. Unlike cellulose, no off gases or water are released due to thermal degradation at temperatures up to 750°C. From a mechanical standpoint, Nomex® pressboard sheet products have shown better stability and toughness than cellulose based products when submitted to compression stresses. Extensive testing in insulation liquid has shown that the impact of temperature on Nomex® is very much less as compared to cellulose. Fig 1 provides comparative results between cellulose pressboard and aramid pressboard. This would mean that

How has been the overall experience of Indian Railways from the use of DuPont™ Nomex®? Indian Railways understands the use of Nomex® material helps them achieve performance of the traction loco transformers. It is for this reason that three-phase locos have transformers with Nomex® insulation only; EMU units have Nomex® insulation in the transformers as this provides the performance required by the insulating material in the harsh environment of railways transformers. The Railways is also looking for the uprating of the 5,400 KVA transformer with an additional capacity addition of 1,000 KVA in the same size. This is only possible by using Nomex® in the redesigned transformer. Apart from using Nomex® for repair of existing transformers, does DuPont have plans of collaborating with transformer producers to use Nomex® in the manufacturing process itself? The testing of the 5400 KVA unit performed in association with Mumai-based High Volt Electricals Pvt Ltd proved conclusively that the proposed solution of using Nomex® insulation has performed better than the cellulose unit in terms of: Ability to withstand high temperature for a longer duration. This would translate to longer life and higher reliability of the traction transformer. Water emitted is much less. This would translate to reduced frequency in oil filtration. Looking to the advantages of using the Nomex® in the repair unit the Railways may plan to use the same insulation scheme in the new 5,400 KVA transformers, DuPont would share the experience and the testing results with the other manufactures to take the advantage of using Nomex® and adding reliability to their product. Please discuss your plans to further the presence of Nomex® in the Indian Railways market. With the increase in the load demand and the increasing pressure on the railways the best option to optimize the available resources is to use Nomex® in the transformers and motors to enhance the performance and increase the capacity of the equipment in the same size. It will be critical to how this can be best adopted by the railways as the speeds increase on the trains. We shall also be looking to words using Nomex® in the dry type transformer units of 15KVA, 40 KVA and 60 KVA for AC coaches, the present solutions have higher failure rates by using Nome® these failures can be reduced adding more reliability to the products. The equipment for the future high-speed trains may see use of Nomex® honeycomb structures and of course Nomex® based transformers and motors, for high performance.

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106-107] Interview - Jitendra Mamtora - TRIL.qxp

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Interview

In less than two decades of its formation, Gujarat-based Transformers & Rectifiers (India) has catapulted itself into the league of India's top transformer manufacturers. It is even amongst the elite suppliers of 1,200kV transformers to PGCIL. Jitendra Mamtora discusses the company's operations and growth plans, apart from throwing light on pertinent industry issues like the advent of Chinese transformer suppliers. Mamtora also shares his vision of T&R being counted in the world's leading industrial transformer manufacturers. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

We want to be in the top three Indian transformer companies — Jitendra Mamtora, Chairman, Transformers & Rectifiers (India) Ltd

How is your partnership with ZTR of Ukraine helping T&R to improve its market share in 765kV transformers, mainly for Power Grid Corporation of India? Yes, we tied up with ZTR in 2010 for jointly bidding for 765kV transformers in India. We received orders for 33 transformers, 13 were supplied by ZTR and the balance 20 transformers were in our scope. During these years we have supplied 16 such transformers and established ourselves

amongst the top four manufacturers. The remaining four transformers will be supplied during this year. Tell us about your Moraiya plant. Over the recent past, have you undertaken capacity expansion or equipped it for higher rating transformers? We have made some minor adjustments and changes in this plant and today our Moraiya plant has a capacity of manufacturing 24,000 MVA. It is now suitable for manufacturing and testing 765kV reactors as well. (We have added a source transformer to test 765kV reactors.) With this we have covered the full range of power transformers and reactors required in India. With the economic sentiment improving, do you foresee T&R expanding its capacity to the envisaged 50,000 MVA from the current 23,000 MVA, in the near future? In fact, our total current manufacturing capacity is 35,000 MVA and we do not have immediate plans to enhance it further. However, some additions may be made for manufacture of higher rating furnace and special transformers. India has the dubious distinction of producing 1,200kV transformers but also the highest failure rate of distribution transformers? How do you explain this dichotomy? We cannot compare the manufacture of 1,200kV transformers and the higher rate of failure of distribution

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transformer. These two are distinctly different. In the higher rating of transformers, there are 5-6 major manufacturers, where as there are 500-plus distribution transformers manufacturers in India. Some of them concentrate only in their respective regions. Manufacturers of EHV transformers like us have limited presence in distribution transformers and have a good track record on the quality of these transformers. How is T&R equipped for the 1,200kV regime—both transformers and rectifiers? In India, 1200kV lines will be starting somewhere towards the end of XIII Plan only. Till that time 765kV will be the predominant voltage for power transmission. We have successfully manufactured and tested 1,200kV transformer and will be one of the leading manufacturers in this range as and when the country adopts this voltage commercially. There are no 1,200kV rectifiers but if you mean reactors, we will definitely get into that business. Power Grid Corporation of India recently announced that it would source 765kV equipment only from those suppliers that have a local manufacturing base. Does this reduce the competition of imported Chinese equipment? Power Grid Corporation of India has put a condition that any foreign bidder if he wants to participate in tenders, he has to either put a plant in India or have a minimum 26 per cent equity in an Indian manufacturing unit. With this condition,

TBEA (a Chinese manufacturer) has already put up a plant in Vadodara and BTW (also of China) is likely to put up a plantonce again in Vadodara. These two were the major suppliers of transformers and reactors from China. The only other suppliers were from Korea and they have probably decided not to participate for these tenders because of the above conditions. Toshiba of Japan, incidentally, has bought over Vijai Electricals. What is your view on Chinese transformers supplying to India through local manufacturing facilities? Once they are participating from India, it is level-playing ground and we are not afraid of the competition under these conditions. We understand that T&R planned to make transformer especially for renewable energy application. What is the current status? Renewable energy is poised to contribute almost 15 per cent of the power generation in India. So there will be requirement for transformers for this sector. The PLF for these plants will be low hence a transformer should have low no-load losses. We are regularly supplying transformers to both wind and solar power application. How is T&R faring with respect to the exports market? What have been your principal destinations? We have not been a major player in the export market but expect to get a good portion of the business in future, particularly for special industrial transformer. We have taken some internal action to cash on this opportunity in Europe where the competition is limited. What key corporate objectives would you like T&R to attain in the next 3-4 years? Our key objectives would be: To take our place amongst the top three transformer manufacturers in India. To be amongst the top six industrial transformers manufacturer in the world. Build a strong young team under the leadership of our Managing Director Mr. Satyen Mamtora, to ensure sustainable and holistic growth for the future.

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108-109] Interview - Ajay Bhardwaj - Sterlite Grid Ltd.qxp

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Interview

The Vedanta (Sterlite) Group is a fully integrated player in the power transmission business with capabilities ranging from production of aluminium, manufacture of power conductors to development of power transmission infrastructure. We have Ajay Bhardwaj discussing the company's transmission service provider business where it is amongst the most successful player with six projects under its fold. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

PPP in power transmission has been largely successful

As a power transmission service provider (TSP) business, how many projects has Sterlite won so far? Since our commencement in 2010, we have won six projects so far. We started off with the prestigious East North Interconnection Co Ltd (ENICL) project followed by BhopalDhule Transmission Co Ltd (BDTCL), Jaipur Transmission Co Ltd (JTCL), Purulia & Kharagpur Transmission Co Ltd (PKTCL), RAPP Transmission Co Ltd (RTCL) and more recently the enviable NRSS-XXIX project. With this we would mark our presence in 12 states covering around 5,000 ckm over terrains varying from flat to extremely hilly regions. We understand that the second component of the East-North Interconnection project met with local opposition. What is the current status? Yes, it is true that we encountered a lot of hindrances in the second element (BS line) of the ENICL project as it is a politically sensitive area with contentious right-of-way issues. Besides, there were severe issues regarding availability of corridor, disturbances due to frequent bandhs in Assam and West Bengal region. The project also suffered setbacks due to natural calamities like earthquake & floods. In spite of all these difficulties, we were able to successfully charge the line on November 10, 2014. We are proud to commission such a

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— Ajay Bhardwaj, Business Head, Sterlite Grid Ltd

critical project which will play an important role in strengthening the link between Eastern and North-Eastern regional grids. When do you expect to commission the Dhule & Jabalpur transmission projects? In the BDTCL project we have already commissioned six elements out of eight including 765kV S/C Bhopal-Indore, 400kV D/C Bhopal-Bhopal, 765kV S/C Dhule-Aurangabad and 400kV D/C Dhule-Dhule transmission lines along with India's first private 765kV substations at Bhopal and Dhule. The remaining two elements, 765kV S/C Dhule-Vadodara and Jabalpur-Bhopal are also nearing completion with DV line expected to be commissioned by January 2015 end and Jabalpur-Bhopal by March 2015. Similarly in JTCL we expect to finish the two elements, Jabalpur-Bina and Jabalpur-Dharamjaygarh by the end of the financial year. What is the broad status of ERSS-7 & RAPP (7&8) projects? ERSS-7 & RAPP, both the projects are currently running on track as per the schedule. Construction works for the RAPP project had already started in October 2014 while the first foundation for the Kharagpur-Chaibasa line of the ERSS-7 project is planned to be laid in the


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Interview: Sterlite Grid Northern Grid to improve system availability adds to the importance of the project. Further looking at the thrust being given to the power transmission sector by the Government, we do look forward to extend our business by acquiring new attractive projects. Do you feel that the government's public-private partnership philosophy has been successful, at least in the power transmission sector? How could private partnership be further improved? I believe that the government philosophy of public-private partnership has been largely successful in the power transmission sector. It has not only opened the doors of opportunity for the private players but has also transformed the sector by bringing in competition into the system. As a result the new projects coming under PPP model are executed in much shorter durations and far more efficiently. As a result the end-user benefits due to cheaper and more reliable power. This can be further boosted by diluting the differences between the private and public entities and bringing them on the same ground. Currently there are still certain provisions which only public entities enjoy on account of their historical presence in the country which deprive the private entities of a level-playing field. These differences need to be diluted for the larger good of the people. month of January 2015. As various statutory approvals are required for both the projects, we started off the projects with initiating the process of achieving these approvals and currently we stand at an advanced stage of the same. Going at the current rate we are confident that we would successfully accomplish both the projects well before the scheduled COD. Sterlite is possibly the most successful transmission service provider in the country with respect to number of projects under its operatorship. What has been the overall experience so far? What Sterlite has achieved in the past four years is surely worth being proud of. Through our initiatives of transmission line route optimization using LIDAR Survey and PLS CADD, usage of helicopter for erection and stringing, innovative ordering etc, we have set new benchmarks in the industry for construction engineering excellence. Our continued pursuit of excellence has driven our innovative engineering practices and quality execution of the projects, within time and budget. We also enjoy having a highly qualified and performance-oriented team which has proved its mettle time and again against demanding project deliverables. Has Sterlite bid for new transmission projects of late? Yes, certainly we have bid for new transmission projects and we have also won the prestigious NRSS-XXIX project recently, which will provide the much required strength to the feeble link between Kashmir Valley and Northern grid. The project is very vital for the Sate of Jammu & Kashmir which has recorded a peak load demand of 2,400 mw in 2014 and expected to grow over 4,200 mw by the year 2021. This together with the requirement of an additional link to

Please discuss how Sterlite intends to capitalize further on its completed integration in power transmission-right from manufacture of power conductors to ownership & management of power conductors to ownership and management of transmission lines? Sterlite Technologies is currently counted amongst the global leaders in manufacturing of optical fibre, fibre optic cables, power conductors and HV/EHV power cables. We have also become the biggest private player of the country in the transmission infrastructure business within a short span of four years. Complete integration of the business has certainly played a vital role in elevating us to the enviable position where we stand right now. In future we intend to leverage our optical fibre infrastructure which stretches across various states along with our transmission network through our OPGW cables by using them as high speed communication carriers. This would further strengthen our business integration.

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110-111] Interview - Sivasubramanian Natarajan - ThyssenKrupp Industries.qxp

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Established in 1957, ThyssenKrupp Industries India (TKII) is a part of the Industrial Solutions Business Area of ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany. Over the last five decades, TKII has grown to become a trusted name in the fields of industrial plant and machinery for key sectors. We have Sivasubramanian Natarajan taking us through the steam and power generation business. Given that India faces significant power deficit, the power generation equipment business has huge potential, feels Natarajan. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.

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We expect to grow in the power and infra market

— Sivasubramanian Natarajan, Managing Director, ThyssenKrupp Industries India Pvt Ltd

What are the broad current trends in the Indian steam and power business? Which segments are leading the overall growth? The Indian power sector is one of the most diversified in the world. The demand for electricity in the country has been growing at a rapid rate and is expected to grow further in the years to come. The Indian power sector will have to increase the generation and transmission capacities. Some key challenges still lie ahead that are plaguing market growth. These challenges need to be addressed for improving the performance of the Indian power sector. The current trend is in favour of large supercritical boilers up to the range of 800 mw. Carbon capture and green house emission seem to be talking points.

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The Government is already planning to upgrade to ultra supercritical technology and the call for the future is advanced supercritical design. The captive sector shall remain in the subcritical range as the power demand is for small units. Power producers, whether in the government or private sector, shall continue to grow with the ever increasing demand for power. Sugar has been a traditional business driver for TKII. What are your other emerging business drivers? After starting as a sugar plant manufacturing company way back in 1957 we have gradually diversified into the mining and material handling segment, cement plant equipment business and thereafter into the power vertical. Presently we have four strong


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verticals—sugar; cement; mining and material handling; and boiler and power plants. We are a significant player in the core industry segment, be it power, mining, cement or sugar. Tell us about your collaboration with Babcock for CFBC boilers. How are such boilers more efficient than conventional ones? Our technology collaboration with Deutsche Babcock, Germany started in 1990. Thereafter, with DBE fading away in 2000, we have absorbed the technology and with our in-house capability we have taken it forward to make substantial changes by up-scaling and down-scaling the sizes to suit Indian conditions for variety of fuel like pet coke, washery rejects and coal of varying analysis. Between 1990 and now, we have over 60 boilers in services. We offer CFBC boilers with our unique cold cyclone technology. The CFBC boiler can burn variety of fuels like coal, lignite, petroleum coke etc. These boilers offer multiple benefits in efficiency while meeting stringent emission standards. Our CFBC Boilers require least auxiliary power thereby optimizing and offering end users higher output for their use. We also talk of low maintenance and higher availability of our boilers compared to the classical PF boilers. Secondly, our boilers operate with very low emission levels compared to PF boilers. Please discuss your association with EckRohr Kessel for wasteheat recovery systems. How has your WHR system business in India been and which industries do you largely cater to? EckRohr Kessel is a design house that provides the basic design for waste heat technology. We also have technical collaboration

with EckRohr Kessel in the range up to 300 tonnes for oil and gas fired boilers and waste heat recovery boilers. We have commissioned boilers for the steel and cement industry and with waste-heat recovery boilers becoming mandatory especially for the cement plants, the potential in the next five years looks bright. We have concentrated less on this product range in the last few years but are fully geared up to cater to this sector for the future. What are the typical challenges faced by your industry? Would you recommend any changes in government policies to address them? The enormous power deficit in Indian market ensures that there is enough opportunity for the power generation equipment business. The main challenge is how to liberate the market off the hurdles. As the demand for power is growing rapidly, the potential for capacity addition is huge. The major policy changes needed are with regard to availability of land, allocation of coal blocks, fuel supply agreements, water availability and power purchase agreements. What is your view on the advent of Chinese equipment in the Indian heat and power industry? Chinese equipment will cater to customers choosing to repose faith in them. Market in India has a place for every OEM with a proven technology. Only performance over the years shall decide the sustainability. There shall be no place for fly-by-night operators in this country, especially for the power sector. Apart from captive power for industrial use, does TKII have plans to cater to conventional power generation (IPP) plants? Encouraged by the performance of our boilers and the market appreciation, we are in the process of up-scaling our size of boilers. In our opinion CFBC boilers will have a significant role to play given the quality of coal that is available in India and we will play a dominant role in that market. How to see TKII's growth in India in the coming 5-7 years? As stated earlier, TKII has a strong presence in the core industry and infrastructure market. With the growth expected in the power and infra sector we do expect to grow in the next years to come. Besides the domestic market, we are also strongly focusing on the exports market for boilers and sugar plants where we expect to grow.

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112-113] Interview - Rishabh Sethi - SPML Infra.qxp

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Interview

SPML Infra is a leading EPC as well as PPP player in the water, wastewater and power T&D sectors. Recently, the company entered the power distribution sector as a distribution franchisee for the Bhagalpur circle in Bihar. Rishabh Sethi, in this interaction with Venugopal Pillai, discusses the rationale behind this business decision, and explains why government support is most critical if India aspires to increase private sector participation in power distribution.

Government should treat private players as partners in success

Tell us about the rationale of SPML Infra entering the rather "risky" business of power distribution. SPML Infra has a rich experience of executing over 600 projects in water, wastewater and power T&D sector. The company is already a prominent player in the water and power sector EPC and foraying into the utilities business was easier than for most other companies. Today SPML is developing a number of water and power infrastructures in India and some new projects in the last one year have come in utility segment only. Since SPML was already there in water and solid waste management services, next step was to get into the power distribution and management business. We have taken this step forward to become the prominent player in the power distribution business also similar to our other segments. Bihar's power sector is known for being highly inefficient, both technically and commercially. Given this, what was the situation when you took over the Bhagalpur circle? The power situation was indeed in dilemma in Bihar with huge technical and commercial losses. In 2005-06, Bihar had only 550 mw of power available for consumers against the requirement of more than 1300 mw. But in the last few years, the power situation in Bihar has remarkably improved due to the present government policies and reforms in power sector. The annual per capita power consumption in Bihar is currently

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— Rishabh Sethi, Chief Operating Officer, SPML Infra Ltd

around 100 kwh, against a national average of 717 kwh, according to the CEA general review. The state government is taking right steps in improving the situation and aims to provide 5,300 mw through its different power generation projects and support from the Centre. Against this backdrop of reforms, we have taken the responsibility to develop the city of Bhagalpur which has a consumer base of 1,60,000 connections. The franchisee area of Bhagalpur Urban Division is spread over approximately 28 sqkm. Power is being supplied from two grid substations at Kahalgaon and Sabour and service is provided by 15 power substations that requires around 70 mw daily supply to serve the consumers 24x7. But the average daily supply at present is only 30 to 40 mw. We expect this to improve with the additional power generation units being commissioned. What is your plan of reviving the Bhagalpur circle? What has been the achievement so far? When SPML took over the city, the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses were 20 per cent and 50 per cent respectively. Our plan is to cut losses due to theft and reduction in T&D loss to increase billing efficiency. SPML has partnered with IBM as the technology partner for IT-enabling services including billing and collection. With the help of technology and efficient infrastructure at place, SPML is now working to reduce theft and


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ensuring constant power supply. The company has a target to bring the T&D losses down to 15 per cent in immediate future and work on it further to get it at negligible level. We have already connected a number of new houses. New lines, new infrastructure is in place and a number of reforms have been undertaken; the process is continuing. We are also doing regular awareness campaigns among the consumers for effective usage of electricity and conservation. Over 300 employees of SPML are working to service about 1.6 lakh metered consumers in Bhagalpur. Our 24x7 consumer helpline is functioning to lodge the complaints round the clock. The call centre can be reached at any time to register complaints, request for new connection, billing, payments, faulty meter replacement and other facilities. Consumers need not to stand in a long queue at the bill collection counters to pay their monthly electricity bill which was the situation earlier. The fault finding and repairing mobile vans are into service by 24x7 for ensuring the smooth power supply and immediate replace and repair of any faults developed. In your view, what support should a private distribution franchisee (DF) be provided by the state government or the state power utility? We feel that government or state power utility should change their attitude towards private players and treat them as their partners in achieving the goals. They should understand that the private players are their support to help in achieving 24x7 power initiative and to reduce the work burden of the state utilities by bringing in the much needed efficiencies. However, these efficiencies need to be coupled with timely execution of state programs, central programs, PFC funding, MP/MLA funds, RGGV Yojana, RAPRDRP etc, which has been the intent of every distribution franchisee agreement till date across the country. However once a private player enters the business, there are lack of support from the government agencies. This must change and private utility players should be seen as a partner in augmentation to the system of the state. There is a view that the joint venture route is more effective that the private DF model. What is your opinion? There are different distribution models in the power sector

depending upon the nature of activities. Different cities have different dynamics and will have different approaches. However state intervention is extremely critical for any success in power utility business. Overall do you think that India has succeeded, at least moderately, in its attempt to privatize the power distribution sector? India has a long way to go to achieve this. Privatization is a beginning and one of the only successful models which have been implemented world wide and India also has to adopt the same practice as in developed countries like USA, UK, etc. In India we still have several states yet to open up to power reforms. A few success stories are there where private player has brought in large scale of changes and effectively reduced the losses thus making the state utility richer. How can government improve the level of private sector participation in the power distribution sector? One of the main reasons for losses in the sector is low investment in the T&D sector in comparison to the generation. Then there are technical losses due to overloading on old and aged infrastructure, substations, poor repair and maintenance of existing equipment and inadequate installation of capacitors. The commercial losses are also high due to low metering, billing and collection. Theft, pilferage, tampering of meters is very common and low accountability of work force makes it difficult to control. The lack of power accounting and auditing also contribute to ATC losses. These situations are prevalent in every state and as mentioned before, the turnaround in the power distribution sector would only be possible with private participation and using the efficiency of the private players along with the timely execution of the state programs. Without the intervention of the state, private players cannot survive in the power distribution sector. After the Bhagalpur circle, has SPML Infra bid for more circles pan-India? Please summarize your plans and goals in the power DF business. We are committed to play a larger role in the utility sector of India, be it water, power, waste and soon gas sectors. And SPML is ready to expand its DF business further.

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DISCLAIMER Readers are recommended to make necessary enquiries before acting upon or entering into any commitment in relation to any advertisement published in this publication. Economic Research India Pvt. Ltd does not vouch for any claims made by advertisers of products and services. The Directors, Printer, Publisher and Editor of Economic Research India Pvt. Ltd shall not be held liable for any consequences, in the event such claims are not honoured by the advertisers. Electrical Monitor January 2015 117


118-122] Tech Article - David Hunter.qxp

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Technical Article

Two New Devices Help Reinvent the Signal Generator By David Hunter n the past, the most difficult part of an arbitrary waveform generator was designing the output stage. Typical signal generators offer output ranges from 25 mV to 5 V. To drive a 50-立 load, traditional designs used high-performance discrete devices, a large number of integrated devices in parallel, or an expensive ASIC, with designers spending countless hours to create a stable, high-performance output stage with a wide programmable range. Now, advancements in technology have produced amplifiers that can drive these loads, reducing output stage complexity while decreasing cost and time to market.

I

Figure 1. A typical signal generator model. When using general-purpose signal generators, a frequency is entered, a button is pressed, and the instrument produces a new frequency. Next, the desired output power is entered, and another button is pressed. Relays click as they switch internal networks to adjust the output level. This discontinuous operation is required to compensate for the lack of a wide programmable range. This article proposes a new architecture that also solves this half of the problem with the output stage design. The two key components that solve this front-end design challenge are: a high-performance output stage that provides high speed, high voltage, and high output current; and a variable-gain amplifier (VGA) with continuous linearin-dB tuning. This design targets 20-MHz performance, with 22.4-V amplitude (+39 dBm) into a 50-立 load.

provide attenuation or gain using a VGA. The gain provided by many VGAs is limited, however, and is seldom enough to be useful for this application. If the output of the VGA can be set to a target level, then no matter what the input is, the output can be forced to a known amplitude. For example, if the desired output amplitude is 2 V, and the power output stage has a gain of 10, then the output amplitude of the VGA should be regulated to 0.2 V. When the output stage is correctly designed, the output amplitude is ultimately set by the output of the VGA. Unfortunately, most VGAs become the bottleneck due to their limited programmable range. A typical, high-quality signal generator offers an output amplitude range of 25 mV to 5 V. This 46-dB adjustable range exceeds the capabilities of most commercially available VGAs. The AD8330 was the first VGA to achieve a 50-dB range, but the bar was raised further with the AD8338, a new lowpower VGA with an 80-dB programmable range. Under ideal conditions, the output amplitude of a classic signal generator could then range from 0.5 mV to 5 V, without the use of relays or switched networks. The full range would be continuously adjustable, free of the discontinuities associated with switches and relays. In addition, eliminating the relays increases instrument lifetime and system reliability. Modern DACs and DDS devices often have differential outputs, requiring designers to use a transformer, lose half of the signal with a single-ended connection, or add a differential-to-single-ended converter. The AD8338 provides a natural fit, having a fully differential interface, as shown in Figure 3. For a sine-wave application, the DAC would be replaced with a DDS.

Figure 3. Example of a network that interfaces a DAC to the AD8338.

Figure 2. The smaller, simpler, signal generator output stage.

NEW COMPACT OUTPUT STAGE The initial signal may come from a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for a complex waveform, or from a directdigital synthesis (DDS) device for sine-wave generation. In either case, its specifications and power adjustment capabilities may not be ideal. The first requirement is to

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A major feature of the AD8338 is the flexible input stage. As an input-VGA, it manipulates the input currents using the "H-amp" topology invented by ADI Fellow Barrie Gilbert. This design uses feedback to balance the input currents while maintaining the internal nodes at 1.5 V. Under normal conditions, using the 500-立 input resistors, the maximum 1.5-V input signal produces a 3-mA current. If the input amplitude were larger, say 15 V, a larger resistor would be connected to the "direct" input pins. This resistor is sized such that the same 3-mA current is obtained:


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Technical Article: Reinventing the Signal Generator The single-ended 15-V signal would output 1.141 V differentially. In this case, at minimum gain, the AD8338 would provide 28.4-dB attenuation, so the maximum possible gain is +51.6 dB. As a low-power it has a 1.5-V typical output swing into a 1-kΩ load. The power of the input VGA is that its total gain range can be located around different set points. First, determine the output level required to produce the signal generator's maximum output. Many commercial generators only provide a 250 mW rms (+24 dBm) maximum output power into a 50? load (sine wave). This is not enough to cover applications that need more output power, such as testing high-output HF amplifiers or ultrasound pulse generation, for example. Advances in current-feedback amplifier (CFA) technology mean that this no longer has to be a problem. The ADA4870 CFA can drive 1 A at 17 V on ±20-V supplies. For sine waves, it can output frequencies up to 23 MHz at full load, making it an ideal front-end driver for the next generation of generalpurpose arbitrary waveform/signal generators. For 50-Ω systems that are sensitive to reflections, the ADA4870 requires some passive devices to match the source impedance to the 50-Ω load: a resistive pad and a 1.5:1 RF autotransformer. Allowing 1 V of margin, 8-W peak power is obtained when the effective amplifier loading is 16Ω. Alternatively, if reflections are not a concern, the resistive pad can be eliminated, and the autotransformer can be replaced with one with a 0.77:1 ratio. Without the resistive padding the output power increases to 16-W peak (28.3-V amplitude).

Figure 5. Signal generator output stage. Two final steps are required to complete the design: configuring the input network for maximum input signal plus antialiasing, and designing the output network for an impedance transformation.

THE AD8338 INPUT NETWORK For this design, the differential output amplitude will be ±1.0 V. With factory default settings, the internal 500 Ω resistors, and maximum gain, the input amplitude would have to be 100μV. Adding resistors to the direct-input pins allows the designer to adjust this requirement. The gain range, as determined by the input resistors, is:

Using 40.2-kΩ resistors at each input provides a good balance between noise power and input attenuation. With VGAIN = 1.1 V (maximum gain), the gain is:

In this case, the differential input only needs to be 21 mV. When VGAIN = 0.1 V, the gain is:

Figure 4. The basic connection for the ADA4870 for driving 16 ?, gain = 10. To optimize the output signal swing, the ADA4870 is configured for a gain of 10, so the required input amplitude is 1.6 V. The ADA4870 has a single-ended input, and the AD8338 has a differential output, so an AD8130 differentialreceive amplifier, with its 270-MHz gainbandwidth product and 1090-V/?s slew rate, provides both the differential-tosingle-ended conversion and the required gain. The AD8338's output is constrained to ±1.0 V, so the AD8130 must provide an intermediate gain of 1.6 V/V. When combined, the three devices form a complete signal generator output stage.

For the same 21 mV input, the output will be about 100 μV. Factoring in the total gain of the AD8130 and the ADA4870, which amounts to 24.1 dB, the output amplitude of the ADA4870 will range from 1.6 mV to 16 V. After the resistive pad and autotransformer, the voltage on the output will range from 2 mV to 20 V. Interfacing the AD8338 to a device such as a DDS requires accounting for the antialiasing and input attenuation. For example, the differential output AD9834C DDS requires 200Ω resistors to ground for proper swing. Each output produces only half of the sine-wave signal, as shown in Figure 6. Each output peaks at 0.6 V, making an effective input of ±0.6 V. The required attenuation is 26 dB. With 200-Ω resistors, the attenuation is easily achieved by creating a simple resistive divider. Since the signal does not swing uniformly, the peak of the signal should reach the expected attenuated value. Using standard 6.98-Ω and 191-Ω resistor values will contribute 0.7% error.

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Technical Article: Reinventing the Signal Generator ADA4870 OUTPUT STAGE

Figure 6. Output swing of the 9834C IOUT and IOUT. Aliasing artifacts are not shown.

With the single-ended output provided by the AD8130, the ADA4870 will perform the final gain-of-10. Two resistors are needed to set this gain, and the stage is stable without external compensation. The only work that will be left is shaping the output network to conform to the application's need. There are three general implementations: 1. Direct output from amplifier to 50 Ω 2. Padded, autotransformer output to 50 Ω 3. Unpadded, autotransformer output to 50 Ω For a direct output, the amplifier output is tied directly to the output connector, without any network to transform the source, as shown in Figure 9. Perfect for the true-dc-connected source, this method doesn't use the device's full potential, yet still does better than the typical signal generator's 10-V output amplitude. In this case, the maximum peak power will be 5.12 W.

Finally, some antialiasing will be necessary. With a 75MSPS sample rate, the Nyquist-rate output would be 37.5 MHz, which exceeds the 20-MHz bandwidth of this design. Setting the antialiasing pole at 20 MHz, the required capacitor is:

This is a standard value, so the complete input network is as shown in Figure 7:

Figure 9. Connections for direct output drive.

Figure 7. DDS + attenuation and filter network + AD8338. This stage was constructed and measured. The overall variation was within ±0.6 dB, as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Calculated vs. measured gain for AD8338 configuration. 120 Electrical Monitor January 2015

With the padded design, the 16-Ω load is split between an 8-Ω series pad, and the filtered 1.5:1 autotransformer, as shown in Figure 10. In this mode, the low impedance of the design enables the designer to use 6.25× smaller values for the inductors than those used for 50-Ω designs. The lowpass filter and autotransformer convert the effective 8-? source impedance to a well matched 50 Ω. While the total peak output power will be 8 W, this design method is best suited to applications that need a matched 50-Ω source where reflections might be of concern, such as when long transmission lines are involved.

Figure 10. ADA4870 connections for padded-output design. Input impedance appears as 50 ? to any reflections within the band of interest.


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Technical Article: Reinventing the Signal Generator The last option, and probably the most useful for signal generators, skips the use of the 8-Ω pad, and permits twice the output power. An LC ladder filter is still recommended, as shown in Figure 11, but the ladder values will be 3.125× smaller than values which would be used for a 50-Ω system (design to 16-Ω nominal impedance). In this case, the autotransformer will use a 0.77:1 ratio. In this mode, the peak sine-wave output amplitude will be 28.3 V, and the ADA4870 will drive approximately 16 W into a 50-Ω load (8-W rms or 39 dBm).

Figure 13. Padded, unfiltered, output power results. Without the filter, system exhibits a P1dB point at 36 dBm. FTEST = 14.0956 MHz.

Figure 11. Connections for optimal power output for driving 50-? loads.

THE TOTAL SOLUTION In the real world, simulations and equations are meaningless if they don't match the real world. It is thus important to build a complete system and measure its performance against expectations. Figure 12 shows the schematic of an actual padded-output design. Figure 13 shows measured results without a filter. The system has a ±1-dB gain conformance worst case up to the 2.75 W rms (5.5-W peak) output power (P1dB compression point at 34 dBm). Most notably, the total gain range exceeded 62 dB, offering 16 dB more range than many standard generators. The gain range can be improved with better filtering at the DDS output, as well as by reducing system noise. Figure 14 shows the same measurements with a filter. The filtered output does not suffer the same P1dB level, producing a full +36 dBm output into a 50-Ω load. The overall gain linearity is better (≤0.65 dB), with errors only present around midscale.

If even higher output powers were required for particular modes of operation, multiple output amplifiers could be used to drive a specialty transformer for the given application. Alternatively, the design methods described here could be applied to lower supply systems, as long as the methods described here are used within the constraints of the alternate designs. Note that the upper end of the measurement stopped at VGAIN = 0.9375 V as a result of accumulated input attenuation and gain errors. This can be resolved by trimming the initial attenuation network to account for the total system errors. Once corrected, the total system gain range increased to 74 dB.

CONCLUSION By pairing a high-performance VGA and a highperformance, high-output CFA, a simple front end for a new generation of signal generator can be constructed. Total PC board area and cost are reduced due to the high integration of these parts. For additional versatility, a log amplifier, such as the AD8310, can be used in a closed-loop feedback system. With this addition, working in conjunction with a DDS like the AD9834C, the designer can incorporate various

Figure 12. Simplified, complete schematic.

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Technical Article: Reinventing the Signal Generator REFERENCES

Figure 14. Measured output with a 5th order low-pass filter (fc = 20 MHz). FTEST = 14.0956 MHz. forms of envelope modulation, such as frequency shift keying (FSK), on-off keying (OOK), and phase-shift keying (PSK), as an intrinsic feature, offering countless options through the novel use of two fundamental blocks.

Current Feedback Amplifiers. Log Amps/Detectors. Variable Gain Amplifiers (VGA). MT-034 Tutorial. Current Feedback (CFB) Op Amps. MT-057 Tutorial. High Speed Current Feedback Op Amps. MT-060 Tutorial. Choosing Between Voltage Feedback and Current Feedback Op Amps. MT-072 Tutorial. Precision Variable Gain Amplifiers. MT-073 Tutorial. High Speed Variable Gain Amplifiers.

David Hunter [david.hunter@analog.com] is an applications engineer in the Linear Products Group at Analog Digital Inc’s Wilmington campus. He joined ADI in 2006 as a field applications engineer working out of the Northwest Labs Design Center, serving the test and measurement field, as well as industrial customers. David graduated from Portland State University with a B.S.E.E. in 2007, specializing in RF Engineering. Prior to graduating, he published and co-authored papers on self-healing hardware systems and evolvable hardware.

Event: Intelect 2015 hree societies of Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA) will co-host the INTELECT Conference & Exposition from January 22-24, 2015 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, India. The conference theme is Smart Electricity for Emerging Markets, and the exposition will focus on the connected intelligence in the Electricity of Things. The concurrent show UPTO 11 kV will demonstrate the readiness of the Indian electrical industry to help the Government of India to accelerate distribution sector reforms and focus on rural electrification. It will be a unique opportunity for the Equipment manufacturers to effectively showcase their latest equipment, technology and services and interact with utility officials from all across the country. The expocum-conference will feature globally renowned keynote speakers and high-caliber panelists, as well as userexperience pavilions showcasing cutting-edge innovations and future technologies on Home-Hotel-Hospital-Office (H3O), Digital Smart Cities, and Smart Rural Electrification. INTELECT is designed to draw builders, architects, city planners, energy and government officials, transportation industry representatives, venture capitalists, utilities, contractors, consultants, academia, and others in learning about new technological advancements and knowledge to smart electricity. India is fast becoming more urbanized and digitized to adapt to the growing aspirations of the large young population. Its impact on electricity demand and consumption will be significant. IEEMA, as the voice of the Indian electrical sector is privileged to partner with

T

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IEEE which can provide invaluable global knowledge and expertise. For the first time, with the support of three ministries of the Government of India - Ministry of Power, Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Communications & IT - an all-India utility roundtable will be organized. This will witness participants, such as, heads of distribution utilities, Rural Electrification Corporation, Bureau of Energy Efficiency and Bureau of Indian Standards. Further, an exclusive discom pavilion showcasing best practices, success stories, services & future plans, a "Make in India" pavilion and micro and small scale industries pavilion will be showcased. IEEMA is the first ISO certified industry association in India with 800 member organisations encompassing the complete value chain in power generation, transmission and distribution equipment, and its members have contributed to more than 90 per cent of the power equipment installed in India. IEEE is the world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology. As per the Ministry of Power, in the next five years a billion tonnes of coal production is planned. In parallel, 100 GW of solar power capacity are proposed to be added along with investments of about $50 billion in the transmission and distribution segment. This will create a massive demand for smart power and smart grid based solutions, as well as solutions to help make the distribution sector more efficient. Hence the timing of IEEMA and IEEE is perfect to respond to the government and the dire need of intelligent electricity for the nation.


123] Interview - Andreas Guete - Microchip Technology Inc.qxp

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Microchip has launched its 3DTouchPad where 2D Multitouch has been combined with gesture detection. We have Andreas Guete telling us more about this revolutionary technology and its application areas. Guete is confident that 3DTouchPad will be very relevant to India as the country is considered as the hub for software and driver development. The test & measurement industry can potentially benefit from this technology, notes Guete.

The free-space-gesture aspect of 3DTouchPad opens new paths — Andreas Guete, Global Marketing Manager, HMID Marketing and Applications, Microchip Technology Inc.

Tell us about the highlighting features of the new 3DTouchPad. First of all, Microchip's 3DTouchPad is new and unique in all aspects. This is the first time ever that 2D Multi touch has been combined with state of the art 3D gesture detection. The 3DTouchPad is, at the same time, the most versatile touch pad for the PC market and a first-ever software development platform for the usage of gestures. The 3DTouchPad provides never before seen out-of-the-box features (e.g. content browsing with a flick of your hand)—but that is only the tip of the iceberg. The provided SDK/API will inspire developers to dig deeply into the potential of gesture-supported user interfaces. What would be the major application areas of the 3DTouchPad? The 3DTouchPad was primarily designed as a SW development platform, and we hope to unleash the developer's creativity for stunning UIs. We are targeting the PC/PC peripheral market, as well as medical (no-touch control is the holy grail for hygiene), lighting and automation, among others. We also see a big pull from the automotive industry, to realize their vision of less distracting interaction during driving, via the 3DTouchpad and its underlying technologies. How do you view the Indian market for 3DTouchPad? As India is one of the biggest and most creative hubs for software

and driver development, we are looking forward to seeing these visions inspired, boosted and realized, based on the 3DTouchPad. Do you specifically see application of 3DTouchPad in the electrical equipment industry, particularly test and measurement equipment? Certainly! Switching without touch in a harsh and even dirty environment is a big challenge. The free-space-gesture aspect of the 3DTouchPad opens new solution paths. Another example is medical, where we expect to see a broad range of touchless control applications that elevate hygiene and medical purity to a whole new level. In a general sense, tell us about the involvement of Microchip products in the development of Smart Grids? What is the level of engagement in India? The 3DTouchPad utilizes Microchip's GestIC® Technology to detect gestures in free space. One of the key elements of our GestIC technology is auto wakeup. In real life, that means the sensors are sleeping with very low power consumption and waking up automatically, as soon as the user starts using them. The trigger is the proximity of the user. Auto wake is a unique feature of GestIC technology, and we expect to see it utilized in many applications because it enables designers to control their power budgets.

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124-125] Interview - B. Sreenivas - Circutor Energy.qxp

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Established in 1972, Circutor is a Spain-headquartered global company offering innovative solutions in energy efficiency and energy management. In this exchange with Electrical Monitor, we have B. Sreenivas explaining the huge scope of energy savings in India and how Circutor can help in bringing in advanced energy technology into the country. Sreenivas feels that awareness of energy savings as a philosophy is building up in India, which is a big positive sign.

Energy savings is a big opportunity area in India

— B. Sreenivas, Executive Director - India Operations, Circutor Energy Management India Pvt Ltd

What is the general understanding of energy efficiency and management? How can one scientifically achieve energy savings? Scientific energy savings implies setting energy-savings targets and determining the strategy by monitoring data and periodically reviewing the achievement of the target. It involves consultation with experts. It also involves applying strategic optimization by consolidating current energy data, auditing results, analyzing new information, evaluating the progress with current energy market data, and setting objectives.

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When compared to selective measures, which can be termed as ad-hoc energy management, continuous application of this process clearly reduces the energy-related costs of a company. This can be described as energy efficiency and management. Please discuss the significance of energy efficiency and management in a power-starved country like India. The significance of energy efficiency/management is that it helps achieve efficient usage of energy, helping organizations to save money. It also contributes towards conservation of resources and tackling climate change. Companies, in the process, can also achieve ISO 50001 certification. What products and services does Circutor offer in India? Does Circutor have manufacturing facilities in India? Circutor is a global leader established in 1972 mainly focusing on energy management and with manufacturing facilities in Europe. We focus mainly on digital SCADA management, all types of meters, reactive power management, protection & control management, generator management, energy & harmonics audit, CirLAMP managers for parking and street light controls, photovoltaic products for solar applications, and training. Circutor is the only organisation that provides complete 360º solution on electrical energy, offering products based on application. Technical experts of Circutor advise designers, consultants and end-users to select perfect products and achieve significant energy management.


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Interview: Circutor India We are making an attempt to reach out to all segments—end users, consultants, project managers, OEMs and even government agencies. But we have still a long way to go! With respect to government agencies, we are starting off with Indian Space Research Organization, Central Public Works Department, Central Power Research Institute, Power Grid Corporation of India, etc.

Which industries do you largely cater to India? Circutor supplies products for residential, commercial and industrial sectors, and even specific segments like data centres, banks, telecom, etc.

Several power utilities are imposing penalties for industrial consumers that fail to maintain a healthy power factor ratio. Tell us about your services in the field of PFC and harmonic filtering. We have specialized products and service in reactive power management: Intelligent power factor controller that automatically switches on and off. It improves the system power factor and also monitors the health of capacitors, contactors etc. Gas capacitors that provides long life against harmonics, available in single bank up to 50kvar. These are hence called harmonic capacitors. Block reactors that are designed as per IEEE standard to deliver best function for detuned filter panel.

Overall, do you feel that electricity consumers, especially industrial consumers, are aware of the significance of energy efficiency? Certainly! Electricity consumers are aware of the significance of energy efficiency. But for users to acquire knowledge of selection of application-oriented products, manufactures like us need to create more awareness on our range of products. With this in mind, Circutor has set up Electrical Efficiency Knowledge Centre (e3)in India where the entire range of 3,000plus products of Circutor is demonstrated in “live” conditions. Regular training to end-users and consultants enables customers to know more on new technology and new products. Circutor is the first energy organization in the world to launch the e3 initiative, especially for India. Here a team of dedicated product consultants conduct continuous training. Is Circutor involved with government agencies, perhaps to increase awareness of issues like energy efficiency and energy management?

Active filter is a 3-in-1 solution providing harmonics control, load balancing and PF improvement. HT capacitors to improve power factor of HT systems. Thyristor-based power factor controllers

The government itself is a big consumer of electricity. What are some areas where the government can bring about energy efficiency in its own consumption? Yes, government can play a big role in energy savings in areas like street lighting, office lighting. In government departments, there is big scope for reactive power management and harmonics management. With the country’s focus on energy efficiency gradually sharpening, how do you see the years ahead for Circutor in India? Circutor is the only organization worldwide to produce a full range of energy-efficiency products. As energy savings has big scope in India, so does Circutor. We are confident of establishing advanced energy technology in India.

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126-127] Interview - Aditya Arora - Base Batteries Ltd.qxp

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‘

Starting off as an exclusive distributor of Panasonic batteries in India, Base Batteries is today India's leading manufacturer of a wide range of batteries and UPS systems. It has many firsts to its credit such as introducing VRLA technology to India way back in 1986. We have Aditya Arora taking us through his company's operations. Arora also gives an overview of the new Hosur plant in Tamil Nadu that is shaping up to be India's largest.

‘

India is a large market for power backup products

Tell us about the product range of Base Batteries. What constitutes your biggest product segment in terms of value sales? We have a line of diversified products manufactured at our plants which include automotive batteries, inverter and UPS batteries, industrial batteries, two-wheeler batteries, tractor batteries, genset batteries and solar batteries along with home UPS. Base Batteries reported revenue of Rs.1,120 crore during the last financial year and is expecting Rs.1,300 crore this fiscal. While the aftermarket contributes 90 per cent to the company's overall revenues, industrial batteries account for the rest.

We understand that Base Batteries has newly launched a manufacturing plant at Hosur. Tell us more. We have set up a manufacturing plant at Hosur in Tamil Nadu with an investment of Rs.487 crore. This is India's largest plant; it started with an initial installed capacity of 1 lakh units a month which will be expanded to 3.25 lakh units. It rolls out the entire range of batteries such as automotive, VRLA, traction, railways, defence and telecom. The Hosur plant will also have

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— Aditya Arora, Chief Operating Officer, Base Batteries Ltd

an in-house testing racetrack which is used by various automobile manufacturers in India to improve their performance and efficiencies. What is the capacity and product range of the Solan plant? The Solan plant has a manufacturing capacity of 1 lakh batteries month and currently manufactures up to 75,000 batteries per month which we plan to ramp up to 90,000 soon. The product range at Solan varies from inverter, automotive batteries, VRLA batteries and home UPS. Sprawling over 100,000 sqm and surrounded by reserve forests and small rivers, our Solan plant is a unique mix of ecological ambience and next generation technology. A one-ofa-kind facility, the plant is an affluent zero discharge facility, offering a perfectly pollution-free environment to work in. Tell us about the technology setup at Base. Do you have technical collaborations? Base has consistently produced winning products that blend market knowledge with technological innovation. The company is among the first to offer cotemporary models such as tubular


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and maintenance-free batteries. Our manufacturing facility is equipped to give our customers only the best in the category. A case in point is our manufacturing facility at Solan that is equipped with the latest technology from USA, Taiwan, Korea, China, Germany, France, Turkey and other European countries. How has technology, over the years, made batteries more ecofriendly and efficient? Today, products are manufactured with the cutting-edge technology which is environment friendly and free from acid fumes, corrosion resistance, increase cycle life and reduce water consumption for battery durability. With the aim of conserving energy and reducing their carbon footprints, more vendors are coming up with an eco-friendly UPS or with an ecomode built in. Green technology offers higher efficiency of up to 94-97 per cent against the normal 80-88 per cent. At Base Corporation, we are committed to conserving our natural resources by minimizing waste generation, promoting recovery, recycling and reuse in every step of the manufacturing and distribution processes. A team of dedicated experts are constantly innovating with fresh ideas for ecoclean and environment-friendly products. Tell us about recycling of lead acid batteries. Lead acid batteries are crucial to life in the modern world. They are essential to transport and communication systems. Many times, we do not realize how important batteries are because, so often, they cannot be seen. Batteries are typically out of sight and out of

mind. More than 98 per cent of lead acid batteries can be recycled, making them the most recyclable consumer product. When lead acid batteries are improperly disposed of the acid inside them can reach into soil and waterways causing serious contamination. Recycling lead acid batteries safely means a lot less lead gets into the environment and therefore, health risks are much reduced. How has Base Batteries been doing on the exports front? Which countries form your major markets? Hosur unit is being expanded to 230million ampere hours at an investment of Rs.487 crore. The expansion should be completed in two years from now. A portion of the expanded capacity, primarily traction batteries, would be exported to the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and South America. Given the general power deficit in the country, how do you see the overall market for power continuity in India? India being a power deficit nation has a large market for power backup products. UPS and inverter manufacturing is gaining momentum in India. According to an IMS Research Report, the overall Indian UPS market estimated $630 million in 2013, is expected to grow by 6.3 per cent in 2014 and projected to reach $834 million by 2016. The future of the UPS and inverter players seems promising over the next five years, as the products would find applications in varied industries ranging from IT, ITeS and manufacturing, to hospitality, medical establishments, retail and a host of others.

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128-129] Interview - Zhiguo Zhu - Trina Solar.qxp

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Interview

Founded in 1997, Trina Solar is a global leader in photovoltaic modules, solutions and services. Founded as a PV system integrator, Trina Solar today drives smart energy together with installers, distributors, utilities and developers worldwide. Trina Solar has a strong Indian presence with 65 production lines with annual capacity of 2.5 GW of solar cells. Zhiguo Zhu, in this exclusive interview, shares his company's vision of helping create a profound change in India's energy landscape, with the help of solar technologies.

Trina Solar is committed to changing India's energy landscape — Zhiguo Zhu, Senior Vice President & President - Module Business Unit, Trina Solar Ltd

At the outset, tell us about major projects executed by Trina Solar for Indian solar power developers in recent years. Trina Solar is one of the best known PV companies in India. We did a lot of projects in India and have excellent public reputation. For example, Neemuch 151 mw (DC) solar project, which is India's first mega solar project, first brought hundreds of thousands of the country's rural inhabitants into the light. Till date, how much capacity has Trina Solar commissioned in India? In India, where it has been operating for three years, Trina Solar has a market share of over 10 per cent of the total 2,700 mw solar polar capacity in the country; it has supplied solar power to projects with 280 mw capacity. Trina also performed very well in the latest quarter. According to the third quarter report, Trina's net revenues in the third quarter of 2014 were $616.8 million, an increase of 18.8 per cent sequentially and an increase of 12.5 per cent year-over-year. Total shipments were 1,063.8 mw, consisting of 936.8 mw of external shipments and 127 mw of shipments to the company's own downstream power project. In the fourth quarter of 2014, the company expects to ship between 1,045 mw and 1,095 mw of PV modules, of which 40 mw to 60 mw will be shipped to its downstream PV projects. The total PV module shipment of 2014 is expected to reach a number between 3.61 GW and 3.66 GW.

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Trina Solar is engaged in the entire value chain from silicon ingots to solar cells to solar modules. Please discuss how this complete integration results in cost-efficiency for the customer. Trina values research and innovation to commercialize high efficiency modules, and bring additional value to our customers. In 2013, we maintained a number of development programs and activities aimed at improving our technology and processes in order to enhance performance and reduce the cost of our solar modules. With six R&D departments, Trina is equipped with full capability to cover a wide range to research topics in the photovoltaic area, from the silicon material to the product manufacturing, as well as the testing for quality. We also have a national key laboratory, which aims to advance the PV sector by improving energy conversion efficiency, as well as increasing PV module durability and ease of installation, in order to deliver the highest quality of products with competitive price. Our cost of goods sold is affected by our ability to control raw material costs, to achieve economies of scale in our operations, to ramp up our production capacity as planned, and to efficiently manage our supply chain, including our successful execution of our vertical integration strategy and our judicious use of toll manufacturers or third-party wafer suppliers to fill potential shortfalls in production capability along the supply chain. Maintaining good relationship with mid-term and long-term raw


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material suppliers afford us capabilities to provide high performance products and benefit our customers as well. India has introduced domestic content requirement (DCR) norms where a minimum number of PV projects under national solar mission need to have domestic equipment. What is your overall reaction to this? The trend shows that the Indian government already paid a lot of attention to the climate change and the development of new clean energy. Optimistically, we believe the general policies will be positive to the solar industry, as well as to global manufactures and partners. With the higher energy demands and the urgency of protecting the environment, the local governments' behavior with market nature will be weakened. In August 2014, the Indian government decided not to impose anti-dumping duty on solar cells imported from nations like the US and China. The government seems to have taken a decision that would support the continuing trend of affordable solar power. Do you have plans to manufacture solar cells in India in the foreseeable future? Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call, we are considering setting up a facility over the next few years in India. As far as make in India is concerned, maybe we can make in India, supply in India and even export from India. We want globalized manufacturing not only make in China. India is one of the most potential and emerging market. Trina has paid and will be paying a lot of attention to the market. This November, we also achieved a prize "100 Most Talented Solar Energy Leaders", from which we believed that our achievements are acknowledged and recognized locally, even globally. India has set an ambition of having 20 GW of grid-connected solar capacity by 2022. What is your take on the matter? Solar energy has long been considered a viable option for ending

energy poverty in India due to the nation's geographical positioning that attracts long, sunny days for the majority of the year. However, India's high population means generating enough power can be a demanding task, whatever the method. India's government is energetically promoting the usage of renewable energy by providing numerous fiscal and financial incentives, such as capital and interest subsidies, and concessional excise and customs duties, to encourage Indian and foreign investors to invest in renewable energy enterprises. We believe, for such initiatives to succeed, it is crucial for both the local communities and industry players to work in synergy. How do you rate Trina Solar's business opportunities in India given the huge thrust on solar power development? Solar energy has long been considered a viable option for ending energy poverty in India due to the nation's geographical positioning that attracts long, sunny days for the majority of the year. However, India's high population means generating enough power can be a demanding task, whatever the method. Solar energy, may not be the main energy for people's daily needs, however, it would be a very good dependable supplement to the state grid, providing stable and affordable electricity to people's daily life. And this is in accordance with Trina's mission "Benefit Mankind with Solar Energy". Trina Solar is committed to profoundly changing India, and even the world's energy landscape by continuing to steer the advancement of effective solar technology and top-quality products. We understand that the ultimate goal of our research is not just to increase solar cell efficiencies as high as theoretically possible, but rather to combine the increases in solar cell efficiencies with our innovative large-scale manufacturing process that will help us drive down costs and ultimately provide affordable and accessible solar energy to the world.

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130-131] Profile - Omicron.qxp

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Profile

Hybrid signal analysis in protection and automation systems

Figure 1: Signal analysis in a hybrid system using the DANEO 400 odern protection and automation systems for electrical power systems are increasingly using communication protocols to transfer information. In the mid-term, more and more hybrid systems and systems distributed across large distances will be implemented. In this context, hybrid means that protection and automation systems will operate simultaneously with classical secondary quantities and conventionally wired binary status signals, as well as with communication protocols such as those according to IEC61850. Measuring and evaluating all of these different signals within such hybrid systems requires measurement systems that are also distributed and operate in a hybrid way. The following article provides an overview of the current status of developments, describes the challenges currently being faced, and presents potential solutions.

between individual binary outputs and inputs quickly becomes too costly or susceptible to interference, transmission via noise immune network connections is comparatively easy and allows large volumes of information to be transmitted. This enables the use of applications which previously could not be implemented effectively without digital communication technology. These include bridging distances within a substation across local networks, as well as between substations across wide area networks. Depending on the bandwidth and signal propagation delay (latency) of the network connections, additional new deployments have become possible. While formerly it was only possible to transfer a few bits using modulators and pilot wires, and even then often with significant delays,

M

HYBRID SYSTEMS Besides classical secondary quantities and conventionally wired binary status signals, more and more of the mission critical information of the automation systems is transported across communication networks. In systems utilizing IEC61850 communication, the transmission of binary status information via GOOSE messages is an established practice. The next step will be to replace the secondary quantities with Sample Values, which will then transmit digitally coded current and voltage values across the communication network. But even if data transfer within automation systems will be primarily performed via communication protocols in the future, classical actuators and quantities within the process will still need to be acquired by conventional means.

DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS Once it is digitized and wrapped in data packets, the transmission of information across large distances is essentially simplified. Whereas the installation of wire loops

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Figure 2: Data analysis using the DANEO 400 channels with bandwidths of multiple Mbit/s and low latency are frequently available now. Concepts such as remote interlocking or remote tripping of circuit breakers are increasingly being applied today.

DISTRIBUTED HYBRID MEASURING SYSTEM Supervising and evaluating the function of distributed systems requires a measuring solution which is capable of registering data and signals at all the relevant measurement locations of the distributed system. The system itself must also be hybrid in order to record both the classical signals and the network communication at the same time. The new DANEO 400 signal analyzer from OMICRON offers these options. Its central software manages all the acquisition devices deployed at various measuring locations as a single measurement system. A precondition for such a system is that all recording devices can be accessed via a network connection. It is then no longer necessary to manually transfer individual files from the acquisition devices and compile all of the data. The measured data is actually compiled for the user in a transparent process and refers to the observed event - the


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Profile: Daneo 400 signal analyzer, Omicron subsequent analysis is then based directly on the related data. It is also possible to export the measured data in generic formats (COMTRADE, PCAP) in order to perform special analyses with external tools.

TIME SYNCHRONIZATION AND TRIGGERS A precise time reference is required in order to correlate data from multiple acquisition devices accurately. For example, to assess the propagation times for messages within local networks, the error of the time synchronization must not exceed one microsecond. If the highly accurate Precision Time Protocol as per IEEE1588 is being used in the respective network, the recording device can be synchronized optimally. Alternatively, the acquisition device can also receive the precise time from a GPS receiver. This ensures that the acquired data can be aligned correctly via individual time stamps. A reference for a common trigger is not necessary, since it is generally not possible for all acquisition devices to detect a trigger pattern at precisely the same time in distributed systems. The corresponding uncertainty needs to be compensated via a suitable pre-trigger time to ensure that the recordings from all acquisition devices cover the relevant time period. If only certain devices detect the trigger, they must then inform the other acquisition devices that a trigger has occurred. So-called post-trigger actions can be used to establish such a trigger chain.

FACTORY ACCEPTANCE TEST To provide evidence that a representative part of the automation system is working correctly, it is necessary to measure and document all relevant signals. On systems utilizing IEC 61850 communication, the description of the communication system in standardized SCL format forms the basis for a comparison between the configuration and the GOOSE and Sampled Values streams actually present in the network. The reference to the signals from the process provides an indication for the correct coordination of procedures, for example the timed response of an interlocking function and its margins for secure operation. With the analysis of propagation times of data packets in the local network, it is possible to observe heavily loaded sections within the network infrastructure and highlight critical conditions which may possibly occur. In addition to this, analysis of the data volume on the communication network provides insights whether something like a suspected GOOSE avalanche is actually occurring and whether any effects on the reaction of the automation system should be anticipated.

START-UP AND SYSTEM ACCEPTANCE TEST The description of the communication system in standardized SCL format also forms the basis for this test when working with a system that utilizes IEC61850 communication. Since individual devices are put in operation one by one, verification of the anticipated

Figure 3: Distributed measurement using the DANEO 400 in two substations as a sample application configuration and the actual configuration can be performed repetitively - whereby the individual communication nodes do not need to be active at the same time. If a function stretches across multiple stations at different geographical locations and the data transfer is performed using a wide area communication connection, the time response of the signal transmission and coordination of the procedures can be captured using multiple, distributed acquisition devices. The signals used during the system acceptance test are documented and the archived measured data can then be used for analyses at a later date.

TROUBLESHOOTING In order to track down sporadic malfunctions, acquisition devices can also be operated on site in an unattended mode. The acquisition devices only begin capturing signals when the configured trigger condition occurs and then they rearm themselves again for further recordings as necessary. Depending on the type of data being captured and the duration of the intended operation, very large data volumes are to be expected in certain circumstances. In addition to the built-in mass storage (SSD), high-capacity external storage media can be connected to the DANEO 400. If a network connection is in place, remote access allows one to determine whether any recordings have taken place. If the bandwidth allows it, the recordings can also be downloaded via the network for analysis.

SUMMARY There are many potential use cases for testing in distributed, hybrid automation systems. Whether the goal is purely to assess data transmission in a wide area network or simply to measure the classical signals of a secondary system-a hybrid measurement system, which can be used at distributed measurement locations with precise time synchronization, can cover all of these scenarios. The standardized SCL data for an IEC61850 system forms the comparative basis between configured messages and ones that are actually occurring in a communication network. The analysis of the captured data ultimately uncovers the relationship between classical signals and communication. New analyses can be performed at any time using the archived data.

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7th Elasia 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Abhishek Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114 Ames Impex Electricals Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Anand Engineering Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114 Anchor Electricals Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 & 19 Atlas Filteration Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Balaji Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Bender India Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Braco Electricals (India) Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Central Power Research Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Century Rubber & Cable Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Comet Brass Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 DEIF India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Electro Care (India) Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114 Electronica India 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Elektra Precision Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Eltrix Engineering Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99 Epcos India (P) Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Garg Distributors Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Garima Electric Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114 Goel Power Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Indcoil Transformers Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Indian Transformers & Electricals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 JSK Industries Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Jupiter Integrated Sensor Systems Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Keysight Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 KJV Alloys Conductors (P) Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114 K-Lite Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Kunj Alloys Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Larsen & Toubro Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Madhav Engineers Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136 Madhura International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 Mathura Switchgears Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Meco Meters Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Megger Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135 Mohnot Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114 Myriad Industrial Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

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Neutronics Mfg Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Nityanand Infrastructure Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Om Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Om Sai Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 Omicron Energy Solution Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Paragon Auto Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Power & Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Power Equipment Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Powerelect-East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Powerex Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Precision Wires India Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Premier Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 PSR Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Rajesh & Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Rajesh Electric Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Shivji Valji Sheds Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Shree Gadia Engineering Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 Shree NM Electricals Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 Shree Trading Syndicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Shree Transsformers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Shriman Electrical Associates Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Shriram Axiall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 & 3 Sigma Galvanizing Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Slimlites Electricals Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Spark Electro Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Sumitron Exports Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Supermac Industries (India) Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Supreme Electroplasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Testo India Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Trak Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 Urja Gyan Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 Usha Capacitor Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Utkarshaa Energy Services Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Vashi Electricals Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Vishay Components India Pvt Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Yajna Fuel Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

Electrical Monitor January 2015 133


134] AU Next Issue ad.qxp

134 Electrical Monitor January 2015

1/17/2015

6:21 PM

Page 134


EM Cover Page.qxp

1/19/2015

3:13 PM

Page 8


EM Cover Page.qxp

1/19/2015

3:13 PM

Page 9

Published on 1st of every month W.P.P. Lic. No. MR/TECH/WPP-21/South/2015 Reg. No. MCS/028/2015-2017 Posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai - 400 001 on 9th & 10th of Every Month


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