NEW DELHI: Govt wants to end imports of technology used to monitor and control India’s power grid by 2030, reducing dependence on foreign companies for systems that are critical to keeping electricity flowing across the country.A committee set up by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to draw up a roadmap for this has found that local content in these Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems is below 20%. It has warned that dependence on proprietary foreign systems can pose risks if there are disruptions in global supply chains or access to technology, upgrades and technical support is restricted.SCADA systems form the digital backbone of the country’s load-dispatch network, linking power plants and substations with state, regional and national control centres. They allow grid operators to see what is happening across the network in real time and control equipment remotely.The committee found that software is the easier part of the transition: 36 of the 38 identified software modules can be developed domestically in the short term. But hardware, which accounts for about 75% of SCADA costs, will be a bigger challenge, with 16 of 25 key components expected to be ready for indigenous deployment within two years.
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The panel has also proposed establishing a dedicated testing platform within two years, including cyber-security validation. This would be followed by real-time pilots at load despatch centres, where indigenous systems would run in parallel with existing systems before being deployed across the grid.A senior power ministry official said the push is aimed not just at reducing imports but also at giving India greater control over the technology running its critical electricity infrastructure and reducing dependence on foreign vendors for upgrades and support.
