How 5G can supercharge India's power sector

Power is one of the sectors which will be significantly disrupted with 5G technology. High security, low latency, network slicing, capability to integrate huge numbers of devices with the smart grid are the features because of which 5G will find applications in the power sector. 5G will contribute to the power sector to get real time data, to increase system efficiency and to meet customer expectations.

Low latency of 5G technology will be an attractive feature for deploying it in the power sector for precise load control and protection of the distribution network. Another application is for the collection of electric consumption information. As the number of Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) is increasing, it is very much necessary that the information on charging them is exchanged with the power grid in real time or near real time. The key 5G use cases for the power sector are:

1. Smart grid implementation

Smart grids with automation, communication and IT systems can monitor power flows from point of generation to point of consumption and control the power flow to match the generation with the consumption in real time. Smart grid solutions can contribute to reduction of T&D (Transmission and Distribution) losses, peak load management, improved QoS (Quality of service), increased reliability, better asset management, integration with renewable energy sources, better accessibility to electricity and also lead to resilient/self healing grids. Smart grid optimises energy efficiency by facilitating flow of energy and information both ways between the power supplies and the consumers in real time.

In smart grid implementation, 5G can provide real time communication between various domains (generation, transmission, distribution, operations, customers, service providers). For last mile communications that is to communicate to meters and gateways, 5G can be used instead of traditional technologies. The areas where 5G has immediate applications in Smart Grid implementation are for providing two ways communication between grid and smart substations for their monitoring, grid and Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) & grid and Plug in Electric Vehicles.

2. Smart energy metering

The AMI (Advance Metering Infrastructure) system which deploys smart prepaid meter at scale is the foundation on which the Government of India's modernisation and digitalisation efforts of the power distribution system are being based. AMI is an integrated system of smart meters, data management systems and communication networks that enable two ways communication between power utility and the consumers. Unlike in AMR (Automatic Meter Reading), in AMI two ways metering or net metering is possible for meeting the requirement of prosumers i.e. the consumers who also produce and share surplus energy with the grid. Smart Metre National Programme (SMNP) aims to replace 25 crore conventional meters with smart prepaid meters. Smart meters are connected through a web based monitoring system which will help to reduce commercial losses of utilities, enhance revenues and serve as an important tool in power sector reforms. It will revamp the current manual system of revenue collection in the power sector with low billing and poor collection efficiency. The meters can be equipped with NB-IoT modems (containing 5G USIM with security features and complying with 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standards) which will be connected to cell towers. They have a range of 20 Km and battery life of 10 years. NB-IoT (Narrow Band- Internet of Things) modems using massive MTC (Machine type Communications) of 5G technology are cheaper compared to LTE modems used at present. As they are prepaid meters, fast reconnection and disconnection are required to avoid loss to utility or to consumer which is a challenge and 5G with its near real time feature is an ideal technology choice.

3. Demand Response (DR) scenario

Demand Response means consumers of electricity (especially Commercial and Industrial (C & I) consumers) changing their level of consumption in the short term in response to signals to do so. This is required to minimise the power purchase cost, for real time energy system balancing by integrating energy storage devices and to achieve grid stability. Low latency communication is critical for this application.

4. Remote site inspections in energy plants

5G enabled drones can be deployed for conducting inspection of hazardous areas of nuclear power plants, without powering them down, and send secure video transmission in real time. To quickly search for a particular spare part in a warehouse, a drone can be used which will scan the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)/ barcode for finding out the location of the required spare part.

5. 5G push to video in energy plants for servicing

A 5G enabled push to video device can capture detailed images of the equipment to be serviced and send the image to the expert for getting assistance which reduces fault duration and there will be no transportation requirement. Compared to legacy arrangements this initiative will reduce the OPEX by 50 per cent.

6. Predictive maintenance using 5G along with AI/ML

Predictive maintenance reduces the maintenance efforts in power plants but reliable connectivity with many devices, real time monitoring, data management and analytics are required. 5G has the capability to provide high network security, reliability, low latency and high connection density.

7. 5G enabled AR (Augmented Reality)/ VR (Virtual Reality)/ MR (Mixed Reality) solutions will help maintenance personnel in better restoration.

8. 5G Low latency modems can be used for mission critical use cases such as control.

Way forward

5G technology can be leveraged to meet the various challenges in the power sector. Legacy communication systems can be replaced with 3GPP compliant, resilient 5G networks for multiple applications. It can be used to create the Energy Internet. Energy internet refers to a large number of power networks, petroleum networks, natural gas networks, energy storage devices and various types of loads. Power technology, electronics technology, communication technology and IT technology are utilised in the Energy Internet and the energy nodes are intelligently interconnected to achieve sharing of networks with two way flow of energy.

Synergy between power and telecom sectors will improve QoS in the power sector.

Government has to take a decision on the assignment of separate spectrum for establishing captive 5G networks for which there is a demand from critical utilities like power to achieve better SLAs (Service Level Agreements). SLAs are very important for the power sector. If the government doesn't agree to give separate spectrum for the private networks and TSPs (Telecom Service Providers) have to provide 5G service to the power sector, then TSPs have to comply with stringent SLAs by deploying Network Slicing technology.

The energy management sector is having a lot of data sources and their number will only grow. 5G networks will be capable of handling this data keeping up with Industrial Revolution 4.0

(The author is a former Advisor, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India)