What's New
NSGM Establishment
National Smart Grid Mission has been established by Govt. of India vide MoP Office Memorandum dated 27.03.2015 to accelerate Smart Grid deployment in India. NSGM has been in operational since January 2016 with dedicated team. NSGM has its own resources, authority, functional & financial autonomy to plan and monitor implementation of the policies and programs related to Smart Grids in the country.
Structure
NSGM is housed under MoP considering the fact that most of the prominent stakeholders (DISCOMs, Regulators, Electrical Manufactures, CEA etc.) for Smart Grid are associated with MoP. It is important to note that Smart Grid is a dynamic and evolving concept due to constant technological innovations. Therefore, the objectives, structure and functioning of NSGM is sketched so as to allow sufficient freedom and flexibility of operations without needing to refer the matter to different Ministries / Agencies frequently.
NSGM functions with three tier hierarchical structure: 1st Level – Governing Council (GC), headed by Minister of Power, 2nd Level – Empowered Committee (EC), headed by Secretary (Power), Supportive Level – Technical Committee (TC), headed by Chairperson CEA, 3rd Level – NSGM Project Management Unit (NPMU).
NPMU is headed by Director NPMU. Director NPMU is the Member of GC and EC, and Member Secretary of TC. NPMU is the implementing agency for operationalizing Smart Grid activities in the country under the guidance of GC and EC.
Corresponding to the NPMU at national level, each of the States will also have a State Level Project Management Unit (SLPMU) chaired by the Power Secretary of the State.
The Smart Grid Knowledge Centre (SGKC) developed by POWERGRID with funding from MoP acts as a Resource Centre for providing technical support to the Mission in all technical matters, including development of technical manpower, capacity building, outreach, suggesting curriculum changes in technical education etc.
Phase-1 (2015-2017)
Phase-2 (2017-2021)
Phase-3 (2021-2024)
NSGM Framework document outlines the institutional structure for the NSGM, recommends potential policies and standards for enabling Smart Grid rollout and summarizes existing business models for the launch of various schemes and programs under Smart Grids. It also details monitoring, review and verification framework for the NSGM, and its programs and pilot projects which will enable assessment of the initiatives and measures implemented.
The framework has following five modules:
- Module-1: NSGM Institutional Structure
- Module-2: Policy Framework
- Module-3: Smart Grid Standards
- Module-4: Business Models
- Module-5: Monitoring, Review and Verification Framework
Corresponding to NPMU at central level, every state is to have a State Level Project Management Unit (SLPMU) chaired by Power Secretary (or equivalent) of the state. SLPMU will be the apex body for steering the state level programs with members from State DISCOMs, Regulators, State Power and Finance Departments, Academia (IIT/NIT/IIM etc.) and Prominent NGOs etc. The SLPMUs are scheduled to meet on quarterly basis to review the programs and works.
So far, SLPMUs have been formed in 19 States:
- Andhra Pradesh
- Assam
- Chandigarh
- Chhattisgarh
- Delhi
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Maharashtra
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Rajasthan
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- West Bengal
POWERGRID has established Smart Grid Knowledge Center (SGKC) at Manesar, a state-of-the-art platform for demonstration and outreach for Smart Grid technologies with support from the Ministry of Power (MoP), Government of India (GoI) and National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM). The SGKC was formally inaugurated by Hon'ble Union Minister of State for Power (I/C), Sh. R K Singh on 19th September 2018. The SGKC acts as a resource center for advanced Smart Grid technologies and carries out training and capacity building activities for the utility professionals.
SGKC is being developed as one of the leading Centers of Excellence (CoE) globally to foster partnerships, innovation and entrepreneurship in Smart Grid technologies and create capacities in the power sector. In order to meet this objective, the Strategic Roadmap for SGKC was prepared under USAID SPARC program in association with POWERGRID and NSGM. The Strategic Roadmap document includes establishment of Innovation Park, Technology Incubation Hub and SGKC to be a preferred institute of learning for Smart Grid technologies. This roadmap was formally released by MoP on 30th June 2020 during virtual private sector consultation event organized to promote & seek stakeholder’s feedback on proposed Innovation Park at the Smart Grid Knowledge Center (SGKC).
Sh. R K Singh, Hon'ble Union Minister of Power has launched the Virtual Smart Grid Knowledge Center (VSGKC) and Innovation Park in the presence of Sh. Krishan Pal, Hon'ble MOSP and other senior officials of MoP, POWERGRID, NSGM and USAID on 8th March 2022. The VSGKC is a platform to showcase advanced technologies in power distribution sector. It has been developed by POWERGRID with technical support from NSGM and USAID and will - (i) Provide service offerings that can be significantly expanded without limit of physical space, (ii) Give more access to wider audience even during times when mobility is disrupted, (iii) Allow larger set of global solutions to be brought under the ambit of COE, (iv) Be responsive to the charging power sector technology landscape through timely upgradation. The Virtual SGKC can be accessed from here.
