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					</table>India&#8217;s power grids will come under immense pressure as peak electricity demand in cities quadruples by 2050 from 2022 levels, driven by a surging need for air conditioners amid rising temperatures, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (<a href="https://www.iea.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IEA</a>).
While air conditioner ownership in India remains low, each 1°C rise in the average daily temperature above 24°C will result in a 2% increase in electricity demand, leading to higher strained grids and emissions.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-66447 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1333.png" alt="Space cooling demand" width="1504" height="938" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1333.png 1504w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1333-300x187.png 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1333-768x479.png 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1333-650x405.png 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1333-624x389.png 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Picture1333-600x374.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1504px) 100vw, 1504px" />
India&#8217;s Central Electricity Authority has <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/indias-power-demand-rise-sharply-256-gw-2024-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forecast</a> a peak power demand of 256.53 GW in the financial year (FY) 2024-25, rising sharply from FY 2023-24&#8217;s 221.37 GW. Power demand is expected to soar above 256 GW in September 2024.
While extreme temperatures affect rural and urban areas, cities heat up more than the countryside. Dense buildings and paved surfaces, especially with few trees or green spaces, absorb and amplify heat, turning cities into heat islands.
Globally, around 10% of the increase in emissions since 2015 is due to urbanization, which led to a record high of nearly 29 billion tons of CO2 emissions from urban areas.
Meanwhile, over 90% of urban population growth between 2015 and 2020 occurred in emerging countries like India. By 2050, India&#8217;s urban population is projected to increase by over 400 million as rural citizens migrate to cities for economic opportunities, placing additional stress on the power grid.
The report cites the April 2022 crisis when an extreme heatwave <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/peak-power-demand-touches-all-time-high-of-201-gw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caused</a> India&#8217;s worst electricity shortage in years, with demand outstripping supply by 1.9 billion units, or 1.6%. Some regions were forced to undertake scheduled power cuts to manage the strain on the grid.
In the 19 months leading up to January 2024, 29 million new household connections were added to India&#8217;s existing residential customer base of 267 million from 2022.
Optimizing the Grid
The IEA recommended leveraging bulk procurement to create economies of scale and bring down costs of clean technologies like solar, using smart digital systems and technologies to enhance grid flexibility, efficiency, and renewable integration.
For example, in Lucknow, residents <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/uttar-pradesh-blockchain-rooftop-solar-trading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">participated</a> in a pilot peer-to-peer trading platform, allowing them to buy and sell rooftop solar electricity at rates 43% cheaper than central market prices, according to the report.
Earlier this year, Karnataka <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/karnataka-peer-to-peer-solar-energy-trading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a draft proposal to use blockchain technology to allow peer-to-peer solar energy trading in the state. While innovative, the policy was fraught with challenges, such as a lack of clarity around effortless implementation, operation, and dispute resolution.
The IEA report mentioned another pilot led by Panitek Power deploying &#8220;digital twin&#8221; technology to model low-voltage distribution networks in New Delhi. This pilot provides real-time data to optimize grid operations when the increasing penetration of rooftop solar and electric vehicle charging stations poses challenges.
An IEA analysis showed that implementing digitalization and flexible-load strategies for buildings and appliances could reduce peak load by about 13% by 2030 compared to a fixed usage pattern.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-66449 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-21-122045.png" alt="India net load" width="582" height="345" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-21-122045.png 582w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-21-122045-300x178.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 582px) 100vw, 582px" />
The report added that to be on track for net zero emissions, India and other nations must triple annual investment in modernizing and expanding distribution grids to $750 billion by 2030.

Surging Use of Air Conditioners to Strain India’s Power Grids: IEA

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has invited vendors to enlist for the infrastructure development of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
The bid-submission deadline is August 2, 2019.
The scope of work includes the supply, packing and forwarding, transportation, unloading, storage, installation, and commissioning including earthing, cabling, and all associated civil works related to Bharat DC-001 and AC-001 chargers for EVs at identified locations.
The enlisted vendors will have to provide a one-year in-built warranty and an additional five years’ annual maintenance contract (AMC) for the complete system.
The NTPC has specified that the bidder should have manufactured and supplied or been a charge point provider of off-board EV DC chargers or should have executed at least one electrical sub-station of 11 kV or above voltage level which should be in successful operation for at least two years.
The NTPC is making its presence felt in the EV charging market segment. In <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ntpc-tender-electric-vehicle-charging-stations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">March 2019</a>, it had invited bids to set up charging stations for EVs including buses and four-wheelers on a turnkey basis.
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/ntpc-agreement-vehicle-aggregators-ev-charging/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">In November 2018,</a> <a href="https://www.ntpc.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NTPC Limited</a> signed a memorandum of understanding with seven vehicle aggregators namely: Ola, Lithium, Shuttl, Bikxie, Bounce, Electrie and Zoom Car, for the development and utilization of public charging infrastructure across the country.
The state-run company has also been developing charging stations across its power plants and regional offices in various parts of the country.
For instance, in March 2018, it <a href="https://mercomindia.com/exicom-ntpc-tender-ev-charging-jabalpur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">awarded</a> a contract to Exicom to develop a 120 kW and 50 kW EV off-board DC chargers for electric buses in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The company has also been associated with companies like Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, and Delhi Metro for the development of public charging infrastructure. With these tie-ups, the NTPC plans to set up an expansive network of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles to address the issue of range anxiety for these vehicles.
Back in June 2017, the NTPC announced that it would be entering the EV charging business in India to deploy charging station infrastructure across the country. Then in September 2018, Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ntpc-commissions-ev-charging-vishakhapatnam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that the NTPC commissioned its first EV charging station in Vishakhapatnam.
Image credit: NTPC

NTPC Invites Vendors to Enlist for Developing EV Charging Stations

Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (<a href="https://bescom.org/en/pay-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BESCOM</a>) has issued a tender for setting up 100 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in and around Bangalore. The bid-submission deadline is February 20, 2019. All the charging stations will be AC charging stations.
The scope of work includes, “Location survey, estimation and obtaining work orders from concerned division, supply, testing, erection and commissioning of Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) along with associated civil and electrical works.”
The successful bidder will be responsible for operation and maintenance (O&amp;M) of the EVSE infrastructure for a period of three years. The successful bidder will also provide guarantee for the EVSE equipment and materials for a period of 12 months from the date of operational acceptance by BESCOM.
The bidder has to either be and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of EVSE or authorized agency for OEM of EVSE. If the bidder is an OEM, they should have designed, manufactured, supplied and installed at least 15 units of EVSE cumulatively in India during Financial Year (FY) 2015-16, FY 2016-17, FY 2017-18 up to September 2018. If the bidder is an authorized agency of the OEM, the agency should have supplied, installed and commissioned at least 15 units of EVSE in India during FY 2015-16, FY 2016-17, FY 2017-18 up to Sep-2018 cumulatively. The annual turnover of the bidder has to be at least 25 percent of the amount put to tender in any of the preceding three financial years (FY-2015-16, FY-2016-17 and FY 2017-18). The bidder has to be a registered entity in India under Companies Act or Partnership Act or Proprietorship Act.
When contacted, Mercom’s source at BESCOM said, “Yes, we have issued a new tender for 100 AC EV charging stations. BESCOM’s plan is to be ahead when it comes to new avenues of revenue generation. In a tech savvy city like Bangalore, people will be soon switching to EVs and BESCOM will have to be ready with charging stations. Our charging stations will provide a rudimentary network of EV charging points across the city which in turn will help in development of better infrastructure when more stakeholders in the development of the city take notice.”
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/bescom-ev-charging-stations-bengaluru/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In February 2018</a>, Mercom reported about BESCOM’s plan to launch 11 fast-charging stations for the city’s EVs. As the use of EVs increases, BESCOM plans to add more charging stations in a phased manner to meet growing demand.
The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &amp;) Electric Vehicles (FAME) program was announced by the Karnataka government in <a href="https://mercomindia.com/karnataka-procure-640-electric-vehicles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">January 2018</a>. Under the program, the state plans to procure 640 EVs, including electric buses, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers.
Image Credit: ABB

BESCOM Issues Tender to Set Up 100 EV Charging Stations

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