i 'Engineers have to effectively combine

Ilil
I,
both theory & practice in their career'

«
I
t

The present
emphasis is not
only on
discovering new
means of
generating power
but also on
improving the
efficiency

TCE has participated in both conventional and non-conventional power generation. Primarily,TCE's roleisthat
of an Architect Engineer for several clients, including SEBs in India.The company has also been associated
with several power projects implemented on EPC basis. In an exclusive interview,sharing hisviewwith
Electrical India, Subrata Deb, states that I believe the electrical engineer continues to be of key importance
in the Power Industry but his role has evolved fromthat of evaluating purelytechnical aspects to encompassing
various inputs in his day-to-day work.

~62 II March 2011 II Electrical India

-
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~.
J
Yourvastexperiencehasostensibly
EI offered you a panoramicview of
the power and energy sector that few
possess.Couldyou tell us of the various
significantchangesthat the industryhas
gone through since you began your
career?
T hank you for inviting me to share my
perspective about the growth and
changes in the power sector.
Because of my active association with
the field of design for thermal power
projects for over 4 decades, I had the
privilegeto observe all round changes
inGeneration,Transmission,Distribution
and Utilization of electrical power that
the industry has gone through.
The power sector has registered
significant progress since the process
of planned development
economy began in 1950; new and
of the
largerthermal power plants with lower
cost per kilowatt are being installed.
Thiscost advantage has been obtained
through higher temperatures and
pressures for the steam cycle, which
lowered the amount of fuel required
per kWhr of electrical energy
generated. Presently, a number of
super critical 660 MW units are under
construction. India's first 800 MW
Advanced Ultra Super Critical Coal
Fired Power Plant will be operational
by 2017.
Theengineers involved in planning the
powersystem saw the great advantage
of inter connecting utilities to reduce
capital investments and fuel costs.
Regional and inter-regional ihter
connections were established (1960-
State Grid, 1970- Regional Grid, 2000-
Limited Inter-Regional Capacity). Also
during late 1970s first 400 kV line was
commissioned. Between 1980-1990's
first 500 kV HVDC line and between
1990s-2000 first 765 EHV line was
commissioned.
It is estimated that by 2030, the
electricityconsumption in India will be
almost double.To transmit bulk power
through inter- regional grid we may
haveto implement 1200 KvUHVAC&:t
800 Kv DC system in near future. For
effective VARcontrol in the grid we
have now static VARcompensator &
Flexible ACtransmission (FACTS).
On the analytical side, improved tools
were rapidly being developed. Greatly
improved tools for technical analysis
such as computers began to appear,
first as analog computers and then as
digital computers.
Due to advent of microprocessor many
new concepts were being introduced.
Computer control has now become
» The power
sector has
registered
significant progress
since the process of
planned
development of the
economy began in
1950; new and
larger thermal
power pia ntswith
lower cost per
kilowatt are being
installed
state-of-art in control by the use of
microprocessor with facilities like
on-line diagnostics and artificial
intelligence which helps better
operation and on-line testing. This
ensures reliability of protection system.
With the fast evolving electronics
technology, it has become extremely
difficult to supply latest systems with
proven record of satisfactory operation
for even 3 years. We can either have old
Interview
proven system or new unproven
system.
Also we now find the application of
Geographic Information System (GIS)
and Global Positioning System (GPS)in
power utilities. GIS when integrated
with real time SCADAhelps in efficient
handling of customer inquiries, fault
management, preventive maintenance,
network optimization, improved
revenues and energy audit. Mapping
by using GPS is very fast, precise and
cost effective. Data is acquired in digital
format and thus, can be transmitted
and further, stored and ana lysed using
different software tools.
Of late, serious thought is being given
to the qua lityof power, implementation
of Smart Grid and Decentralized
Distributed Generation (DDG).
It is observed that there is a gradual
shift in control of Electrical Power
Industry which was previously
dominated by engineering profession.
Now we find other professionals like
Bankers, Lawyersand Environmentalists
are taking active part in this Industry.
The policy of liberalization the Gal
announced in 1991 and consequent
amendments in Electricity Act (supply)
have opened new vistas to involve
private efforts and investments in
electricity industry.
EI What technologiesdo you think
are of considerableimportancein
the Indianpowerscenario?
ndian power sector is caught
I between the pressure of adding new
generation capacities to match the
rapidly growing demand of power
and environmental challenges arising
from large scale power generation.
Recognizing that coal may continue to
dominate the sector profile, India is
committed to Clean coal technologies
by utilizing Coal beneficiation,
Integrated gasification combined
cycle technology, Coal bed methane
(CBM),Underground coal gasification
(UCG) and also use of Super
critical technology.
ElectricalIndiaII March 2011 II 63
 Interv'iew
Iii
EI innovationis inthepowerindustry
.
How important do you think
today? What according you are the
I innovativetechnologiesthat could bring
about a paradigm shift in the Indian
powersector?
II
II" T he threat posed by future shortage
of fossil and nuclear fission fuels
and the reduced availability of hydro
electric power sites has focused
the attention of engineers on
"unconventional" sources. The present
I emphasis is not only on discovering
new means of generating power but
also on improving the efficiency and
lowering the cost of established
techniques.
Utilization of coal for power generation
poses one ofthe biggest environmental
problems because of the fly ash
emissions to the. atmosphere &fly ash
dumping in the' land. Due to large
emissions from thermal power plants
air pollution has become an
international problem. Therefore all
efforts must be applied to search for
alternate sources of energy.
Power from ocean: The ocean thermal
. energy conversion (OTEC)technology
is based on temperature difference at
surface (at about 290C) and at a depth
of 1100 meter (at about 50C) to
produce electricity. It has a potential
to generate around 180 GW of power
along the Indian sea cost.
The National Institute of Ocean
Technology (NIOT) is implementing
the world's first 1MW floating OTEC
technology demonstration project 0
the Tuticorin coast in Tamilnadu Solar
thermal energy technology. Major
technology breakthrough in solar
could catalyze the development of
large solar farms. In July 2009, India
unveiled a $ 19 Billion plan to produce
20 GWof solar power by 2020
Geothermal Power: The outer crust of
}he- ei'lrth contains a very large
(e.~~rV()i~
o(energy present as sensible
"neat. This'resource is between one and
two orders-of magnitude larger than
the 'recover~ble energy from uranium
,
.-
, .
.
~~4I1,~~:-"h " <,~ 201111Electrical India
- .,.'
-'"
and thorium in the same volume of
rocks. If 1% of the thermal energy
contained within the uppermost 10
km of the earth could be tapped, the
amount of heat would be 500 times
that contained in all oil and gas
resources of the world.
Geothermal energy is immune to daily
and seasonal fluctuations and
therefore is a reliable power source
with a high plant capacity factor.
Commercial production of electricity
from geothermal resources has been
carried out for more than 50 years in
New Zealand and California. Power
production is currently under way in
Australia, China, France, Indonesia,
Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Romania, Russia,
Thailand and Turkey.
In India, exploration and study of
geothermal fields started in 1970. The
GSI (Geological Survey of India) has
identified 350 geothermal energy
locations. It is surprising why India till
date is unable to tap the 10600 MW
geothermal energy based power.
Financial assistance is needed for the
development of geothermal energy.
Could youshedsomelighton the
EI problems that plague the power
industry today and how they can be
addressed?Whatmeasuresdo youthink
need to be taken by the governmentto
mitigatethe powercrisis in India?
P roblems cannot be categorized as
financial, technical or managerial;
instead they constitute a seamless
web. As such, our perception of the
problem has to be accordingly shaped
and the measures we decide upon
have to be holistic in nature.
Population growth, rapid
industrialization, higher income levels
& increased usage of electrical
appliances due to change in life style
are the main factors that have
contributed to India's increasing
power consumption levels.
We need to implement demand side
management to increase energy
savings by Active Energy Efficiency.
This means not onlyinstallingenergy
saving equipment but also controlling
these equipment to operate when
required. It is this aspect of control
that is critical to achieving maximum
efficiency. A mention here must be
made of the advent of the conceptof
Green Buildings which is fast gaining
ground. Iam happy to informyouthat
the Tata Consulting Engineersofficein
Jamshedpur whose construction is
..
nearing completion has actively
incorporated many practices and
specific methods to reduce its overall
energy and water consumption andis
a good example of putting Active
Energy Efficiencyinto practice.
A significant portion of the generated
power is lost or goes unaccounted
because of large aggregate technical
and commercial (AT&C) losses.Thishas
largely been on account of old and
outdated sub-transmission and
"
distribution infrastructure and heavy
commercial leakages. AT&Closses
continue to be very high in many
states. Recently GOIhas come outwith
restructured APDRP (Accelerated
power development and reforms
programme) programme with the
target to reduce the AT&Clossesto
15% by the end of 11th fiveyearplan.
On generation side we have to
implement retrofitting of old &
uneconomical power plants. Someof
the power plants which cannot
generate electricity at economicalcost
due to their less efficient thermal
design can be converted into
combined cycle power plants. This
modification can be done by replacing
the existing steam generation by Heat
RecoverySteam Generator(HRSG) &
Gas turbine such that existingsteam
cycle can be utilized as bottoming
cycle to the gas turbine.
Sometimes, it is also possible to use
gas turbine exhaust gases as a partial
source of heat energy in already
existing coal fired steam generatorby
doing moderate alterations in the
steam generator.
 Interview
EI What are some of the noteworthy
projectsincludingthermal,turbines
and substationsthat you haveworkedon
in the spanof your illustriouscareer?
was involved in the design of several
I thermal power projects in India. Some
projects which I have handled are
Kolaghat Thermal Power Station (KTPS)
- 3 * 210 MW (Phase-1) Under WBSEB;
Korba Super Thermal Power Station,
Madhya Pradesh - 3*210 MW;
Ramagundam Super Thermal Power
Station- 3*210 MW; NALCO- Captive
Power Plant - 6*120 MW;Chandrapura
TPP (2 * 140MW) DVCand Titagarh TPP
(4 * 60 MW)CESe.
I bamboo, casuarinas and eucalyptus
and it also results in cutting of trees in
forest area. It will be economical to
electrify these villages by setting up of
plant near to the village & supply
power. Such a distributed generation
can be fed by Biomass fuels which
include fuel wood, animal & domestic
wastes & agro wastes.
According to the India Vision 2020
published by Planning Commission,
about 50 million hectares of degraded
waste land lie outside the demarcated
forest areas and 34 million hectares of
protected forest areas do not have any
forest cover. A large scale fast growing
tree plantation programme, like
EI Doyouhaveanyadviceasthatyou
would like to give to electrical
engineersthat havejust startedwiththeir
careers?
T heory is when everybody knows
how it should work, but it doesnot.
Practice is when it worksbut nobody
knows how! Engineers have to
effectively combine both theory &
practice in their career and alsothey
have to be increasingly concernednot
only with the depth of knowledgebut
more so with the width of knowledge
so that they become multi-skilled,
versatile & develop an attitude of
continuous learning. They must
consistently strive to be abreast ofthe

EI What trends do you see in the can be undertaken. The product can
PowerIndustrytoday?Howdoyou be utilized as fuel for the biomass
think the r~le of an electrical engineer power plants. Distributed power plants
latest development &innovationgoing
on around the world in their respective
disciplines. They have to developa
has changedsince the inceptionof your ranging in size from 10 to 25 MW can higher level of consciousness aboutthe
career? substantially reduce dependence on importance of time, cost, quality,

D istributed digital control, PLC & imported fuel oils and fast depleting
extensive automation including
SCADAfor the substation are now being
fossil fuel reserves. It is estimated that
40 million hectares of such plantation
productivity, ecology &inculcatethese
values in all walks of life.
During the sojourn of my lifewhenI
applied by the engineers. Also now we can generate 100 GW of power and look over the canvass of mylongcarrier
find information technology initiative provide employment to 30 million I have become staunch believerin
in electricity distribution system. people round the year. integrity, sincerity and enquiringmind
I believe the electrical engineer The energy-efficient LED lights will which I believe are the ingredientsof
continues to be of key importance in definitely playa key role in providing success. In my view this is the era of
the Power Industry but his role has lighting for the people at the base of good communication welcoming
evolved from that of evaluating purely the pyramid, particularly because of everyone's valuable contribution in
technical aspects to encompassing the limitations in power supply from order to bring out the best andfilledup
various inputs in his day-to-day work. non-conventional sources available to from comprehensive views of
I The engineer is now expected to have them. It consumes 50% less power development of industries.
I understanding of environmental than 11 watt compact fluorescent

r I
regulations and laws gov~rning the
same, scope of modern electronics
based control and communication
lamp (CFL)for the same light output.
These LED lightning can also be EI Would you enlightenaboutyour
future plans and projectsin Tata
extensively used for street lightning in Consulting Engineers Limited as a
systems and ability to work in cross metro cities which will save substantial consultantandChiefmentor?
disciplinary teams that includes lawyers, energy & reduce CO2 emissions. like to keep an open mind and
environmentalists, policy makers and Innovative financial schemes need to l welcome team work. Wherepossible,
engineers from other disciplines. be experimented with to fund setting I take a key role in management,
up of Wind farms and Solar PV panels guiding & facilitating people in order

EI What strategiesdo you think must in rural areas. There is some indication
be implemented to address the of such schemes being already thought
to encourage them to do their
duties to their full potential.
problemsin rural powersectorin India? about by different government bodies Ibelieve that this isthe keyofsuccessful
ost of the villages which need to in the form of subsidies. Extensive management that can yieldexcellent
M be electrified are at places far partnership with rural communities in results aspiring people's sense of
away from the grid. It is expensive to this process is a must to increase achievement in the growth of
extend grid supply to these villages their effectiveness. the industry. .

6611 March 2011 IIElectrical India