Taking 'black' out from power pipes

Technology is about information being available in better form but it does not replace humans or decision-making. A power-sector denizen shines some light

HYDERABAD, ANDHRA PRADESH: Atluri Rama Rao, Executive Director, Information Systems, Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Ltd, seem to be full of electricity himself as he talks effortlessly and animatedly on a variety of issues flanking the sector – from digital metering, black-outs, smart grids to hacking and alternative fuel viability. Spark up

What makes your State stand in a pioneer league when it comes to IT in any vertical? What’s the model for the sector of utilities specially?

The state has seen technology proliferation and engagement really early on so people have started believing in technology with a different conviction. That helps to set pillars for any change. Mr. Naidu was the force behind the IT drive and his acting more like a CEO than a CM was helpful; and now with the present CM the journey is propelled further ahead. Even rural folks have entered a new ambit in our state. The stage is well set and the next generation will build strong progress on current platforms. I would say availability of affordable education is a strong pillar that just cannot be ignored.

So you are also warmed up for the BYOD generation so to say?

Yes, is there any other way out when even people who are illiterate are using phone messaging apps like a pro. They have relatives in urban areas and abroad so using virtual mediums is not a new thing for them. Email or conferencing or messaging apps are not new-fangled things here. People are climbing technology curves very fast.

Do you agree that automating the sector brings in hacking and other security risks too?

Technology is about information being available in better form but it does not replace humans or decision-making. The country’s mega watt addition is still less. We cannot move to roll over with technology in decision-making. Smart grid can come into play only when you have surplus generation.

So the problem is at generation too, even after so much progress in terms of alternative fuels?

These sources have a viability challenge and cost and procurement at affordable rates are vital. Hydel power for instance, faces huge capital costs and rehabilitation challenges. Time to build a thermal station is too long, gas availability is less, solar power has time constraints on availability etc.

Can grid computing and digital solutions help address problem of downtimes etc in power sector? Example the big North India Black Out?

In India, power demand is greater than generation and it’s a constant demand-supply gap. There is a load dispatch centre at national as well as state and local level s to manage the flow. Frequency matters to get a continuous supply of power and when frequency comes down below a tolerable level there would be immediate local balancing acts. That episode you mentioned was due to some issues with a huge generator. Indian Transmission systems are like Railways, with a British lineage and hence they were designed for a certain scale. We cannot avoid failures with mechanical equipment all the time, it is natural. Talking of grid computing, the technology research happening in Western countries is higher than in India. Automatic cross-over mechanisms are still not as strong and the transmission or distribution system is different here. The North India downtime was a rare situation of co-incidence between local buffer coming down and failure of change-over.

Can you share something about the recent SAP roll-out?

Ours is a complex situation with 27 locations and about 11,000 employees. All locations, before SAP, were independent islands and we took end-to-end 18 modules. We did not appoint any consultant because we were confident of our domain expertise. We chose SAP because of its strong integrated flavor and went live in about ten months with 70 people in core team who have strong domain process abilities.