BESCOM, which got a US grant worth $4,53,350 (Rs 2.04 crore) for smart grid development in Bangalore, says that it is in the process of finalising the appointment of US consultants and hopes to do it by April.

Mr B.N. Sathyaprema Kumar, General Manager (CA), BESCOM, told Business Line , “The USTDA (US Trade and Development Agency) had floated an RFP (request for proposal) inviting bids for appointing US consultants for the smart grid pilot project in Bangalore.”

In 2009, the US President, Mr Barack Obama, and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, launched a bilateral programme called Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) to improve energy cooperation. One of PACE's mandates was the development of smart grids.

Digital tech

While ordinary electricity grids use analogue technology, smart grids use digital technology, which enables electricity supply companies (ESCOMs) to save energy and reduce costs. Using a smart grid, ESCOMs could one day offer customers cheaper electricity at different times of the day – for example, the charges could be lower for using electricity at an off-peak time like 2 p.m. and higher rates at 8 p.m.

This could encourage households to use energy-consuming devices such as ovens at off-peak hours, thereby improving the load balancing abilities of BESCOM across the city.

Mr Kumar said that the last date for submission of bids was February 4. Once the bids were submitted, Mr Kumar said that a sub-committee was constituted to evaluate the bids. “The report on evaluation of bids will be submitted to USTDA in a week's time. On receipt of clearance from USTDA, we will sign the contract with the successful bidder.”

“We hope to finish this process of appointing the US consultants by the last week of April 2011,” he added.

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