Changing the face of power sector

The control system is the most crucial part of the power plant. Our main aim is to have a reliable, safe and accurate control system.
Rodney Berg, Senior Power Consultant, Schneider Electric
  Schneider Electric is a big name in the area of Electronics and power sector. In an interaction with EPR, Opening the talk on the motive of projecting Schneider Electric in power sector, RahulNargotra, Business Development Director APAC Power Industry, Schneider Electric said, “The motive is to showcase that Schneider can cater to the growing needs of automation, keeping in mind the innovations, and smart power terminals that are coming up.”
Changing the future of automationWhen asked about how Schneider can change the future of automation in the power sector in India, Rodney Berg, Senior Power Consultant said, “In India, we support the super critical projects, that are coal fired, that include IPPs, NTPCs. We are also looking forward to enter the revolutionised market for the smaller players. We are also trying to address the growth need of the country by supplying the control systems that are accurate, helping the power generators to commission on time and to provide a reliable control system. The control system is the most crucial part of the power plant. Our main aim is to have a reliable, safe and accurate control system.”
Reducing inefficiency of power distributionNargotra also talked about how Schneider will contribute in reducing the inefficiency of the power distribution. He said, “It is not about producing a specific amount of electricity in India. However, the main issue is to provide a 24×7 reliable power supply, which currently is not met with. The mechanical failures also add to the problems. Efficiency and advantage are a mathematical calculation. There are also many external factors that worsen the scenario. We are looking into solving the outages and the related issues that give rise to problems.”Smart power
Smart power is an upcoming area that will cause a revolution in the power sector. Speaking more about smart power, Nargotra said, “In the current scenario, smart power is a few years ahead. For smart power, the cities need to be smart, the citizens should be smart. The generation of power will be within the city, using renewable or gas based. The need for coal based power generation will soon die out.”
Cyber security in Power sectorCyber security is a major concern in a lot of areas. “The cyber security is a major concern for the power sector too. It is the prime requirement. We have been selling systems in the Middle East, Korean and other areas. For our products, the clients should have a cyber security compliant system. We press for the same. We have a cyber offering at Schneider that makes not just the system cyber compliant, but event the components cyber secure too. We have asked our clients to upgrade the system to Windows 10 to make it safer from the point of view from cyber security.”
IoT in Power sectorInternet of Things (IoT) is the new trend that is catching up. When asked about the role that IoT will play in the power sector, Berg says, “We need a platform to build the whole IoT concept and to bridge it with the power sector. The client needs to understand the need to analysis before going for IoT. We will need to understand and convince the clients for the same.”