Mapping the potential opportunities for T&M industry in Indian power T&D sector
  Today India is more inclined towards saving power, realising that saving power can be advantageous in the coming days, the country is encouraging (T&M) testing and measurement instrument industry that will help in verifying the problems related to (T&D) transmission and distribution lines to provide uninterrupted power supply to the country. T&M sector is developing more equipment and devices to boost the sector and is creating more space and opportunities for itself. With this development, let us understand in-depth what all potential opportunities T&M sector will have in the power T&D sector.
Potential opportunities for T&MFor a vibrant economy like India the expansion of infrastructure sector has boosted the progress of electrical energy sector over the years. At the current scenario when we are witnessing a great development prospect in all the industrial areas accompanied by the infrastructural renaissance, power and energy consumption has also increased immensely.
“The level of focus and concrete steps that are being taken in this area ensure a bright future and promising chances for new technologies of testing and measurement of various parameters in the power sector,” states Kalidas Bhangare, Managing Director, Testo India Pvt Ltd. The Government of India has also taken the matter very seriously and various administrative decisions are worth appreciating. “Government has also strategised the power generation, transmission, distribution and regulation policies incorporating low cost generation, optimised utilisation and various other distribution and regulation reforms,” he adds.
Electrical facility managers, project managers, distributors and other respective officers and organisations, in order to adhere to these norms and policies certainly seek testing and measurement solutions at almost every step. “With a great focus on energy conservation and development, the T&M industry foresees great potential opportunities and will surely help in shaping and transforming the power sector of India,” states Bhangare.
The potential of T&M industry in power T&D sector is vast and growing day by day as the expansion of this industry is at pace. The current utility electricity sector in India had an installed capacity of 304.76 GW as of 31 July 2016. Renewable power plants constituted 28 per cent of total installed capacity. The gross electricity generated by utilities is 1,106 TWh and 166 TWh by captive power plants during the 2014–15 fiscal year. The gross electricity generation includes auxiliary power consumption of power generation plants. India became the world’s third largest producer of electricity in the year 2013 with 4.8 per cent global share in electricity generation surpassing Japan and Russia. “So if the capacity is so high the T&D sector automatically grows and so the potential of T&M industry grows with same. Hence the opportunities in this sector for T&M sector are tremendous and will grow in future too. So, we as a company have also streamlined our focus on this sector with already our multimeters pioneer in this sector and also we are coming up with product suitable in this sector which will discuss next,” says Vishwadeep Nanda, Product Manager- TMI, Rishabh Instruments Pvt Ltd.
While expressing his views on potential opportunities for T&M in power T&D sector V. Vijayakumar, General Manager- Sales & Marketing, Qmax Test Equipments Pvt Ltd says, “The future investments in the non conventional and renewable energy generation there is potential opportunities for T&M products which offer innovative, cost effective and upgradeable/scalable solutions for measuring / analysing the quality of power/ metering solutions-remote monitoring /data acquisition systems as well as testing and component level test and diagnostic systems to recover faulty electronic modules to save costs and reduce eWaste.”
Latest offering in this domainT&M instruments were selected to meet the specifications. Now in the recent years the industry trend is to make the instruments both more affordable and more flexible instruments therefore future upgradeable, or scalable features, to keep initial investment to a minimum, while maximising the potential applications for that instrument in future. “Keeping with this trend Qmax has also launched scalable/ field upgradeable instruments for PCB Test and Diagnostic applications for component level testing of control and instrumentation PCB modules used in the power sector,” informs Vijaykumar about the latest offering in the domain.
Another emerging trend is to offer multiple instruments in a single box so that bench clutter is avoided and also customer is benefitted with cost savings. Towards this Qmax has launched a 5 in 1 Tester Hi5 which includes DMM / LCR measurements / DSO / frequency counter and function generator and this  has found wide acceptance in the Industry including power sector.QMAX is authorised distributor for Pico technologies; UK who offers PC based scopes. These scopes come with current clamp and differential probes to measure voltage. “We can  analyse how clean is the generated sinusoidal waveform and also in the GUI rich software which offers many math functions  we can calculate the ratio between real power and apparent power by measuring the true RMS values so that the power factor can be easily calculated,” adds Vijaykumar.
Qmax also offers Extech Instruments, USA’s power quality analyser for 1- Phase as well as 3-Phase graphical power and harmonics analyser/data logger capable of logging up to 30,000 sets of measurements on a removable SD memory card. The meter features a 3-Phase voltage or current unbalanced ratio (VUR, AUR) and unbalanced factor, captures transient events (including dip, swell, and outage) with programmable threshold ( per cent), a wide sampling rate range (2 seconds to 2 hours), a built in clock/ calendar and a CAT III 600 Volt safety rating.
Bhangare informs, “Testo India has an array of measuring instruments that find applications in electrical and power industry right from power generation to transmission to maintenance. Our thermal Imagers have been the best aid in power T&D sector. Thermography for electrical maintenance not only proves to be very effective and energy saving but also prevents unseen accidents, breakdown and failures.”
The testo IR guns have simplified the testing of electrical set ups to a great extent and have certainly increased accessibility and safety. “Adding momentum to the level of offerings we provide, Testo recently launched its electrical measuring instrument range to equip the contractors with the latest and uniquely distinct products that will make the testing and measurement more convenient,”he adds.
Rishabh as a company offers wide range of T&M products like digital multimeters, digital clamp meters, insulation testers, earth testers which covers almost all the basic instruments required for T&M. The latest offering from the company for T&D sector is Rish Insu 5Dx 5KV digital insulation tester which is suitable for operation in inductive environment up to 600V in substations offering below features:

Measurement range up to 10 Tohm
Test voltage selectable from 100 to 5 kV DC
RAMP mode with selectable duration time and test voltage
Polarization Index (P.I.) measurement
Dielectric Absorption Ratio (D.A.R) measurement
DC/AC TRMS voltage up to 600 V
Internal memory for saving results recall saved results at display
RS-232 interface for PC connection
Rechargeable internal battery.
Also company has come up with Rishabh 60K series multimeter with bluetooth connectivity and android based application with below features, it would be a very useful product for T&D sector as it allows seeing the data of multimeter on mobile screen so increases the safety. Usually the testing is at a height, so persons standing below in a substation can view the readings comfortably and safely.

Data logger and view function (up to 32000 readings)
Bluetooth connectivity with Mobile via android app and PC
Data logging facility in mobile and setting of parameters via mobile
100 kHz bandwidth for voltage measurement
1kHz Low Pass Filter mode for VFD drive applications
Go-No-Go function
VAC with 1M? impedance for measurement on concealed wires
Adjustable square wave output
Selectable clamp ratio for current measurement. 

Mapping the potential opportunities for T&M industry in Indian power T&D sector
  Today India is more inclined towards saving power, realising that saving power can be advantageous in the coming days, the country is encouraging (T&M) testing and measurement instrument industry that will help in verifying the problems related to (T&D) transmission and distribution lines to provide uninterrupted power supply to the country. T&M sector is developing more equipment and devices to boost the sector and is creating more space and opportunities for itself. With this development, let us understand in-depth what all potential opportunities T&M sector will have in the power T&D sector.
Potential opportunities for T&MFor a vibrant economy like India the expansion of infrastructure sector has boosted the progress of electrical energy sector over the years. At the current scenario when we are witnessing a great development prospect in all the industrial areas accompanied by the infrastructural renaissance, power and energy consumption has also increased immensely.
“The level of focus and concrete steps that are being taken in this area ensure a bright future and promising chances for new technologies of testing and measurement of various parameters in the power sector,” states Kalidas Bhangare, Managing Director, Testo India Pvt Ltd. The Government of India has also taken the matter very seriously and various administrative decisions are worth appreciating. “Government has also strategised the power generation, transmission, distribution and regulation policies incorporating low cost generation, optimised utilisation and various other distribution and regulation reforms,” he adds.
Electrical facility managers, project managers, distributors and other respective officers and organisations, in order to adhere to these norms and policies certainly seek testing and measurement solutions at almost every step. “With a great focus on energy conservation and development, the T&M industry foresees great potential opportunities and will surely help in shaping and transforming the power sector of India,” states Bhangare.
The potential of T&M industry in power T&D sector is vast and growing day by day as the expansion of this industry is at pace. The current utility electricity sector in India had an installed capacity of 304.76 GW as of 31 July 2016. Renewable power plants constituted 28 per cent of total installed capacity. The gross electricity generated by utilities is 1,106 TWh and 166 TWh by captive power plants during the 2014–15 fiscal year. The gross electricity generation includes auxiliary power consumption of power generation plants. India became the world’s third largest producer of electricity in the year 2013 with 4.8 per cent global share in electricity generation surpassing Japan and Russia. “So if the capacity is so high the T&D sector automatically grows and so the potential of T&M industry grows with same. Hence the opportunities in this sector for T&M sector are tremendous and will grow in future too. So, we as a company have also streamlined our focus on this sector with already our multimeters pioneer in this sector and also we are coming up with product suitable in this sector which will discuss next,” says Vishwadeep Nanda, Product Manager- TMI, Rishabh Instruments Pvt Ltd.
While expressing his views on potential opportunities for T&M in power T&D sector V. Vijayakumar, General Manager- Sales & Marketing, Qmax Test Equipments Pvt Ltd says, “The future investments in the non conventional and renewable energy generation there is potential opportunities for T&M products which offer innovative, cost effective and upgradeable/scalable solutions for measuring / analysing the quality of power/ metering solutions-remote monitoring /data acquisition systems as well as testing and component level test and diagnostic systems to recover faulty electronic modules to save costs and reduce eWaste.”
Latest offering in this domainT&M instruments were selected to meet the specifications. Now in the recent years the industry trend is to make the instruments both more affordable and more flexible instruments therefore future upgradeable, or scalable features, to keep initial investment to a minimum, while maximising the potential applications for that instrument in future. “Keeping with this trend Qmax has also launched scalable/ field upgradeable instruments for PCB Test and Diagnostic applications for component level testing of control and instrumentation PCB modules used in the power sector,” informs Vijaykumar about the latest offering in the domain.
Another emerging trend is to offer multiple instruments in a single box so that bench clutter is avoided and also customer is benefitted with cost savings. Towards this Qmax has launched a 5 in 1 Tester Hi5 which includes DMM / LCR measurements / DSO / frequency counter and function generator and this  has found wide acceptance in the Industry including power sector.QMAX is authorised distributor for Pico technologies; UK who offers PC based scopes. These scopes come with current clamp and differential probes to measure voltage. “We can  analyse how clean is the generated sinusoidal waveform and also in the GUI rich software which offers many math functions  we can calculate the ratio between real power and apparent power by measuring the true RMS values so that the power factor can be easily calculated,” adds Vijaykumar.
Qmax also offers Extech Instruments, USA’s power quality analyser for 1- Phase as well as 3-Phase graphical power and harmonics analyser/data logger capable of logging up to 30,000 sets of measurements on a removable SD memory card. The meter features a 3-Phase voltage or current unbalanced ratio (VUR, AUR) and unbalanced factor, captures transient events (including dip, swell, and outage) with programmable threshold ( per cent), a wide sampling rate range (2 seconds to 2 hours), a built in clock/ calendar and a CAT III 600 Volt safety rating.
Bhangare informs, “Testo India has an array of measuring instruments that find applications in electrical and power industry right from power generation to transmission to maintenance. Our thermal Imagers have been the best aid in power T&D sector. Thermography for electrical maintenance not only proves to be very effective and energy saving but also prevents unseen accidents, breakdown and failures.”
The testo IR guns have simplified the testing of electrical set ups to a great extent and have certainly increased accessibility and safety. “Adding momentum to the level of offerings we provide, Testo recently launched its electrical measuring instrument range to equip the contractors with the latest and uniquely distinct products that will make the testing and measurement more convenient,”he adds.
Rishabh as a company offers wide range of T&M products like digital multimeters, digital clamp meters, insulation testers, earth testers which covers almost all the basic instruments required for T&M. The latest offering from the company for T&D sector is Rish Insu 5Dx 5KV digital insulation tester which is suitable for operation in inductive environment up to 600V in substations offering below features:

Measurement range up to 10 Tohm
Test voltage selectable from 100 to 5 kV DC
RAMP mode with selectable duration time and test voltage
Polarization Index (P.I.) measurement
Dielectric Absorption Ratio (D.A.R) measurement
DC/AC TRMS voltage up to 600 V
Internal memory for saving results recall saved results at display
RS-232 interface for PC connection
Rechargeable internal battery.
Also company has come up with Rishabh 60K series multimeter with bluetooth connectivity and android based application with below features, it would be a very useful product for T&D sector as it allows seeing the data of multimeter on mobile screen so increases the safety. Usually the testing is at a height, so persons standing below in a substation can view the readings comfortably and safely.

Data logger and view function (up to 32000 readings)
Bluetooth connectivity with Mobile via android app and PC
Data logging facility in mobile and setting of parameters via mobile
100 kHz bandwidth for voltage measurement
1kHz Low Pass Filter mode for VFD drive applications
Go-No-Go function
VAC with 1M? impedance for measurement on concealed wires
Adjustable square wave output
Selectable clamp ratio for current measurement.