India’s first Smart Grid project will be established in Puduchery. CG, part of the US Avantha group, is building a Greenfield electronics plant in the Jigani Industrial Area of Bangalore in order to help support the project. As well as manufacturing IEDs the plant will also assemble control and relay panels to comply with the latest Substation Automation standard – IEC 61850.
India’s power network will become increasingly complex and demand for energy will inevitably increase. The country therefore needs to accelerate the deployment of Smart Grid technologies offering an unprecedented level of control and efficiency in power supply. This could help to protect the country from the kind of power outages that Northern India experienced in July which brought road and rail transport across the region to a standstill following an enormous blackout, widely regarded as the worst in a decade. In response to demand, pilot projects for Smart Grid technologies are already underway in several Indian cities, including Bangalore itself.
The new CG plant will be the main base for manufacturing Protection, Control and Communication products from CG’s Automation Business Unit. The company has recently benefitted from its acquisition of ZIV’s Smart Grid technology which includes expertise in grid automation.
“The ZIV acquisition positions and accelerates CG as a strong player in the promising Smart Grid segment” said Mr Laurent Demortier, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, CG. “CG is commited to contribute to the development of India’s first Smart Grid project in Puduchery in association with Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL). The project’s advance metering infrastructure will ensure that consumers get the advantages of efficient power supply.”
The new plant will cover 4050 square meters in total and will employ 30 people in its first year of operations. It’s first task will be to cater for the Indian market but will subsequently gear up to meet demand in neighbouring countries with a view to further extending its market reach in the years to come.
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