VIJAYAWADA: With the Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled power control device being promoted by the Andhra Pradesh State Energy Conservation Mission (APSECM) for energy efficiency in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sector on a pilot basis yielding a positive result, the Energy department is contemplating introduction of the devices in all MSMEs as the initiative would help save 11,000 units per a cluster per annum.
Buoyed by the success of the pilot project in a ceramics MSME cluster in East Godavari district, Energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli advised the developers of the IoT device to come up with a solution for replacing the existing 1.5 crore IRDA meters with low cost smart meters, which will help the power distribution companies to implement smart meters for residential sector.
According to a statement from the APSECM on Sunday, a webinar was recently held to discuss the modalities of the implementation of the initiative. Besides reducing the energy consumption, the IoT-enabled power control system will also help in reducing power stoppage time and reduction in technical losses, ultimately aiding in protecting the entire equipment.
The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry-led National Productivity Council (NPC) along with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad, came up with the device, which supports real-time monitoring of various electrical parameters.
The results of the pilot project implemented in a few clusters in East and West Godavari districts showed that the device, which costs around Rs 10,000, resulted in energy saving of 11,000 units in the cluster, translating to annual monetary saving of Rs 80,000, the officials explained.
Srikant, who is also the vice-chairman of APSECM, appreciated the ‘innovation’ and requested NPC and IIT-Hyderabad to come up with an open source software for low cost smart meters which would help the discoms implement them in residential sector.