CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIT Madras on Thursday, a move that will help bring AI, real-time grid monitoring and other advanced technologies into the state’s power sector, according to officials.
Under the partnership, IIT Madras will offer technical guidance to TNEB’s four subsidiaries — Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL), Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Limited (TANTRANSCO), Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited (TNPGCL) and Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited (TNGECL) — on operational and technological challenges. The MoU was signed at TNEB’s Chennai headquarters in the presence of Energy and Law Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar.
The collaboration will focus on introducing new technologies across power generation, transmission, distribution and green energy, focusing on improving infrastructure, cutting costs, and conducting technical audits. It will help in the adoption of AI, machine learning, data analytics and data-driven decision-making across the sector.
Specific areas of joint work listed in the agreement include real-time monitoring of the power network, a centralised data centre, centralised energy accounting, safe integration of renewable energy, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), Digital Twin technology, and Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) applications. The partnership will also look at improving thermal power plant efficiency, demonstrating new technologies, and running capacity-building and training programmes for TNEB officials and engineers.
TNEB Chairman J Radhakrishnan and Professor Manu Santhanam, Dean of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research at IIT Madras, exchanged the agreement. IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti also attended the event.
