India’s apex power sector planning body, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), recently unveiled its roadmap to indigenize the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems by the end of this decade.
Mint explains the move and the challenges amid concerns over imported systems used in electricity distribution and transmission, at a time when Chinese hackers have targeted India’s critical infrastructure, including power grids, in recent years.
SCADA is a system used to control and monitor the power system across the generation, transmission, and distribution functional areas. A combination of software and hardware, SCADA gathers and transmits information from remote locations, controls specific devices in the power system network, and confirms their performance in response to directed actions.
It comprises field instrumentation, communication and master station. The field instrumentation acquires various signals from field devices and transmits them through communication devices to the master station located far from the field. These signals are analyzed at the master station, and appropriate action is taken if necessary. In the hierarchy of the Indian power system, the National Load Despatch Centre, Regional Load Despatch Centres and State Load Despatch Centres operate as master stations.
SCADA systems serve as the central nervous system of the national power grid, enabling the ‘One Nation, One Grid, One Frequency’ framework through real-time monitoring and control. However, heavy reliance on foreign original equipment manufacturers with proprietary technologies results in interoperability constraints, delays in customization, limited flexibility for system enhancements, and reliance on external support services.
In an increasingly complex and volatile geopolitical landscape, such dependence poses potential risks to national energy security. Reliance on foreign technologies for critical infrastructure may expose utilities to supply-chain disruptions, technology access constraints, and delayed availability of upgrades and support.
In 2020, the power ministry constituted a committee under the chairmanship of a member (power system), CEA, with representatives from the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, and Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd, among others, to explore the possibilities for the indigenous development of SCADA software.
The committee submitted a report on “Possibilities of indigenous development of SCADA software for power system management” to the government in 2021. The report recommended that the country should develop an indigenous, end-to-end solution through a consortium of Indian developers and standardize SCADA database models.
With the growing share of renewable energy in the grid, concerns about grid instability and increased fault rates arise; in such cases, these systems play a key role in fault detection and further communication to help resolve the issue. Further, amid the growing need for energy efficiency, these systems also enable continuous monitoring of consumption, preventing unnecessary energy use and reducing energy costs.
Key recommendations under the CEA’s roadmap include establishing an institutional framework to drive indigenization of the SCADA system and providing financial support. It noted that a National SCADA Mission or specialized working group can be constituted under the power ministry. The Centre may nominate public sector undertakings with experience in SCADA development and related applications, or a consortium may be formed along these lines.
It also said that a suitable funding mechanism needs to be established for these indigenous SCADA development projects, either through government grants or through an alternative sustainable financing mechanism, to ensure adequate resources for research, development, and testing.
Rituraj Baruah is a special correspondent covering energy, housing, urban affairs, heavy industries and small businesses at Mint. He has reported on diverse sectors over the last eight years including, commodities and stocks market, insolvency and real estate; with previous stints at Cogencis Information Services, Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) and Inc42.
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