Rooftop, feeder-level solar surge forces Raj to overhaul power grid

Jaipur: Rajasthan, the country's largest solar power producer, is preparing a major overhaul of its electricity distribution network as decentralised renewable energy projects such as PM-Kusum and rooftop solar expand.A concept report by consultants of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned the state's already strained distribution system faces serious technical and operational challenges as rooftop and feeder-level solar installations scale up under schemes such as PM-Kusum and PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana.
On Tuesday, ADB officials met senior energy department officials to chart a strategy to revamp the grid network to accommodate the growth in decentralised renewable energy projects without disruption.Ajitabh Sharma, ACS (Energy), said, "Rajasthan's distribution grid was built for one-way power flow, from substations to consumers. With solar power increasingly flowing back into the system during the day, the rules of the game are changing."He added, "Among the key issues discussed are how to address midday over-voltage on rural and urban feeders, frequent inverter tripping, increased harmonics affecting sensitive equipment, and reduced effectiveness of conventional protection systems due to lower fault currents from inverter-based generation."Stressing the need to monitor, control and optimise decentralised energy assets, Sharma said, "We are considering deployment of specialised software platforms like Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS)."The report outlines a multi-pronged roadmap focused on digitalisation, automation and flexibility, including Distribution Control Centres (DCCs) equipped with advanced distribution management systems to provide real-time visibility of feeders, transformers and decentralised generators.Energy storage is expected to play a crucial role. Rajasthan is projected to require nearly 7,000 million units of storage by 2030 to balance solar-heavy generation, the report said.At the distribution level, battery energy storage systems at substations could absorb surplus daytime solar and supply power during evening peaks, reducing curtailment and easing stress on the grid, it said. The report also called for tighter forecasting of solar generation, demand-response programmes to shift consumption to daylight hours, and strategies to manage the growing load from electric vehicles.