‘AI can improve quality, reliability of power supply in country’

Artificial Intelligence can improve quality as well reliability of power supply in the country by optimising resources but there is a need to speed up adoption, Central Electricity Authority Chairman Ghanshyam Prasad said on Wednesday. He was speaking at a session of AI Impact Summit here. “Power sector is opening up and huge amount of opportunities, use cases are waiting for these kind of innovative solutions and I think we need to catch up and we need to speed up so that at least we don’t fall behind anybody else,” he added.

Prasad said a number of things need to be optimised using AI in the power sector, including in planning — resource adequacy, transmission, distribution network distribution power purchase. He said a huge churning is required in the resource adequacy planning which started around three to four years back. “We have reached a certain level but huge amount of other improvements are required to be done.” About the grid operation, he said India is still not doing it the right way and “we need huge amount of optimisation that can save cost and also the time of restoration”.

He pointed out that there are problems in rural areas with regards to reliability and quality of power supply which are needed to be addressed. He also called for use of AI in the entire process of tariff determination to avoid delays and address other issues. Prasad stated that AI can be used in capacity building in the power sector. “But I still feel that a huge amount of work is required to be done in these areas as well,” he opined.