Eaton’s mission is to improve the quality of life and the environment through the use of power management technologies and services. In this exchange, we have Syed Sajjadh Ali, Managing Director – India, Electrical Sector, Eaton, speaking to T&D India about Eaton’s UPS business. While giving an overview of Eaton’s UPS business in India, Syed Sajjadh Ali shares insights on a diversity of aspects, including the pandemic impact on the UPS business, the growing importance of cybersecurity, etc. In particular, he dwells on battery energy storage solutions, a phenomenon that he feels is revolutionzing the energy business.
Tell us in brief about the range of UPS systems that Eaton offers in India.
We offer a variety of UPS systems under four major categories based on the usage, namely:
Home UPS: It is ideal for personal computers and workstations. It can also be used as a backup for power protection for home AV use. Due to WFH, the demand for this type of UPS has seen significant growthin demand in the past 1 year or so.
- Network & Server UPS: It is designed for networking equipment that includes entry-level to high-performance storage, switches, and servers.
- Data Center & Facility UPS: It is designed for clean and scalable battery runtimes for large data centers, electrical engineering infrastructure, and other critical IT applications. With more data centers to be built in the future, power requirements will double. Our UPS-as-a-reserve (UPSaaR) allows organisations not only to use UPS as a backup system but also use it as a solution to earn from their UPS investment.
- Marine & Offshore UPS: Marine and offshore technologies are becoming increasingly sophisticated. We have extensive experience in providingthem with uninterruptible power solutions that are DNV and ABS compliant.
We have created UPS technology with a disruptive approach by considering customers as the highest priority and meet or exceed their needs.
“The dependency on technology in healthcare can’t be overlooked.”
In India, what would you regard as your main business growth drivers for the UPS vertical? What impact has the pandemic been having?
It will take some time for businesses to recover from the impact of the pandemic, Eaton is no exception and we are also treading cautiously with our business. We are seeing Work from Home (WFM) as an emerging trend that is creating fresh demand for power backup (UPS) for home-usage.
Also, the stress on the network to serve 24×7 is driving growth in the Data Center market making large Colo players accelerate their expansion plans. Enterprises are also re-looking at their businesses and we expect consolidation to reduce costs at every level while some might even expand wide to avoid a single point of failure leading to a complete collapse of their operations.
Eaton is ready to address such emerging demands of the enterprises with its unique and innovative power management solutions. The dependency on technology in healthcare can’t be overlooked and all technology depends on power to run be it ICU wards, MRI, CT-Scan, and X-ray machines. All such equipment needs continuous and clean power which can be supplied by a UPS. Eaton 3PH UPS along with Lithium-ion battery solutions deliver best-in-class efficiency and safeguard critical medical operations.
We supported in creating COVID war rooms in about 25 leading healthcare institutions in India and about half of them were new customers.
We understand that Eaton’s “EnergyAwareUPS” has now been launched in India. Tell us more. Also, please explain the concept of “UPS as a Reserve” ( UPSaaR)
Eaton’s EnergyAware technology is an industry-first data center solution. It allows large data center operators to give back energy to the grid. The UPS’s primary role doesn’t change, but by creating UPS as a Reserve (UPSaaR) through Energyaware, organizations can enable energy transition. Organizations can offset both their capital expenditure while reducing the carbon footprint and boosting renewable energy.
This is installed along with UPS to regulate demand from the grid, which is responsible for upstream and downstream charging to discharging the battery back to the grid. It compensates the data center companies/operators for reducing energy consumption when required to maintain the grid frequency and contributing to green energy, thus generating revenue from their UPS investments..
Recently, Eaton received dual cyber-security from both IEC and UL. What impact does this have on the UPS business? Please also discuss the adverse impact of cyber attacks on UPS systems, in general terms.
Eaton is the first company to have its product development processes certified by both the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and global safety science organization UL. The certifications underscore Eaton’s leadership in providing customers with confidence that its connected solutions comply with proven industry standards and guidelines.
All our UPS range and the SNMP solutions are developed under Eaton’s secure-by-design process, which is now certified by both UL and IEC.
India witnessed a surge in cyberattacks amid rapid adoption of digital services across the country following the lockdown imposed in the wake of COVID-19. Nearly 1.16 million cases of cyber attacks were reported in 2020, up nearly three times from 2019 and more than 20 times compared to 2016 according to government data released in March 2021.
In a world that’s becoming ever smarter and more connected, security and trust are top priorities. Nowhere is this truer than in the data center. As home to the most business-critical information and applications, these facilities make attractive targets for cybercriminals. As a result, organizations must work harder than ever to make their data centers as secure and resilient as possible.
“It is is now normal for UPS systems to have public cloud connectivity.”
While UPS systems have long been critical to ensuring data center continuity and disaster recovery, it is now normal for them to have public cloud connectivity. This delivers benefits around network monitoring and optimization, improving overall reliability and enabling the UPS to be used for energy storage, or as part of a UPS-as-a-Reserve solution. Yet, greater UPS connectivity also offers a way into the data center and it’s an attack vector that cybercriminals have exploited in the past. A compromised UPS can endanger resilience, enable intelligence gathering on a site’s power consumption, or act as a launchpad for further network intrusions.
The work-from-home (WFH) culture, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, is understood to have rekindled the demand for desktop computers. Do you feel that the low-rating UPS industry will also benefit?
Multiple lockdowns during COVID have forced people to continue their work be it students, salaried class, entrepreneurs, or government. The basic infrastructure one needs to work from home is a high-speed internet connection, Wi-fi router/LAN cable, and a desktop PC / laptop. Such set-ups are not new and have been in existence at least in all metros and Tier-II cities in India but what lockdown did was it gave rise to a greater number of devices being hooked on to the internet from home. Also, fresh demand sprouted from smaller cities and towns across India for electronic products which indeed helping the demand in home UPS models.
“Energy storage systems can substantially increase system reliability.”
India is actively pursuing Smart Grid projects at several locations. In general, do Smart Grid control centres become potential large-scale application areas for UPS systems?
Smart grids have become a center of attention when considering the modernization of the electrical grid. The implementation of smart grids increases the reliability, robustness, and efficiency of electrical systems Network Operating Centers (NOC) centers of a Smart Grid can use, single-phase and three-phase UPS systems for varied uses – monitored CCTV for physical security to NOC location, Remote monitoring services for problem resolution and redundant data storage and back-up.
Although a UPS system can also be put to use to improve the overall efficiency of a Smart Grid, future smart grids will likely be based on a distributed power generation scheme, where renewable energy sources will make up most of the power. One of the main challenges in this approach of distributed power is the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. The addition of energy storage systems onto the grid presents a potential solution to this issue. Moreover, energy storage systems can substantially increase system reliability. Thus, energy storage systems are one of the key components in future smart grids and microgrids.
Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems integrate battery storage with the grid. These systems are used to provide continuous power in the event of grid failure. Smart grids provide efficient power management and offer high reliability. When faced with large disturbances, such as bus faults and sudden load changes, smart grids must be able to stabilize voltage quickly. To achieve this goal, UPS and energy storage systems with fast transient responses are required.
Does Eaton source the entire range of power electronics required for its UPS systems locally? In a general sense, what is Eaton’s compliance with “aatmanirbharBharat”, with respect to its UPS vertical?
Eaton Power Quality Private Ltd, India is a 100 per cent subsidiary and a part of the electrical sector of Eaton Corporation headquartered in the USA serving customers in more than 175 countries around the world.
We have our manufacturing plant in Pondicherry spread across 1,20,000-plus sqft serving the nation for a decade. Alike all major multinational businesses, Eaton too has its factories outside India which make goods for global markets. We import certain products fully finished from Eaton global plants and few components for finished goods manufactured at Pondicherry. At Eaton, we believe in supplying global quality products to our customers.
Eaton has a multifarious range of products and services. How does the UPS business complement the overall offerings of Eaton?
UPS business is one of the growing businesses of Eaton. Growth is driven by a focus on innovative products and the ability to provide efficiency gains for our customers. Eaton UPS solutions have been awarded the prestigious Frost and Sullivan ‘Technology Leadership’ award for its EnergyAware UPS. Such recognitions strengthen our connection with customers and lend strong brand affinity for our other solutions.
Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are making their appearance in India. Does this area appeal to Eaton?
Battery energy storage systems are rechargeable battery systems that store energy from solar arrays or the electric grid and provide that energy to a home or business.
Energy storage enables homeowners, businesses, industrial facilities, and cities, to store energy whenever it is available and release it when needed. Combined with solar panels, energy storage systems help them use a higher proportion of renewable energy produced locally to power homes and buildings or charge electric vehicles when needed. Energy storage is revolutionizing energy for all of us.
Energy transition is one of the key focuses for Eaton. We believe we must control our energy supply, cut our bills and move towards a more sustainable future. Eaton has developed xStorage system for homes and buildings which gives consumers the power to control how and when they use energy in their own homes.
“xStorage Home” has been designed to maximize solar PV self-consumption and give households peace of mind by powering loads in a grid event. Designed by Eaton and incorporating lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicle (EV) leader Nissan, as well as a hybrid inverter, the xStorage Home system is one of the most reliable, competitive, and safe home storage systems on the market.
The Eaton “xStorage Compact” energy storage system enables building owners and facility managers to solve power management challenges for their small and medium commercial and industrial sites. It helps them increase local renewable energy consumption and integrate the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles on site. This compact system is modular, scalable, and well suited for a wide range of energy storage applications.
