Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) has been mandated to develop a unified network management system (U-NMS) for the Southern Region.
This U-NMS is aimed to facilitate centralized supervision of interstate transmission systems (ISTS) as well as intrastate communication systems at the state and regional levels. This new system will also ensure better monitoring and supervision of the interregional communication system, at the national level.
The decision to nominate PGCIL as the implementing agency of this Rs.90-crore project was taken at the 13th meeting of the National Committee on Transmission (NCT) on May 12, 2023. This system was already approved for implementation under the nomination mode by Southern Region Planning Committee (SPRC) in its meeting held on November 5, 2022. [In technical terms, PGCIL will be implementing the project under the regulated tariff mechanism (RTM) modality.]
It is important to note that PGCIL is already implementing similar U-NMS projects for the Northern, Northeastern and Eastern Regions; these are expected to be commissioned during 2023. A similar U-NMS for the Western Region is under deliberation.
Also read: PGCIL Commissions Rampur-Sambhal Intrastate TBCB Scheme In UP
Rationale for U-NMS
It may be mentioned that the existing interstate and intrastate transmission network communication system has evolved over a long period of time, much due to the modernization of load dispatch centers – both state and regional.
As part of these projects, network management systems (NMS) were also commissioned to support the configuration and maintenance of the constituent network elements of the communication system. As these projects were implemented in different time frames, multiple NMSs came up in a region and state.
With the advent of ISTS schemes under the TBCB mechanism, a lot of standalone communication equipment also came up at different locations.
Due to the diversity of equipment and protocols used, it is not possible to create a truly centralized supervision system for the entire regional and state transmission network. This is why a unified network management system (U-NMS) is being developed at the regional level. Such a system will be developed for each of the regional grids – northern, western, eastern, northeastern, and southern.
Operational control
The proposed U-NMS for the Southern Region will be developed by PGCIL within an envisaged timeframe of 24 months. This U-NMS will be integrated with similar upcoming systems in other regional grids. It will also be integrated with upcoming network management systems and equipment of ISTS and state utilities in the Southern Region.
While PGCIL will be the implementing agency, the operational control shall be with Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL). One workstation console for each of the proposed U-NMS for the Southern Region will be installed at the headquarters of CTUIL and at the control center of Grid Controller of India Ltd (formerly Power Systems Operation Corporation Ltd or POSOCO).
Featured photograph (source: incsys.com) is for representation only
