With water demand in the country mounting, the pipeline network is unable to cope, leading to water loss on account of pipeline leaks. To achieve water resilience, digitalisation is a key solution. It can help maintain a database of water- and wastewater-related assets, enable digital billing, and provide monitoring tools for water quality and quantity, warning systems, etc. There is a need for increasing the deployment of technologies for pre-emptive and predictive maintenance in water infrastructure; digital solutions to address the inundation of riverine and coastal infrastructure; smart metering; energy saving sensors; smart irrigation including satellite remote sensing-based irrigation monitoring and decision-making platforms; and operational intelligence for water and wastewater utilities to reduce losses, assess network health and improve revenue.
A key initiative of the government is the Smart Cities Mission. The objective of the mission is to enhance technology use for creating a sustainable infrastructure. This would include solutions such as smart meters for monitoring the quality of water and its distribution, conversion of waste to fuel and compost, treatment of wastewater from industries and households for reuse, smart mobility, smart energy and governance.
The city gas distribution (CGD) sector has also witnessed a digital transformation in the past few years. Technologies such as digital twins improve insight and enable people to communicate better, learn faster and make more efficient decisions. Further, there are solutions to reduce energy and emissions, and various other advanced pipeline-related applications and compressed natural gas (CNG)-related applications that can help in the creation of a more sustainable environment. Alternative sources of CNG in the form of bio-CNG are also gaining popularity. In addition, there is an overall supportive regulatory environment with favourable regulations and policies to accommodate the growth of the natural gas vehicle segment. In the future, India can also explore the possibility of using natural gas in household heating, gas water geysers, etc., thereby promoting unconventional usage of gas.
Digitalisation, decarbonisation and decentralisation are governing the development of the power sector in the country. The sector is witnessing an increasing uptake of new-age technologies to ensure cleaner and more reliable power supply in the country. While the generation utilities are embracing digital solutions to optimse generation and minimise emissions, the transmission and distribution utilities are adopting IT and OT solutions to improve network management, ensure seamless integration of renewable energy and manage the penetration of electric vehicles (EVs), among other things. Industry 4.0 technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and internet of things are being adopted across the sector for efficient operations and remote monitoring, and to optimise operations and maintenance.
This issue of Smart Utilities discusses the digitalisation trends in the desalination segment, various wastewater treatment technologies being adopted in India, the automation of utility operations, remote monitoring of solar plants and technology trends in the EV charging space, technology trends in the gas industry, among others. In addition, the issue provides an update on the developments taking place under the Smart Cities Mission.