Digitalisation is emerging as a key pillar of the efforts to achieve water resilience and improve operational efficiency in water management. The deployment of digital solutions, such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), internet of things (IoT), digital twins and remote monitoring, has witnessed a notable increase across segments such as water supply and wastewater. These technologies play a key role in network monitoring, non-revenue water reduction, leakage detection, etc.
Several municipal corporations are now adopting smart metering technologies such as IoT-enabled advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems and automatic meter reading to reduce water losses, improve billing efficiency and promote water conservation and other technologies such as integrated fixed film activated sludge technology. Moreover, several technologies are now emerging to convert wastewater into a valuable water resource, with leading technology companies providing innovative solutions for wastewater treatment and zero liquid discharge.
In the rapidly advancing digital age, the oil and gas industry relies heavily on complex digital systems for operations, control and monitoring. From implementing robust endpoint protection to embracing advanced technologies such as cloud computing, process automation and IoT, companies are navigating a complex landscape with strategic resilience. While oil and gas utilities are fortifying their cybersecurity defences, the industry continues to face substantial challenges due to its reliance on interconnected IT/OT systems.
Within the natural gas sector, the city gas distribution industry has been growing at a rapid pace. Technology solutions such as geographic information systems and SCADA have aided this growth. Utilities are also developing a comprehensive roadmap for transitioning to smart metering solutions in order to improve the accuracy of readings, leading to precise billing and better leak detection.
In the energy sector, the rise of smart grids marks a transformative shift, bringing in bidirectional electricity flow and offering innovative solutions to resolve grid issues and challenges. It offers a host of benefits, including empowering consumers, bolstering grid resilience and promoting sustainability. With expanding smart grid projects backed by strong regulatory frameworks and collaborative efforts, India’s vision of a smarter, greener energy future is drawing closer to reality.
Following the introduction of smart grid projects, utilities have experienced a decrease in aggregate technical and commercial losses. Key features such as remote connection/disconnection and demand response/peak load management for time-of-day tariffs have been tested across all pilot projects. These smart grid pilot projects demonstrated the successful integration of legacy metering, billing and collection systems with AMI/smart metering. The initial stages of the projects observed some consumer resistance. However, efforts were made to familiarise consumers with the benefits of smart grid deployments. Overall, consumers have noted an enhancement in the quality of power supply.
This issue of Smart Utilities discusses the digital solutions deployed by water and gas utilities, the cybersecurity risks and the strategies adopted to mitigate them, as well as the uptake of digital twin technology in the global oil and gas industry. The power section provides an in-depth analysis of the progress in smart grid deployments, the implementation experience and the future outlook.