Full Title: Transforming Delhi’s Power Grid
Author(s): Sonika Choudhary, Jesse Cohen, Rachel Field, Arjun Gupta, Jagabanta Ningthoujam, Shilpi Sharma, Clay Stranger, and Mary Tobin
Publisher(s): Rocky Mountain Institute
Publication Date: July 19, 2024
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Description (excerpt):
Delhi, projected to be the world’s largest metropolitan area by 2030, faces significant challenges due to rapid urbanization and an increasing demand for electricity, particularly at peak times. Delhi’s peak electricity demand is projected to grow by 50 percent over this decade, with renewable energy expected to account for 50 percent of the city’s power supply during the same period. This surge in demand and the shift toward renewables highlight a critical need to enhance grid flexibility — the ability of a power system to maintain continuous reliable service in the face of rapid and large swings in supply or demand.
Transforming Delhi’s Power Grid: A Comprehensive Guide to Enhancing Flexibility provides a thorough assessment of Delhi’s current and projected electricity demand and supply mix by 2030, identifying the drivers behind the peak demands — primarily the growing demand for space cooling, personal electric vehicles (EVs), and electric buses. The unmanaged demand growth poses challenges, and managing these demands under the current infrastructure is costly. These challenges could be mitigated with grid flexibility measures, such as demand response (DR) programs, managed EV charging, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and virtual power plants (VPPs).