AMCHAM was a supporting partner for a 2 day workshop in Mumbai organized by USTDA on energy storage and smart grids on December 10th – 11th. Day one commenced with an inaugural and welcome session followed by sessions on ‘Developing a Smart and Sustainable Grid for India’ where senior power and sector stakeholders discussed challenges, opportunities and best practices to meet the changing needs of India’s power sector. A session on ‘Innovative U.S. Technologies to Power India Solutions’ saw technology suppliers discuss solutions to modernize India’s electric power grid. There were two roundtable sessions on ‘Smart Grid Technologies and Energy Storage Applications’ focused on ‘Innovative Smart Grid Technologies to Drive Efficiencies’ and ‘Energy Storage Applications to Support Grid Reliability’ respectively. The day also saw a conversation on ‘Integrating Renewables into the Grid’ regarding Telangana’s work to integrate renewable energy onto the grid. The session on ‘Microgrids and Distributed Energy Resources to Support the Modern Grid’ discussed technologies, policies and best practices to enable microgrids and distributed energy resources to support grid resiliency and reliability. The last session of the day was a look at case studies of ‘U.S. – Indian Technology Partnerships for Demand Side Management.’ It showcased how Indian utilities are collaborating with U.S. technology suppliers to address the challenges and opportunities of meeting the country’s accelerating energy demands through the use of Demand Side Management (DSM) technologies. The two case studies were BRPL – Oracle Utilities Behavioral DSM Pilot Project and State of Andhra Pradesh – Agricultural, Industrial and Residential/Commercial DSM. The day concluded with a reception.

Day two of the workshop began with a review of key takeaways from the previous day. This was followed by an industry perspective on energy storage, a conversation on Maharashtra’s power sector initiatives and financing strategies for the India power sector. An insightful session on ‘Hybrid Renewable Energy Power Parks (Wind, Solar, Battery Storage)’ witnessed a discussion on solutions to issues presented by large scale renewable energy integration. A session on ‘E-Mobility Technologies for India’s Transportation Systems’ highlighted the technologies that will play into India’s transition to e-mobility with an emphasis on electric vehicles (EVs) and the integration of EVs into the grid. The day concluded with a report on key takeaways from the workshop and brief closing remarks.