Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy Shri R.K Singh has informed that Transmission and Distribution losses are the losses incurred in Electrical networks due to reasons including heat losses and billing inefficiencies. The cost of power generation depends on various factors including the type of Generation, Capital cost, Finance costs, Cost of fuel, Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs and employees & administrative costs.
As per the information available in the “Report on Performance of Power Utilities‟ published by Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the cost of Power to Distribution Utilities increased from Rs. 4.21 / KWh in the year 2017-18 to Rs. 4.73 / KWh in the year 2019-20, in which time, the Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses reduced from 21.50% to 20.93%.
The Government is promoting Research and Development (R&D) for the Indian Power Sector through Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) and various R&D schemes. The Government has recently approved the proposal for continuation of R&D schemes in the Power Sector to be implemented through CPRI with an outlay of Rs. 112 crore.
A Standing Committee on R&D (SCRD) in Power Sector has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Chairperson, Central Electricity Authority to identify and prioritize important strategic areas of R&D, which are to be implemented under “R&D” schemes. The SCRD identifies leading Researchers and Domain Experts in diverse areas of Power Sector and engage them in the Research Schemes.
Technical Committees in specific fields of power, namely, Thermal Generation, Hydro Generation, Transmission and Grid, Distribution & Energy Conservation, have also been constituted to assist the SCRD in evaluating R&D proposals and monitoring of the R&D projects till successful completion. The committees have representation from Academia, Industry, Utilities and Policy making bodies.
Further, Research projects from eminent Institutions across India like IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, NIT Meghalaya, NIT Silchar, CMET Thrissur, CPRI, have been supported on various thrust areas pertaining to Generation, Transmission, Distribution, Clean Energy and Renewables.