Backup Power

Decision-makers should put in place backup power with safeguards including computer-security measures so that the system offers round-the-clock power and is protected from all sorts of disruptions.

- R Srinivasan

India is reportedly the third-largest electricity producer and consumer in the world after the US and China. However, an estimated 28% of the energy generated in India is lost during transmission or stolen. Also peak supply falls short and frequent power outages last for hours in many regions of the country. So the domestic backup power market has boomed in terms of demand in the last few years due to the demand-supply gap in power distribution. The power backup sector can broadly be categorised into four broad segments of uninterrupted power supply (UPS), diesel generators (DGs), inverters and batteries.

Also as per a KPMG report, about 300,000 telecom towers in India daily face outages. So, telecom network operators rely on diesel gensets and lead-acid batteries for backup power, resulting in consumption of over 475 million gallons (1.8 billion litres) of diesel annually, with the attendant negative greenhouse gas impact.

The increase in demand for diesel gensets is due to unreliable power and in some cases, due to the lack of access to grid electricity. Various critical end-user industries such as hospitals, airports, data centres, manufacturing facilities, water and sewage facilities, etc, require continuous power supply for ensuring seamless operation, apart from call centres, luxury hotels, apartments, etc.