eTechNxt steals the show on Day 3 of ELECRAMA

eTechNxt as a concept is introduced for the first time at ELECRAMA. The purpose of eTechNxt is to showcase new technologies which are going to impact the electricity and power sector in a big way. These technologies are already brewing up and going to be the next big thing.

There are four major tracks at eTechNxt: digital delivery of power, industrial internet of things (IoT), energy storage and electric vehicles. Various stakeholders have demonstrated what they have in these areas, and engage with users and influencers to explore the demand and what are those demand drivers.

Apart from that, there are various start-ups showcasing some of these upcoming technologies. There is an experience zone where technologies were displayed through virtual reality so that they can be touched and felt through various new experiential tools.

A townhall and workshop area has several experts of international repute in all the four tracks who are users or recipients of these technologies sharing their views and opinions. This enriched visitors with panel discussion on these key subjects. 

ELECRAMA 2018 Chairman Vijay Karia said if thermal power generation has to be reduced with more focus on solar, then the transition will need to be backed with digital solutions like artificial intelligence, IoT and IIoT. “eTechNxt focussed on new technology areas and exposed the electrical industry to innovations and disruptions. Besides, the five-day event equipped industry leaders with information designs to manage the transformation and new paradigm shifts.

A whitepaper titled ‘Battery Storage and Renewables’ was released Day 2 of eTechNxt. It was published by IEEMA, ELECRAMA, eTechNxt, ICF and Panasonic.

India has set an ambitious goal of increasing renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022. Of this, 100 GW will be through solar power and 75 wind power. “This will stabilise grid operations and stability in many states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan,” said Atul Arya, Chair of Energy Storage Track, eTechNxt, ELECRAMA.

“A lot of investments are pouring in but a lot more needs to be done. Energy storage can play its role in renewable energy integration by making it more efficient. Since this is a variable generation, a strategy is needed to manage demand, peak sharing and peak shifting,” he said.

A key highlight of eTechNxt was huMachine – a future human machine interplay showing technology concepts which will affect human lives by 2030. A total of 25 concepts on display used varied techniques and ranged from very personal and more tangible scale of interaction to planetary level implications.

A lot of these technologies are in labs at nascent stages. A few of them are ‘dream reality’ inspired from movies or science fiction. Visitors could interact, experience, feel and relate to each one of these and took away meaningful outcome for work, business and enterprise which will help them connect to future, and thus prepare for it.

One could see how neuromophic chips are different from traditional computing chips, a robotic humanoid interacting with a full body suit, digital twins which are coming into focus for Industry 4.0 and how transition to e-vehicles will take over in the next decade.