It’s equally important to talk about developing smart grids: Swedish minister

India’s ambitions of boosting solar and wind power generation manifold by 2022 will face a transmission challenge, said Ibrahim Baylan, the Swedish minister for energy and policy coordination, who is on a visit to India. The challenge can be overcome by developing a smart grid, which he said is as important as boosting renewable power generation. Edited excerpts from an interview:

How have your meetings with the Indian government been?

I have had very good meetings. I have been meeting with industry and had the opportunity to meet minister (Piyush) Goyal. Well, I was quite optimistic before I came to India, but being here, I get more energy. I see a country going in the right direction. I am quite optimistic being here.

What have been the main points of discussion with the government, especially when India is so bullish on renewables?

It has been about renewables—that is natural because we see a tremendous positive development here with solar PVs (photovoltaics), wind, hydro, bio—but it is equally important for us to talk about the development of smart grids. Because to generate electricity or to produce energy is one thing and… then how you transmit it and how you use energy efficiently is equally important. To have this holistic view, in our experience, is very important. Otherwise, if you focus on just one end of the system, you can end up with huge costs on the other end. Read more…