Crompton Greaves to manufacture IEDs for Indian smart grid

Crompton Greaves (CG), part of the USD 4 billion Avantha Group, is setting up a greenfield plant in Jigani Industrial Area, Bangalore. “The plant will be operational by this year-end and help bolster India’s Smart Grid initiative,” it said.

The plant will be making intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) which are critical in the control and monitoring of power systems. The plant will also assemble control and relay panels using these IEDs, complying with the latest Substation Automation standard – IEC 61850.

“As India’s power network becomes complex and the demand for energy increases, the country needs to accelerate the deployment of Smart Grid technologies. Offering unprecedented control and efficiency in power supply, a Smart Grid could go a long way in protecting consumers from the kind of outage Northern India experienced recently.
As of now pilot projects for Smart Grid technologies are being carried out in several cities, including Bangalore,” the company said.

This plant will be the base for manufacturing in India the entire range of protection, control and communication products from CG’s automation business unit. With the acquisition of ZIV complete, CG gets access to ZIV’s Smart Grid technologies, including expertise in grid automation. ZIV complements CG’s offering for grid automation, enhancing its differentiated offering in its core business.

Laurent Demortier, chief executive officer & managing director, CG, said, “The ZIV acquisition positions and accelerates CG as a strong player in the promising Smart Grid segment. CG is committed to contribute to the development of India’s first Smart Grid project in Puduchery in association with Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL).
The project’s advance metering infrastructure will ensure that consumers get the advantages of efficient power supply.”