Expanding Buildings-to-Grid (B2G) Objectives in India

India faces significant challenges in providing a reliable electricity supply. This was manifest in a power grid failure that resulted in the country’s worst blackout, which affected states where 50% of India’s 1.2 billion people live. The Government of India is taking measures to address the situation of aging grid infrastructure and integrated demand-side management. The National Action Plan on Climate Change of 2008 outlines a National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency with actions for electricity sector reform. The U.S.-India Energy Dialogue provides a mechanism for joint activities to address energy issues and electric grid integration. The scope of the buildings-to-grid (B2G) activities by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have been delineated primarily based on the expertise of LBNL understanding responsive loads for Smart Grid deployments in the United States. This study leverages parallel Smart Grid activities by the Indian and U.S. stakeholders. Its goal is to establish a sustainable B2G collaboration between the U.S. and India, which will facilitate integration of demand-side systems with supply-side systems to advance India’s electricity reliability goals. The study will motivate Indian electricity markets by disseminating U.S. experiences and technologies for the uptake of demand response (DR) pilot studies in India. The study delineates immediate and long-term intervention through systematic review of issues, U.S. experiences, and technologies that support local missions. It provides background and description of energy efficiency and DR framework through an organized review of the literature pertaining to various aspects of India’s B2G activities. The results are short-term and long-term DR and energy-efficiency integrated action plans for pilot studies and transformative technologies for mitigation and adaptation of electricity reliability. The findings will aid Smart Grid market transformation and policy interventions through technology demonstrations. Based on the priorities identified, a plan for B2G technology pilot studies in India is proposed.