Rewiring power : Unraveling the sociotechnical dynamics of smart grid pilot projects in the transition of India’s electricity distribution sector

Abstract

In this dissertation, I explore the intersection of smart grid implementation and the transition of India’s electricity distribution sector. My research revolves around three smart grid pilot projects in India, which have been initiated since 2012. Drawing on empirical case studies, primarily involving interviews and document analysis, I use assemblage theory to understand the ‘rewiring of power’ in smart grid pilot projects and their contributions to energy transitions in India. I begin by contrasting the loy visions with the modest actualization of smart grid implementations. This contrast guides my exploration of the actual impacts and contributions of smart grids beyond their advertised promises. The urgency of addressing the challenges within the Indian electricity distribution sector, characterized as the electricity system's ‘weakest link’, frames my research and emphasizes the critical need for sustainable and just energy transitions. My research critically engages with the dominant paradigm of smart grids as a solution for the distribution sector's future. Drawing on assemblage theory, I focus on understanding the sociotechnical (power) dynamics that smart grid pilot projects bring by developing an assemblage approach to power with the focus on the ‘power in assemblages’ and the ‘power of assemblages’. rough this theoretical lens, I illuminate the complex interactions between technologies, organizational actors, users, as well as regulations, standards and policies in stabilizing and destabilizing parts of the Indian electricity distribution sector. Empirically, my analysis underscores that despite the challenges and instabilities within pilot projects, smart grids have the potential to significantly alter power relations in the distribution sector. This includes the emergence of a new mode of privatization through (micro)‘functional unbundling’ of India’s public distribution companies (Discoms) and their responsibilities in the electricity distribution system. The analysis suggests that with the implementation of smart grids, the Discoms are increasingly losing operational capacities to private actors, in particular to the emerging ‘system integrators’. Moreover, the pilot projects also exhibit the increasing role of ICT technology to curtailing user behavior in the electricity system, making the smart grid in India for users primarily a ‘loss curbing device’. Despite the limited direct impact of the pilots on broader sectoral transitions, with only the Mysuru case providing a foundation for future smart grid deployment in the city, this does not diminish their role in introducing new technologies, regulatory frameworks and operational models. Together, I argue, these emergent power effects bring a new dimension to a techno-economic approach to energy transitions in India that risks neglecting the social and individual dimension of electricity systems. On a conceptual level, the dissertation also contributes by drafting an analytical framework for an assemblage approach to power. I argue that this framework contributes to existing SSH energy research tools by highlighting the ‘messy actuality’ of energy transition projects, largely avoiding a priori categorizations, and acknowledging their dynamic nature by establishing an analysis that goes beyond the dichotomy of successful and failed projects. Finally, I call for further exploration to substantiate the findings of this dissertation and suggest avenues for further research that will help to understand current developments in the Indian electricity distribution sector and pave the way for moving beyond techno-economic approaches to energy transitions.