Jaipur: In a bid to address persistent inefficiencies in power procurement and rising costs linked to forecasting errors and market volatility, Rajasthan Urja Vikas and IT Services Ltd (RUVITL) is planning to spend Rs 35 crore to implement integrated energy portfolio management, supported by AI and digital tools.The initiative aims to mitigate operational challenges, including demand uncertainty, renewable energy intermittency, deviation settlement charges, and fragmented data systems across load dispatch centres and distribution companies.Officials said the lack of an integrated, real-time decision-support platform often resulted in sub-optimal scheduling, higher dependence on short-term and term-ahead market purchases, and avoidable financial exposure.“The increasing share of renewable energy and market-based procurement requires a far more sophisticated planning and forecasting framework. Advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning tools will form a key part of the solution,” said Ajitabh Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary (Energy).“This initiative is aimed at strengthening data-driven decision-making, reducing avoidable power purchase costs, and improving grid discipline across the state,” Sharma added.According to persons involved in the process, the implementation agency, which will be selected through bidding, will be mandated to supply, develop, and support a comprehensive digital solution covering demand and renewable energy forecasting, scenario analysis, scheduling and dispatch planning, trade optimisation, energy accounting, and invoice verification.At present, power procurement decisions are often made using manual processes, limiting utilities’ ability to optimise long-term and short-term procurement mixes or respond swiftly to price signals in power exchanges.Forecasting inaccuracies also increased exposure to deviation settlement mechanism (DSM) penalties, particularly during periods of high renewable generation variability.The proposed system is expected to integrate data from multiple sources such as SLDCs, RLDCs, SCADA platforms, and power exchanges, enabling utilities to evaluate multiple procurement scenarios, optimise bilateral and exchange-based purchases, and improve overall portfolio efficiency, officials of the Urja Vikas said.
