Structural Similarities and Differences between Smart Grids and Process Industry Supply Chains: India Case Study

Process industry supply chains have been an active area of research for decades with advances towards decentralized management and development of closed loop resilience. Along similar lines, now electric power systems are moving towards smart grids that allow for decentralized power generation. At the surface level there are many differences between electrical grids and supply chains; for example, there is limited/no storage in case of electric power, hence supply and demand has to be matched at every time instant. However, in the recent times it has been recognized that some of the control and enterprise-wide optimization strategies that are an integral part of supply chain management have analogues in power systems as well. This article seeks to systematically identify the structural similarities and differences between these hitherto unrelated domains. We will illustrate these using a case study of Indian electrical grid.