Editorial 1 : The relevance of pumped storage projects
Context
The Union Budget for 2024-25 promised that a policy for promoting pumped storage projects will be brought out for electricity storage and facilitating smooth integration of the growing share of renewable energy with its variable and intermittent nature.
Why is pumped storage important?
- India has planned to create an ambitious 500GW of non-fossil fuel energy by 2030.
- In around two years, from 2021 to 2023, it created some 23GW of non-fossil generation capacity.
- Out of the total 10GW added in eight months in 2023-24, 7.5GW were from wind and solar energy, pointing to how renewables will account for most of the new power generation that will be added in India.
- The share of actual renewable power generation will increase in times to come, but this power will necessarily vary and will be “infirm”.
- State-of-the-art forecasting techniques have helped to predict more accurately how much renewable power generation might vary in the course of a day.
- This has helped grid operators plan in advance how to increase or decrease power generation from other sources to provide steady power to the consumer.
- For example, hydro power generation can be quickly ramped up or down in a matter of seconds. However, coal and nuclear energy need hours of notice.
Does India have pumped storage?
- India has 3.3GW of pumped storage. Main ones are in Nagarjunasagar, Kadana, Kadamparai, Panchet and Bhira.
- China leads the world with 50GW of pumped storage supporting 1,300GW of wind and solar energy.
- Pumped storage is of two types: on river and off river. On-river is like any hydroelectric project supplied by a river.
- Off-river projects are those that have two reservoirs at two different levels to which the water can be pumped up or let down under gravity in a closed loop.
- When there is surplus power, water is pumped up from the lower reservoir to the upper, and when power is needed the water can flow down to turn the turbines and generate power.
- One such project is at Kadamparai, Tamil Nadu.
How does pumped storage at Kadamparai operate?
- The Kadamparai plant in Coimbatore district that came up some 37 years ago has four units, each 100 MW.
- The plant has a higher reservoir that is at a height of around 380m above a lower reservoir.
- Each unit has a turbine generator set producing power when the water flows from the upper reservoir to the lower.
- The same unit can function as a pump consuming power when it pumps water from the lower to the higher reservoir.
- Power managers plan in advance for the next day on how much and when to operate each power plant in the State based on factors such as demand expected and forecast of wind and sunshine conditions.
- When the Kadamparai plant is operating as a pump to store energy, it would need about an hour and a half to switch to generating mode.
- When stopped, it would need about half hour to start and generate a full load.
- When solar generation stops and the evening peak load begins after 6pm, the Kadamparai plant becomes a generator. It can produce 400MW of full power for three to four hours and help support evening peak loads.
Conclusion
India would need to ramp up its pumped storage capacity by several times if it wants to meet its renewable power generation targets.
Editorial 2 : Controlling gestational diabetes critical to mother, baby’s future
Context
The 18th Annual Conference of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group India 2024 (DIPSI), provides a futuristic perspective on the primordial prevention strategy for diabetes, especially gestational diabetes (GDM), which has amplified the global threat of NCDs.
GDM
- GDM was originally described as any form of glucose intolerance that develops or is first diagnosed during pregnancy.
- This condition is an antepartum complication that has short-term and long-term implications for maternal and foetal health.
- GDM increases the risk of type 2 diabetes in women later in life. At the same time, their children face consequences such as obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes due to likely epigenetic modifications caused by exposure to high glucose concentrations in utero.
- Hence, identifying GDM at the right time and proper management are pivotal in reducing these risks.
- Due to the increased attention paid to GDM, the Delhi Declaration encourages using the single test procedure formulated by DIPSI and approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
- This low-cost and effective strategy is crucial to identifyingglucoseintolerance in pregnancy to prevent the progression of NCDs.
Foetal programming
- One of the key issues emphasised in the Delhi Declaration is foetal programming.
- This refers to alterations in the structure, anatomy, and biochemical activities due to injurious influences or stress during specific developmental phases of fetal growth.
- One such adverse stimulus is hyperglycemia during pregnancy, which increases the risk of the fetus developing NCDs when it grows up, a concept known as the “Foetal Origin of Adult Diseases.”
- The studies show that women should be screened for glucose intolerance at eight weeks of pregnancy.
- Foetal beta cells begin to secrete insulin at the gestational age of 11 weeks of pregnancy.
- Maternal 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (PPBG)level of 110 mg/dLby the 10th week of pregnancy predicts GDM.
- This early glucose intolerance, called Early Gestational glucose Intolerance (EGGI), requires treatment in order to keep blood glucose levels below 110 mg/dlat 10 weeks to avoid foetal hyperinsulinemia (higher than normal levels of insulin in the blood) and, subsequently, GDM.
- A NationalInstitutes ofHealth, US, and Who analysis states that a2 hour post prandial blood sugar of 110 mg/dl at the 10thweek predicts early GDM.
- This will enable the launch of appropriate lifestyle changes and medical interventions even before GDM is actually established.
- The 2013 WHO guideline does not include A1c as a means of diagnosing diabetes in a pregnant woman and for monitoring.
- The Delhi Declaration states that all pregnant women with PPBG ≥110 mg/dl should be put on medical nutrition therapy and begin taking metformin250 mg twice a day until delivery.
- Metformin is still relatively safe at this stage because the advantages of better glycemic control outweigh the potential hazards.
- The Delhi Declaration has urged clinicians, researchers,diabetologists, obstetricians, and public health specialists to achieve set metabolic targets at the beginning of pregnancy for improved maternal and fetal health.
- The pledge involves the following principles:
- using advocacy to raise awareness of screening for PPBSat eight weeks of gestation, working with healthcare professionals and families to ensure euglycemia and ensure sound policies and programmes for the education, screening, and management of pregnant women.
Freedom from diabetes
- The ultimate idea is to address the problem head-on and create a generation free of diabetes through primordial prevention.
- By adhering to these guidelines, the Delhi Declaration seeks to pave the way for healthier futures for the mom and her child.
- The ideology of early detection and intervention is not only medically sound but also a public health call that holds out the prospect of dousing the epidemic of diabetes and other NCDs.
Conclusion
To sum up, we need to bear the following points as a mantra in the treatment of pregnant women: Prediction of GDM should be done on the basis of a 2hr PPBS reading of >110 mg/dl at the 10thweek. The focus on early identification and treatment is not only a requirement of modern medicine but also a social mandate. The womb is more important than the home, in some senses. It all starts in utero. Hence, for a diabetes free generation we should concentrate on the development of offspring.
