The Central Electricity Authority announced the launch of an indigenously developed software tool to strengthen electricity grid planning and ensure reliable power supply across the country, the government said on Sunday.
The system, named State of the art Totally Indigenously Developed Resource Adequacy Model or STELLAR, is designed to assist electricity distribution companies and load dispatch centers in ensuring sufficient capacity to meet the power demand of their consumers reliably.
The tool was officially unveiled on April 11 by CEA Chairperson Ghanshyam Prasad in the presence of former Power Secretary Alok Kumar and representatives of state utilities.
Developed with support from The Lantau Group and the Asian Development Bank under a technical assistance program, STELLAR will be distributed free of cost to all states and utilities.
“This marks a significant step towards self-reliant and data-driven planning in the power sector,” Prasad said at the launch.
Ensuring Long-Term Grid Stability
The model integrates generation, transmission, storage expansion planning and demand response, aligning with the Ministry of Power’s 2023 resource adequacy guidelines.
It also supports detailed simulations of system operations, including unit commitment constraints and ancillary services.
Since the introduction of the guidelines, CEA has prepared resource adequacy plans for all Discoms through FY2035.
The new tool aims to support annual updates of these plans and harmonize efforts across the country.
According to the CEA, STELLAR will help ensure sufficient — but not excessive — power capacity, eliminate load shedding, and minimize stressed assets.
It also enables optimization of power system investments and operations, including storage deployment.
CEA noted that the software was entirely developed in India and will continue to evolve based on feedback from its users.
