In the heart of New Delhi, digitalization is transforming the city's relationship with electricity. Life here, and in the broader Delhi metropolitan area of nearly 35 million people, has historically been punctuated by the unsettling silence of a power cut. For Harbhajan Singh Rana, now a university student, childhood memories are filled with outages.
"The electricity would go off around 9 a.m. and sometimes not return until 3 or 4 p.m.," he said. The impact was more than an inconvenience he says it was a disruption to education, sleep and daily well-being.
Tanveer Kaur, another student, describes a more visceral struggle: surviving the oppressive heat electricity for air conditioning. "We'd go outside for air, drink water from clay pots, or sit on the terrace, she says. It was hard, especially with food. If the fridge stopped working, food would spoil."
This unreliability forced a dependency on noisy diesel generators, turning neighbourhoods into a chorus of rumbling engines during power outages, contributing to the city's air pollution, and creating safety concerns when streetlights failed.
Seeing the grid in real-time
The answer to this challenge wasn't just to produce more power, but also to manage it more strategically. Through the Digital Demand Driven Electricity Networks Initiative (3DEN) launched in 2021 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), with support from Italys Ministry of Environment and Energy Security the initiative is advancing the use of digital technologies to make energy systems more efficient, accessible and clean.
Accelerating energy efficiency improvements can deliver over a third of all carbon dioxide emission reductions between now and 2030, according to the IEA. And harnessing digital technologies is key to this process: They could save US$1.8 trillion of grid investment globally by 2050.
The 3DEN initiative uses cutting edge digital technologies and partners with innovators and industry leaders to reduce outages, improve efficiency and get renewable energy to where its needed most, said Martin Krause, Director of UNEPs Climate Change Division.
The first phase of 3DEN translated that potential into practice through four pilot projects, including in India, each run with private-sector partners and tailored to local needs.
Partnered with Panitek Power and BSES Rajdhani Power, the New Delhi initiative has created a digital twin of the areas energy grid a virtual replica of the physical grid to identify weak areas, target repairs and ultimately reduce energy losses.
Sugandhita Wandhera from BSES Rajdhani Power compares it to Google Maps: Just as a navigation app shows traffic congestion in real-time, the digital twin visualizes the stress on the electrical network. Demonstrating the twin on her computer screen, she explained how green lines indicate healthy flows of electricity, while a yellow line is a warning.
"This particular line is stressed or is overloaded," she said, pointing to a specific feeder.
This visibility is a game-changer. Before, utility companies had to wait for customer complaints or send teams out to troubled areas for physical checks. Now, they can see problems, such as an unbalanced energy load, before they cause a blackout, and dispatch crews for precise, pre-emptive repairs.
Reliabilitys ripple effects
The benefits of this digital leap extend beyond keeping the lights on. By mapping the consumer demand on each transformer, the digital twin technology has helped BSES Rajdhani Power improve the management of its energy supply, avoid costly infrastructure upgrades and reduce energy losses saving over US$3,600 per transformer each year.
The true value is further measured in improvements to daily life, such as having reliable street lighting that improves the safety of people going out at night, and reduced emissions in one of the worlds most polluted cities.
"The dependency on the diesel [generators] has come down drastically," said Sugandhita.
Moreover, a stable grid makes it easier to integrate renewables, whose outputs can rise and fall with the weather. Since the pilot project began, solar panels installed on the Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute in New Delhi have not only powered classrooms but have also returned excess clean energy to the larger surrounding grid.
Fit for purpose
The project in New Delhi could be a scalable model. Rajeev Bhatt, senior manager for grid digitisation at the 3DEN-partnered company Panitek, envisions implementing this digital twin solution across India. "[It can help companies] take smarter decisions to reduce carbon footprints, and to provide reliable power supply to all of Indian consumers."
Farther afield, other 3DEN pilot projects are testing different approaches to energy efficiency fitted to their unique local needs demonstrating the many ways digitalization can cut waste and strengthen power systems.
In Fortaleza, Brazil, digital tools given to social housing residents has improved their energy consumption management, reducing both their energy bills and energy waste. And in Bogot, Colombia, a system encouraging people to use less power when demand is high and more when its low has helped relieve grid congestion and increase energy reliability.
Soon, more countries will join the effort. In early 2025, 3DEN launched a new global Call for Proposals to support the digitalization of urban-energy and agro-food sectors in eight priority countries Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Tunisia and selected projects will be announced at COP30 in Belm, Brazil.
By fitting digital innovation with clean energy goals, cities and countries can build grids that are cheaper and cleaner, said Krause. Digital innovation isnt a luxury its frontline climate action that makes daily life safer, fairer and more resilient.
UNEP is at the forefront of supporting the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperature rise well below 2C, and aiming for 1.5C, compared to pre-industrial levels. To do this, UNEP has developed the Sectoral Solution, a roadmap to reducing emissions across sectors in line with the Paris Agreement commitments and in pursuit of climate stability. The six sectors identified are: energy; industry; agriculture and food; forests and land use; transport; and buildings and cities.
Around the world, communities, individuals and entrepreneurs are stepping up with innovative climate action. Explore the new season of Climate Action Series by UNEP, which features stories of leaders advancing scalable, inclusive climate solutions that drive sustainable development.
