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RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER PROJECTS UNDER

DDG SCHEME for RURAL ELECTRIFICATION in
INDIA

Mohit Sharma (Trendster / Trendy Baba)

© All rights reserved, Mohit Sharma

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 CONTENTS

Executive Summary………………………………………………….Page 4

Preface……………………………………………………………………… Page 5

1. Introduction……………………………………………… Page 6
2. Rural India and energy……………………………… Page 11
3. Barriers to Energy Access For Rural Masses… Page 15
4. Government Initiative……………………………… Page 18
5. Approach for meeting rural energy need… Page 20
6. Renewable Energy………………………………… Page 25
7. Solar Power - Bridge to Future………………. Page 27
8. Other Renewable Energy………………………… Page 31
9. Distributed Decentralized Generation Based Power Plan – P. 35
10. Understanding Bihar…………………………………….. Page 37
11. Concept of Distributed Generation…………………Page 59
12. Origin of Study…………………………………………………Page 60
13. Renewable Energy Technologies as DDG…………Page 62
14. NEW INNOVATION IN OFF GRID TECHNOLOGY……Page 65
15. The BIOMASS GASIFIER TECHNOLOGY………Page 69
16. BARRIERS……………………………………………………Page 71
17. The BUSINESS MODEL FOR GAYA SYSTEM……Page 75
18. Penetration of DDG………………………………………..Page 81
19. Conclusion……………………………………………………..Page 85
20. References……………………………………………………..Page 86

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The reach of power (energy) in India is limited and there are certain areas where to install a new
renewable energy based plant is better than connecting it to the conventional power lines. People of
many villages and remote areas have not availed the benefits of electricity which affects their
standard of living. To increase the growth of power reach through small off-grid projects
government initiated few plans, schemes encouraging private companies to enter in this sector. The
Green Mantra (Environmental Carbon Solutions Pvt. Ltd.) is setting up renewable energy based
power projects in Bihar, Orissa and North Eastern States. The project covered is a 750 kw hybrid
power project of Biomass and Solar energy in a cluster of 19 villages located in Gaya district of
Bihar. It also covers the common areas related to usage of renewable energy in Orissa and North
East India.

Objective of Research

As demand for energy is increasing around the world & in India so there is a positive growth trend
is coming in the renewable energy sector also. There are many rural and remote areas which are
energy deficient. So, private companies are encouraged by Government creating opportunities by
various governmental schemes like Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna, Distributed
Decentralized Generation and support in finance, distribution, technology, land, etc. As every area
has its dynamics and differs from others in terms of topography, density of population and energy
needs, there is a need of study for specific features related to the target are (a cluster of 19 villages
in Gaya, Bihar requiring about 750kw Plant) with the help of surveys, financial tools and earlier
standards.

Approach

Indian solar and non solar market were focused. REC‟s are traded trough any CERC approved
power exchanges. With increasing involvement of private players many schemes are yet to be fully
exploited to avail the maximum profit from such Projects. Assumptions of various permutations-
combinations on the basis of available data is also performed to make the results comparable.
Comparison with alternatives like Small Hydro, Wind is also carried out.

Primary and Secondary research method has used in the project.

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Preface
PREFACE
Power is the life blood of a developing economy. India is currently in a state of burgeoning
economic development. But the power scenario in India still has a long way to go. The government
policies are well in place to take care of the power requirements of the country at a macro
level. However, the issue of Energy Access at the grass root level still remains a cause of
major concern.

The modern day power system is undergoing rapid and dynamic metamorphosis from the
legacy system, in the direction of an intelligent power system. The use of renewable energy
resources as distributed generation at the sub-transmission / distribution level is on the rise
alongside advances in the efficiency of associated technologies and automation of the power
sector. Renewable energy resources (RERs) such as wind and photovoltaic (PV) technologies
that are time variant are planned for meeting variation of loads. PV and wind technologies
are two technologies that have seen the most significant growth for use and distributed sources.

The rural parts of the country still remain largely devoid of an efficient power infrastructure.
Research and policy implementation at this level can strengthen the power position of the country
at the ground level. Rural India is the backbone of India‟s economy. Nearly 70% of India‟s
population lives in villages and agricultural is the main support for their livelihood. It is, therefore,
ironical that India‟s rural population shares a much larger burden of poverty as well as energy
poverty. Eradicating energy poverty requires that adequate infrastructure is put in place so that
power can reach the corners of the country. Moreover, this power must be clean enough to be
environmentally acceptable, affordable by the people and also feasible to implement. Most of these
criteria are satisfied by Renewable Energy. Also, renewable energy can be implemented in a
distributed format which makes it more suitable for providing power to areas with difficult
geographical accessibility. This report looks at the providing energy access to the rural part of the
country through renewable energy especially through DDG Scheme.

With vast diversity of our rural population in physical, social, cultural, educational, and economic
background, the solution would need to be developed on case by case matching with the
peculiarities of a particular region. Eradicating energy poverty requires that adequate infrastructure
is put in place so that power can reach the corners of the country. Moreover, this power must be
clean enough to be environmentally acceptable, affordable by the people and also feasible to
implement. Most of these criteria are satisfied by Renewable Energy. Also, renewable energy can
be implemented in a distributed format which makes it more suitable for providing power to areas
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with difficult geographical accessibility. This report looks at the providing energy access to the
rural part of the country through renewable energy.

This report is a comprehensive effort, at macro level, to make an assessment of the current scenario
of energy access to the rural population, what should be our objectives and targets to remove the
rural energy poverty and how we can meet the challenges encountered and accomplish this
stupendous but important task. In such effort, the report identifies the vital role renewable offer.

INTRODUCTION
Energy is a basic necessity for human activity and economic and social development. Yet global
strategies for how to meet this basic need for the world's rapidly growing population are sorely
lacking. Lack of energy services is directly correlated with key elements of poverty, including low
education levels, restriction of opportunity to subsistence activity, and conflict. Rural electrification
is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Electricity is used not only
for lighting and household purposes, but it also allows for mechanization of many farming
operations, such as threshing, milking, and hoisting grain for storage. In areas facing labor
shortages, this allows for greater productivity at reduced cost. One famous program was the New
Deal's Rural Electrification Administration in the United States, which pioneered many of the
schemes still practiced in other countries. According to IEA (2009) worldwide 1.456 billion people
do not have access to electricity, of which 83% live in rural areas. In Sub-Saharan Africa less than
10% of the rural population has access to electricity. Worldwide rural electrification progresses
only slowly.

In impoverished and undeveloped areas, small amounts of electricity can free large amounts of human
time and labor. In the poorest areas, people carry water and fuel by hand, their food storage may be
limited, and their activity is limited to daylight hours. Adding electric-powered wells for clean water can
prevent many water-borne diseases, e.g. dysentery, by reducing or eliminating direct contact between
people (hands) and the water supply. Refrigerators increase the length of time that food can be stored,
potentially reducing hunger, while evening lighting can lengthen a community's daylight hours allowing
more time for productivity.

Indian Context, over 400 million Indians have no access to electricity.

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The problem is not one of distribution, but of provision. Many people attempt to steal electric
power. The electric company then responds with punitive "tampering tariffs" that require charge
legitimate users for electricity that fraudulent connections and meters might have stolen. These
very high tariffs are resisted by all but the wealthiest users. The result is that the underfunded
electric power company reduces service to the amount of electricity it can afford to produce. The
electric companies therefore also prefer to serve large institutional customers that pay their bills.

Developments on cheap solar technology is considered a potential alternative that allows an

electricity infrastructure consisting of a network of local-grid clusters with distributed electricity
generation. That could allow bypassing, or at least relieving the need of installing expensive, and
lossy, long-distance centralised power delivery systems and yet bring cheap electricity to the
masses.

India's government has proposed legislation to compel village leaders to operate local generators
run from biomass (see links). Locally-controlled generation is preferable to distant generation
because the fuel, billing and controls for the generator will then be controlled by the villagers
themselves, and they are thought more likely to come to an equitable arrangement among
themselves.

Distributed generation throughout the power system, real time voltage and angle measurements
together with integrated two-way communication are all recently introduced components of the
power system. These serve to greatly improve power system‟s reliability and performance.
These advancements are being implemented at the transmission, sub-transmission and
distribution levels of the electric power system, with the objective of increasing the stability,
invulnerability, reliability and adequacy in meeting the increasing power demands.

The move toward sustainable and renewable energy technologies is evident due to the various
policies favoring the Renwable Energy Sector such as JNNSM, RPO(Renwable Purchase
Obligation). The use of renewable energy resources as distributed generators (DGs) at the sub-
transmission / distribution level is on the increase alongside advances in the efficiency of
associated technologies. These technologies provide sustainable and environmental feasible
alternatives for energy production that have the additional advantage of reducing the dependability
of the grid on imported fossil fuels and large central generation Photovoltaic, wind
technology, biomass are amongst these technologies.

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There are measurable impacts of the penetration of these renewable energy resources (RERs) on
the electric grid; they impact the power quality, reliability, stability and safety of the electric
power supply. In the present day distribution system, there is an increased instance of DG
penetration into the network, with measureable impacts on the system. PV and wind technologies
are two technologies that have seen the most significant growth for use and distributed sources as
shown in Figures.

FIGURES: TRENDS IN GROWTH IN GENERATION CAPACITY OF PHOTOVOLTAIC AND WIND

1. Energy Access & Energy Poverty

Access to energy services is a key component of alleviating poverty and an indispensable element
of sustainable human development. Without access to modern, commercial energy, poor countries
can be trapped in a vicious circle of poverty, social instability and underdevelopment.
During the past twenty-five years, electricity supplies have been extended to 1.3 billion people
living in developing countries. Yet despite these advances, roughly 1.6 billion people, which is one
quarter of the global population, still have no access to electricity and some 2.4 billion people rely
on traditional biomass, including wood, agricultural residues and dung, for cooking and heating.
More than 99 percent of people without electricity live in developing regions, and four out of five
live in rural areas of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

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Despite advances in areas such as rural electrification, the number of people lacking access to
energy services has remained relatively constant due to increases in population. The total number
of people without electricity has fallen by fewer than 500 million since 1990. Without modern
energy services, millions of women and children face debilitating illness or premature death; basic
social goods like health care and education are more costly in both real and human terms, and
economic development is harder to perpetuate. The services that energy enables, such as electricity,
can create conditions for improved living standards, especially in areas of public health, education,
and family life.

Electricity allows tasks previously performed by hand or animal power to be done much more
quickly with electric powered machines. Electric lighting allows individuals to extend the length of
time spent on production and hence on income producing activities. It also allows children time to
read or do homework and access to television and film, which opens rural residents to new
information that can instill the idea of change and the potential for self -improvement. Modern
liquid fuels permit modern modes of transportation that cut the cost, both monetary and in time, of
travel to nearby towns where, again, individuals are exposed to different ways of doing things and
different views. Faster and cheaper transportation can increase the reliability of supply of modern
fuels, reducing the need to maintain supplies of firewood as a back up and facilitating movements
up the energy ladder.

India has experienced rapid economic growth over the past decade, with an expanding middle
class larger than the population of the United States. In 2000, the population grew at a rate of
over 6 per cent, which required a rate of 9 per cent of energy growth . In the past 20 years alone,
urbanization has driven a 208% growth in India’s energy consumption. Under these conditions, it
is imperative that India meets its growing energy necessities in a self-reliant, sustainable manner.
However, providing 1 billion plus people with a constant energy supply is very difficult, especially
for a developing country facing rising gas prices.

More than 18,000 villages live without electricity in India; according to the International Energy
Agency, 404.5 million people do not have access to energy. Many who do receive electricity face
constant blackouts and uncertainties of a steady energy supply from their utility company?
Erratic voltage levels and an unreliable power supply are major problems, due to the inadequate
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energy supply and ageing transmission leading to power cuts . Rural areas face serious problems
with the reliability of power supply. India’s climatic conditions make it a very suitable place to rely
on renewable energy (RE); with very high solar irradiationnsolation levels and 45,000 megavolts
megawatts (MWV) of possible wind capacity, RE business growth has much potential. The Indian
economy also depends heavily on agricultural production, and the livelihood for a majority of the
population is farming. Installing RE for rural agricultural purposes is necessary to make a
significant impact. Photovoltaic and wind technologies have over the past years revealed an
almost 45% increase in the generation capacity of solar PV technology. This is reflective of a
global growth in the utilization of those technologies.

As the utilization of these resources constantly increases, the use of conventional tools for the
analysis of the power system, even with significant RERs penetration persists. For such studies,
assumptions / simplifications are made with regards to the modeling of the RERs technologies.
Advancing the models of these resources for power system studies has been of recent interest
with several works being conducted in this area for the various technologies.

2. RURAL INDIA AND ENERGY

Energy Poverty Is Universal

As per one estimate, globally, 1.6 billion people (1/3 humanity) have no access to electricity; 80%
of energy poverty is in rural areas of developing world.
Worldwide, more than 3 billion people depend on dirty, harmful solid fuels to meet their basic
energy needs like cooking. Some 2.4 billion people rely on traditional biomass i.e. wood,
agricultural residues and dung cake for cooking and heating. The Indian situation is no better.

India

With its large rural population of (70% of the total population) living in villages and being poor,
India is one of the worst affected developing countries suffering from energy poverty. As per the
data of 2004 (which might have only changed marginally as a result of various initiatives taken by
the Govt.), 26% villages (56.5% households)3 had no access to electricity; An ambitious scheme
launched in 2004, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyuteekaran Yojana (RGGVY) targets to achieve
100% village electrification by 2012 (originally by 2010).

Energy Poverty impacts in several ways

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Social Dimension: Energy poverty is the main reason for rural poverty which in turn, give rise to
health issues, Up to 95% of rural energy needs are being met by inefficient burning of fuelwood,
dung cake and plant wastes and is used for meeting the basic needs of cooking, heating and
lighting, there being nothing left for productive use. These result in high pollution levels in low
income dwellings with consequent health issues propping up.

Economic Dimension: Lack of affordable and reliable energy restricts the income levels and
industrial/commercial activity leading to economic stagnation or slow growth.

Environmental Dimension: In the absence of affordable modern energy, there is no alternative to

the manner of use of energy natural sources, which results in huge pressure on the environment in
general.

Years ago, development experts thought industrialized countries should harness and drive
research, while developing countries focus on raising basic education and literary skills. India is
unique, in that it created world-class educational institutions (e.g. Indian Institute for Technology
- IIT) during a time when most of the country was impoverished. The investments made in the
scientific research capacity from IIT schools have led to a new generation of information
technology engineers that have orchestrated India’s IT boom. Now these same research
institutions are discovering technology that creates renewable and efficient energy. Ever since the
liberalization of India’s market, the government in the nineties formulated a great number of
policies to promote RE, including technology transfer. It is imperative for the GoI to balance the
amount of R&D on the national level and imported technology. Not only would India be proving
to the world that a developing country can utilize renewable energy options, but developed
countries would no longer be able to make the argument that international carbon reduction
treaties should not be pursued because of the lack of restrictions on developing countries.India is
proving its leadership and takes up the task of providing its citizens with steady, reliable and clean
energy, but more can still be done.

However, the reduction of RE prices and mass production should not be done to the detriment of
quality. Indian industry, which has cultivated an image of quality in other sectors, would be well
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advised to apply the same standards to RE technologies. Several local producers have been
recently criticized and some experts have expressed doubts on the quality of the new installations
following the implementation of Indian Solar Plan. In this framework, local authorities have a role
to play in imposing internationally agreed standards in their own markets as well for exports. This
will have a mid-long term important influence on the local markets (systems working as planned
over 20-25 years), as well as on the image of the technology and the industry.

The recent major cost decreases of RE is opening up market niches; utilizing the full potential of
these niches must be realized. Currently, the RE market in India is over US$2.2 billion, and is
growing at 15 per cent every year. Non-governmental Organizations should be also utilized
during RE project implementation and public-private partnerships between governments and the
private sector can link policy changes with private financing to promote RE. International lending
organizations, such as the World Bank and the ADB assistance are still greatly needed for RE
implementation, particularly for off-grid. The Banks can help create the right environment for the
private sector to invest in RE technology, implementation, and maintenance.

India is an agricultural nation, yet the farmers and the rural poor remain the underserved. Klaus
Toepfer, the former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, has once
said, “These countries need greatly expanded energy services to help in the fight against poverty
and to power sustainable development”. The benefits of RE in rural Indian communities are
tremendous; RE not only expands energy generation and greenhouse gas mitigation, but also
contributes to improvements in local environment, drought control, energy conservation,
employment generation, health and hygiene, social welfare, security of drinking water, and
increased agricultural yield . Implementing wind farms and solar power in villages brings
development in the form of infrastructure, efficient agriculture, and an overall better quality of
life for the rural people. Thus, the broader developmental goals, such as poverty alleviation,
sustainable development and employment generation should be integrated into the RE programs
while seeking direct support under bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The GoI, NGOs, the
international community, private businesses, and the villagers themselves all have a significant
part to play in creating this better life, and must work together in order to do so.

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Complexity of Energy needs of rural India

The energy needs of rural India, as seen in totality, are much more complex and are unlikely to be
fully or substantially addressed by 100% village electrification.

Such complexity is the result of large population, majority being poor with no capacity to pay for
the cost of energy and the only energy in use i.e. fuel wood for cooking being availed without any
financial cost personal human labor, the grid extension to the villages, even if materializes, would
be of limited help as there is large gap between supply and demand, quality and timing of supply
to the rural areas, high T&D losses and large component of hidden cost involved in such supply,
which would justify use of local energy resources than to rely on grid power for the rural
population.

 About 75% of Energy in Rural India required only for Cooking and Lighting, largely met
by locally available bio mass and kerosene, supplemented by electricity from grid.
 75% use biomass (firewood), 10% use dung-cake and only 5% use LPG for cooking
 50% use kerosene and 48% grid electricity for lighting.
 Agriculture is second largest rural energy demand , Electricity and Diesel are the main
sources
 Human and Animal Energy is major source for domestic, agriculture and several other
requirements. Women and Energy have strong relationship in rural India. Drudgery of
women and children, Health Issues due to inefficient use of biomass and lack of ventilation

The Rural Poor

The Economic Poverty and Energy Poverty seem to be going hand in hand. It is difficult to make a
conclusive determination which one drives the other.
Let us take a look at the typical characteristics of the rural poor household. These are:
• The family consists of more than 5 members.
• It has no or limited land or livestock as its assets.
• It has limited or no other assets or equipment, it may be living in a self built Kachcha (temporary)
house.
• It has no access to electricity, either no grid connectivity or not being able to afford the cost
thereof.
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• It depends on water from, hand pump, pond or well, irrespective of whether the water is fully
potable or needs some treatment for making it fit for drinking.
• It depends on rudimentary cooking processes and equipment, typically the three stone chulha
(cook stove).
• The family survives on a single or two persons working as daily Wage Labor.
• It is substantially dependent on natural resources and hence is sensitive to earning shocks.
• It may be spending up to 70% of the budget on food expenditure, mainly rice and other staples,
unlikely to provide the minimum essential nutrients.
• The energy needs are predominantly met by women folk (who may at times be assisted by young
children) for fetching wood, biomass or dung and making dung cake for cooking and other needs.
Thus, Women and Energy have strong relationship in rural India in arranging and using energy.
• Drudgery of women and children can be well imagined who need to collect biomass on their
heads almost on daily basis to be able to cook their daily food. Thus, there is no time or energy left
with them for to pursue income generating activity or education.

3. BARRIERS TO ENERGY ACCESS FOR RURAL MASSES

The barriers or constraints to Energy Access to Rural Masses have their origins in economic,
social, technological and financial limitations coupled with inadequate focus by the planners,
Governments and national and international development organizations on the issues involved.
Some of the major barriers to Energy Access for Rural Masses are:

 Geographically dispersed villages

 Inadequate focus on local resources
 Inadequate financing structures
 Inadequate Interest of private sector
 Unsustainable initiatives
 Need for better monitoring
 Ineffective targeting of subsidies
 Affordability of Energy cost
 Remote locations
 Availability of ready to use technology.
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  Energy crops competing with food crops
 Funding Gap
 Ability to pay
 Sustainability of Renewable
 Subsidies

The recent increase in the integration of renewable energy technologies into the electric
power system, has led to the development of a methodology for the optimal use of these
resources within the Power System that takes into consideration the variability of these
resources. Though there is presently, integration at the transmission, sub-transmission and
distribution level of the system, the use of distributed generators at the customer /load-end of
the distribution system is of particular concern.

The engineering problem is the development of a comprehensive scheme for the optimal
utilization of RERs technologies at the distribution level with consideration as to the impact of
these technologies on the reliability of the system. This work involves the development of
suitable models that account for the variability of the sources and consideration of the variability
of the loads at the distribution level.

The underlying benefits of this research are linked to the utilization of renewable energy
technologies as distributed generation. This provides the benefit of providing additional
generation without the large investment that would be associated with central generation
expansion; is accompanied by the relatively low efficiency, and cost of investment with regards
to the installation of these sustainable energy technologies and their associated electronic and
storage components. To ensure that the resources are use optimally within the confines of the
application, it is important that the implications of these resources are comprehensively studied
with consideration of their limitations such as variability.

Within this work the major solutions to be developed are:

i. The selection and implementation of a suitable yet simplistic model for the renewable
energy technologies (PV and Wind) to be integrated for power system studies.

ii. The development of an optimization scheme for the optimal switching of the resources
within the distribution system.

iii. The development of a further enhancement scheme that assess the impact of these
resources on the distribution system.

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Conventional placement of DGs has been studied as an optimization problem based on varied
objectives that include loss optimization, cost minimization, economic and operational limits of
the DGs. For the varied objectives, there have also been implemented a host of methodologies
from classical optimization formulations to evolutionary programming computational analysis.
Upon review of existing schemes developed that address the issue of the optimal placement of
conventional DGs with a network, this thesis aims to address the gaps that exists in involving the
variability issues that associated with the sustainable energy sources, PV and Wind.

Another critical issue in the utilization of renewable energy resources within the electric power
system is the various operation modes that exist; these technologies can be used for stand- alone
as well as grid connected applications. There is thus need for the extension of the studies to the
various grid connected operation modes for the distribution system.

Figure 1 demonstrates the inter-relation of the major components of the study conducted within
the report.

Figure 1 OVERVIEW OF REPORT OBJECTIVE

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 4. GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

The Govt. of India as well as the State Governments has taken several initiatives to meet the energy
needs of the rural population. Some of these initiatives are discussed below.

RAJIV GANDHI GRAMEEN VIDYUTIKARAN YOJANA (RGGVY)-

Ministry of Power, Govt. of India

This is a major national effort to universalize access to electricity – 57% of rural households were
without access in 2001. The program me launched in 2005 targets and achievements:

• 100,000 un-electrified villages.

• 78 million rural households in un-electrified and electrified villages.
• Provides 90% capital subsidy.100% capital subsidy for electrification of Below-Poverty-Line
(BPL) rural households.
• 44,000 villages electrified. Another 22,000 villages covered under intensive electrification. About
2 million connections given.
• USD 1.5 billion invested. Another USD 6.75 billion provided.
• National program me for Franchisee development launched. Franchisees in place in 14 states,
covering 63,000 + villages.
• Generated employment for villagers and improved consumer services.
• Resulted in significant improvement in revenue collection - in some cases more than 100%.
The programme has been in operation ever since its launch in 2005 and has helped in a major way
in rural electrification of India. The program has achieved electrification of about 83% un-
electrified villages by December 2009. Notwithstanding the progress in village electrification
through extension of the grid, the availability of modern energy for the rural poor masses is still
perceived to be a distant dream due to inadequate electricity generation and issues of affordability
for the rural poor.

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 Integrated Rural Energy programme (IREP)

IREP aims at promotion of an optimum mix of both conventional and non-conventional

energy sources in selected blocks in the country. Central Sector Component - Provides
grants for support staff in the IREP project cells at the State and Block levels, training of
the staff and extension work. State Sector Outlays - Utilized for the implementation of
IREP Block Energy Plans. IREP is no longer in effect. The program is learnt to have been
of limited success primarily due to the State not having been able to allocate necessary
financial resources for the scheme.

National Biogas & Manure Management Programme

The National Biogas and Manure Management Programme‟ (NBMMP) aims at promotion of
indigenously developed simple-to-construct and easy-to operate family type biogas plants.
Cumulative Installations to over 41.2 lakhs biogas plants for providing clean cooking /lighting fuel
to over 4 million rural houses has been achieved by March 2009.

Solar Thermal Applications in Rural Areas

Solar thermal demonstration programme to promote different types of solar cookers, special
demonstration and pilot projects of solar dryers and solar stills, and demonstration scheme for
North-East, Islands, Jammu & Kashmir and Sikkim for solar water heating systems has been
implemented The programme also provides financial support to the manufacturers of solar cookers
for obtaining BIS approval.
Under the programme, central financial assistance at the rate of Rs.1, 500 per dish cooker and
Rs.15, 000 for community solar cookers is provided. For box type solar cookers, an incentive of
Rs.200 for ISI mark and Rs.100 for other solar cookers is provided to the promoter. As of March
2009, Cumulative Installations for demonstration solar thermal power plants is 6.57 lakh units.

Remote Village Electrification

The Remote village electrification (RVE Program) initiative during 10th plan aimed at providing
basic lighting / electricity facilities to renewable energy sources in remote villages and hamlets
which are not electrified and where grid connectivity is either not feasible or not cost effective. The
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total number of such villages and hamlets so far electrified is 2,300. Nearly, 4 lakh households in
4,237 remote villages and 1142 remote hamlets have so far been provided with solar home lighting
systems.

Biomass based distributed power generation program

Biomass power projects with an aggregate capacity of 703 MW through 102 projects have been
installed. Fuels used in such projects are rice husk, flora and agricultural residues. The Indian
biomass power projects are characterized by a number of innovative features such as use of diverse
range of biomass materials in the same boilers and use of air-cooled condensers, etc.
The promotion of biomass-based power generation in the country is encouraged through conducive
policy at the State and Central levels. The MNRE provides the capital subsidy for biomass and
bagasse cogeneration projects. Fiscal incentives such as accelerated depreciation, concessional
import duty, excise duty exemption, tax holiday for 10 years etc. were continued during the year.

Village Energy Security Program

The Village Energy Security Test Projects (VESP) aim at meeting the total energy requirements,
such as cooking, lighting and motive power of villages, with full participation of the local
communities, including women. The projects are environment-friendly and create avenues for local
employment and improve the quality of life. The activities envisaged under these projects are:
Preparation of a Village Energy Plan, including assessment of resources, energy services required
and configuration of energy production systems; formation of a village energy committee; creation
of a village energy fund; plantations and installation of energy production systems; operation &
maintenance; and capacity building including training.

5. APPROACH FOR MEETING RURAL ENERGY NEEDS

With several variables playing a major role, it would be an easy task to develop a fool-proof model
which would cater to all possible situations, but it would certainly help to establish the desirability
and effectiveness of most of the initiatives taken so far as also those that may come for
consideration in future.

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Some of the factors in such critical appraisal of the initiatives for meeting rural energy needs would
involve aspects of:

• Moving to the next stage from pilot/demonstration projects

• Contribution in meeting the extent of rural energy needs
• Use ABC classification based on magnitude of potential of each initiative to meet the rural energy
needs
• Prepare a detailed plan for selected initiatives to achieve specific time bound targets for meeting
the extent of rural energy needs, complete in terms of resource mobilization (financial, human
resource etc.), organizational, monitoring etc.

The Ultimate Goal

The Ultimate goal of all policies and research is simple - to meet 100% of energy needs of rural
India:
 in the shortest possible time
 at an affordable cost; and
 in environmentally sustainable manner

The above is an ambitious statement and should also keep in view considerations such as:

 Targets for rural energy poverty alleviation in short, medium and long term
 Identification of appropriate sources of energy
 Identification of appropriate technologies
 Where to find the resources financial, technological and organizational

The utilization of distributed generation at the distribution level of the power system is a
vastly increasing practice in the present and future electric grid. The utilization of renewable
energy technologies as distributed generation sources, due to their suitability for remote
applications, cost effectiveness and environmental impact, has resulted in the need for the
advancement of currently available power system analysis tools to include models of these
technologies that include consideration of the variability / intermittency of these sources.

Over the years, there have been drives towards the development of components for the
realization of new planning and operational tools that are geared to the study, monitoring and

21
operation of the new renewable energy resources (RERs)-integrated grid. The major categories
of this work are:

i. Development distribution system modeling and analysis.

ii. Probabilistic modeling techniques for variable meteorological factors such as

solar insolation and wind speed.

iii. Modeling techniques for renewable energy resources technologies such as

photovoltaic modules and wind turbines.
iv. Development of optimization schemes for the sizing and placement of
classical and conventional distributed generators (DGs).
v. Further enhancement techniques that include power quality assessments,
reliability assessment and cost-benefit analysis for the quantification of the impact of
distributed energy resources (DERs) on the system under study.

The usual practice for increase in demand is to increase investments in both the generation and
transmission network of the supply system. However the same power balance and improvement of
power quality can be achieved by the used of Distributed Energy Resources.

Distributed Generation allow for improved performance of network without comparatively large
investments in generating resources and in transmission and distribution system. The utilization of
DGs throughout distribution networks has been seen to reduce the power generation central power
units and the number of utilized online generators.

Distributed Generation (DG) technologies offer technical, economic and environmental

advantages. Economically, these implementations reduce expansion costs while remaining more
geographically independent that central generation. Utilities are able to delay infrastructure
investments and diversify energy sources. Operational options are available for grid inter-tie or
stand-alone applications at the distribution level with numerous positive technical implications that
include: improved performance of network without comparatively large investments in generating
resources, improvement of the stability, power quality, reliability and security of electric power
system. DGs may also reduce power losses of the system, and contribute to peak load shaving.
The utilization of renewable / sustainable energy technologies as DGs provides a more
environmentally sensitive approach. Cleaner, more efficient sources result in lower emissions and
environmental impact. However, the utilization of distributed generators increases the uncertainty
of power system stability in disturbance events.

22
Distribution System

The classical power system is sub-divided into three (3) major sections: generation, transmission and
distribution system. However, the inter-relation between the transmission and distribution systems
can be sub-divided into several subsections as identified in Figure 2. The distribution level of the
power system feeds from the sub-transmission and features the branched loads of the system.

Figure 2 STRUCTURE OF THE POWER SYSTEM NETWORK

There are various distribution system topologies that typically include radial and mesh topologies.
Due to the nature of the existing distribution system, the inclusion of distributed generation has
been look at as an advantageous. Distribution networks are generally configured radially for
effective and non-complicated protection schemes.

There are four distribution system configurations: (i) radial, (ii) loop, (iii) network and (iv) primary
selective . These vary in terms of the configuration, the types and number of components, the
reliability and the resilience of the system. Of these radial and loop have been the two most
exhaustively studied. These topologies have featured in DG placement and reconfiguration studies.
Key components for distribution systems include generators, power transformers, lines, shunt
capacitors, switches and various loads. In the present day distribution system, distributed resources
(DRs) including distribution generators (DGs) and electrical storage technologies are increasingly
prominent.

23
These components impact on the function and nature of the distribution system. As an example, the
conventional unidirectional flow of energy in the distribution system is now no longer standard.
Previous work conducted has indicated the need for special considerations of these technologies
in the analysis of the distribution level system.

Major Considerations

Some of the major considerations in defining the Vision for meeting rural energy needs of India as also
the underlying objectives would be addressed through answerers to the questions like:

 How do we strengthen our rural economic competitivess and ensure creation of good rural
jobs?
 How do we make our rural population self reliant and empowered?
 How do we reduce the arduous human labor so prevalent in our rural population, more
particularly for the women and the children?
 How do we protect are natural environment?

Limitations of Present Initiatives

There seems to be near total reliance to meet the rural energy needs though 100% electrification of the
villages though extension of the grid supported by distributed generation in a limited way using
renewable sources of energy. This is unlikely to achieve the desired results and provide satisfactory
responses to all the questions mentioned above. Some of the limitations are:

• Target to achieve 100% Village Electrification, which was originally to be completed by 2010, may
not be completed even by 2012.
• Huge costs involved for expansion of grid to all the far flung rural areas
• Against tariff of Rs 3/- (approx.), actual of supply Rs 9/- per kWh
• As distance from grid increases cost of expansion of grid increases by about Rs 1 per km per
kWh.(figures to be checked?_
• Poor revenue collection: Rs0-10 p.m. (poor) and Rs. 0-130 p.m. (others)
• Sustained thru redistributive policies, tariff cross-subsidies, and financial relief to loss making
utilities.
• Rural supply low priority, first in power cut.
• Rural electrification more in deficit states and less in surplus ones
• 13 hours of rural supply considered adequate for irrigation pumps
24
• “Rural” equated to agricultural; casualty education (schools and children)

Relevance of Renewable
To bridge the gaps, renewable can play a very important role, including:

• Potential to create large no. (Net) of jobs especially in rural sector

• Revenue Neutral or even better (savings v/s cash investment)
• Benefit to sectors like Construction, Professional Services, Farming, Trucking and Transport, Metal
Fabrication etc.

Reliance entirely on Renewable Energy sources would not be practical in the short and medium term,
despite claims of falling costs, and the rural households would need to be provided with an adequate
share of relatively lower cost energy from conventional sources.

A comprehensive integrated rural energy development program combining both conventional and non-
conventional energy sources, optimized for blocks of rural population, to be evolved.
Nonetheless, the long term planning must hover around meeting most of the energy needs of rural
India from Renewable Sources of energy. The grid extended to villages could perhaps at some time in
future, be used to plough back the energy generated from such renewable sources to the grid rather
than from the grid.

6. RENEWABLE ENERGY

In the context of other forms of energy service and use to augment the grid extension, especially for
the rural population, Renewable Energy is poised to play a major role. Unlike in the past when these
resources were perceived to too expensive to be of any practical use, several forms of renewable
energy are fast coming into the viability zone, especially when adverse effects of fossils are taken into
account on human health and ecology.

Vast Potential

The Renewable have huge potential to meet the entire energy requirement of the world as evident from
the following:

• As per some studies, less than 1% of earth‟s deserts can meet the world‟s energy demand using CSP
technology and covering 4% of the world‟s deserts with photo voltaic cells could supply the entire
world‟s energy.
25

• Wind energy can also theoretically meet 15 times the world‟s energy requirement.
Global Outlook

Global Investments in renewable power generation rose from $ 28 billion in 2004 to $ 71 billion in
2006 3\(New Energy Finance). The global renewable energy market is doubling every three years.
Public Investments in R&D, subsidy schemes that favor renewable, and the probability of a future
global carbon market, are all for fuelling the clean tech boom. While driven by supportive public
financing and regulation, the challenge of mitigating energy poverty can offer significant commercial
opportunities for investors in the area of renewable

Major Renewable Energy Resources

The major renewable energy sources in commercial use include:

• Solar
• Wind
• Biomass
• Small Hydro

Initiatives in India

India is fast emerging as the World‟s clean energy hot spot. The total demand of electrical energy in
India is projected to be shooting up to 240, 000 MW by 2012 and the Govt. has rightly recognized the
need to supplement a significant portion of additional generation from renewable energy resources. As
much as 18% of additional generation capacity commissioned during first three years of the Tenth plan
came from renewable. It is estimated that by 20, 000 MW will be contributed by renewables. A major
part of investment in renewable energy sector has come from private sector which is very encouraging
for the future of this sector.

In the 11th Five Year Plan (2008-2012), India‟s renewable energy market is expected to reach an
estimated US $ 19 billion with an investment of US $ 15 billion to add 15000 MW of additional
renewable capacity. The Govt. of India has planned a subsidy support system of approximately US $ 1
billion in Govt. funds.

India has realized the major role that Renewable Energy can play in meeting the challenges of energy
security and climate change though:.
• Proactive role of State Govts. 26
• Emerging IT solutions for emission reduction
• Innovative Microfinance Schemes
• Clean Transport
• Carbon Markets
• Corporate Interest in Rural Renewable

India presently generates 13,878 MW (as in Aug 2009) of grid interactive power from renewable
sources including wind, solar, small hydro, biomass and bio-gas cogeneration, which accounts for 9%
of total installed generation capacity. The 11th five year plan targets 14,000 MW of grid interactive
and distributed renewable power by 2012, which means 10% contribution of renewable in power
generation capacity by 2012.

If Renewable Energy has to contribute effectively in our medium term and long term energy mix,
leapfrogging of initiatives needed taking clue from international trends as well as the successful pilot
and demonstration projects in the country. Nature has been magnanimous in provision of RE resources
like solar, wind, biomass and small hydro to India. The challenge for India is to mainstream renewable
based power generation.

7. SOLAR POWER – THE BRIDGE TO FUTURE

Irrespective of the international debate of climate change and negotiations amongst nations on price on
carbon and commitment to the extent of carbon reduction, for an energy safe future which also takes
care of the health concerns of the population, it is inevitable to focus on policies that will accelerate
deployment of clean technologies like solar that make a real difference in fighting climate change, As
per an estimate, solar and other renewable energy resources can, with the right policies in place, can
play an increasing significant role in meeting the electricity needs of that country, which shows solar
energy replacing a large part of coal based energy generation by 2020. The situation of energy needs
and availability of clean energy resources offer similar possibilities for India.

While national and international politics will continue to play its role in shaping policies towards solar
energy, educating the public and the media is vital. The solar industry needs to address this as a
challenge rather than creating more business and more profit and these efforts need to be supplemented
by NGOs and other institutions/organizations concerned with the ill-effects of climate change on one
side and meeting the energy needs of the rural masses on the other.

27
Salient features of Solar Energy:
• The cleanest
• Most abundant
• Inexhaustible
• Most predictable of all renewable energy sources

Potential

Against total equivalent energy consumption of 21.8 TW by 2030, total solar radiation intercepted on
earth 173, 000 TW of which 120, 000 TW reaches earth‟s surface i.e. solar energy potential is about
8000 times (800000%) of total global energy requirement in 2030. It offers viable solution for rural
energy needs (at least in part).

Solar Energy Technologies

Solar Photo Voltaic: This technology is based on conversion of light energy from solar radiations
falling on a photo voltaic cell directly into electric energy, which can either be stored in storage
batteries and used as required or can directly be used as electricity for any purpose like lighting,
heating, running a motor or other appliances or for any chemical processes. The photo voltaic cell uses
the property of some semi conductor materials to convert light energy into electrical energy.

The advantages of Solar PV are:

• It can generate power through Centralized Systems – Grid connected or Stand Alone.
• It can produce power through Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) Distributed Generation,
for Street Lights, Lanterns etc
• Direct solar radiation can produce some electricity under less than ideal condition, low sun angles
and overcast sky.
• Offers modularity and scalability, large units more prone to clouds
• Clouds may cause spikes, up to 20 MW manageable

Solar Thermal

Sun light can be used by its conversion into heat energy though
• Passive System- through building systems
• Active System: CSP

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has initiated a major project on Solar Radiation
Resource Assessment (SRRA) station across the nation to assess and quantify the solar radiation
availability along with weather parameters with a view to develop Solar Atlas. Centre for Wind Energy
28
Technology (C-WET), Chennai is implementing the project by installing a network of 51 Solar Radiation
Resource Assessment (SRRA) station in the first phase in different States using high quality, high
 resolution equipment/instruments.

Sl. No.of SRRA station

States
No
1 Rajasthan
2 Gujarat
3 Tamilnadu
4 Andhra Pradesh
5 Karnataka
6 Maharashtra
7 Madhya Pradesh
8 Jammu & kashmir
9 Chhattisgarh
10 Pondichery
11 Haryana
Total
Proposed Completed
12 12
11 11
7 7
6 6
5 5
3 3
3 3
1 1
1 1
1 1
1 1
51 51

Each SRRA station consists of two towers of 1.5 m and 6 m tall each. The 1.5 m tall tower
houses a Solar Tracker equipped with Pyranometer, Pyranometer with Shaded Ring and
Pyrheliometer to measure solar parameters, such as, global, diffused and direct radiation. The 6
m tall tower houses instruments measuring rainfall, ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure,
relative humidity, wind speed and direction. Each SRRA station is totally powered by 160 Watt
SPV Panels and consists of 13 equipments/instruments and records 37 parameters inclusive of
both measured and derived. The data from each SRRA station averaged to 10 minutes will be
transmitted to a Central Receiving Station established at C-WET, Chennai through GPRS mode.
The implementation of the project has started from February 2011 and all stations have already
been installed, completed and commissioned.

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)-

It is also termed as Concentrated Solar Thermal Power (CST), Solar Thermal Electricity Generation
(STEG). The technology uses heat from the sun to generate electricity in much the same way the
conventional thermal power station. The sun‟s rays are focused on a central receiver containing a
mineral oil or other thermal carrier. As this liquid gets heated up (reaching temperatures as high as
400C-600 C ), it passes though a heat exchanger and generates steam, which is then used to drive a
steam turbine. With the present state of technology development and costs involved, the areas having
solar insulation levels of 2000-2500 kWh.m-2 are better
29 suited for the technology.
As in any thermal power plant, water is required for raising steam using solar heat. Since the high
levels of solar insulation are predominantly in arid areas, this is matter of concern. However, water
consumption can be reduced by as much as 90% using dry cooling, which however would result in
higher price by about 10%. Water is also required for washing of parabolic mirrors for maximum
performance, but the amount of water required is less than that required for steam.

Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC)

Another possibility CSP offers is in its integration with Gas based Combined Cycle Power Plants
(typically known as Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) Power Plants. Conceptually the
disadvantage of solar based energy generation being not available when sun is not available is taken
care by ensuring generation though natural gas, the available solar heat during day time can be utilized
for augmenting power generation in steam cycle with scaled up stem generators and Steam, Turbines
would help in achieving lower cost of generation from high cost natural gas.

Storage – the USP of CSP technology

The concept seeks to address the biggest limitation of solar power- its non-availability when there is no
sun. The heat collected during day can be fed into storage tanks – using a medium like molten salt to
hold the heat. When needed, that heat can be released to generate steam to run the turbines.
Generation from Solar Plant with storage can be shifted to match the utility system load profile. It
allows solar to provide power when it is needed most. As a result Storage CSP Plants are able to
achieve higher annual efficiencies up to +50%. Such peaking power has a high commercial value.
Adding storage and extra collector field to serve it pays off when there is good feed-in tariff or good
peaking power price.
Other Salient features

• The concept of CSP technology is based on creation of high temperature, which generates steam or
hot gases for STG or GTG.
• Best suited where high direct solar radiation
• Flexible- storage, backing by other fuel use
• Suitable for peaking energy or for extended hours of generation.
• Generally, each installation tailor-made
• Some options are: ISCC, Direct Steam, Lineal Fesnal Reflectors for lower cost, Molten Salt for
storage (freezing a challenge).
• Capability to produce lowest cost, commercial scale bulk electricity
• Capability to dispatch as needed.
30
Capital cost
Though initiatives for solar power generation were taken back in 1980s in USA, the use of solar
energy has not for become commercially popular due to several constraints. The biggest of such
constraints has been the capital investment involved in such projects. Though it is difficult to pin
pointedly mention these costs but till about a year back these were perceived to be as high as Rs. 15 to
20 cr. Per MW of installed capacity.

In the recent past, say last one year, with the technological advancements and increasing population of
solar power installation, the perceived costs have substantially come down. So much so that for some
of the CSP projects in USA, taking into account the state tax credit provision, the expected tariff by
2012 would match with the peak load tariff of grid power.

8. OTHER RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES

Biomass Energy
Biomass is a major source of energy especially in rural areas. However, it is being used in an
inefficient and un healthy manner with the consequent adverse impacts of depleting forest reserves and
human health with all its consequences on the socio-economic status of the rural population. Biomass
includes fuels like wood, agro-waste, Bagasse, rice husk, animal ding etc.

Advantages of Biomass Energy

There is an immediate and immense need for better use of biomass. Good biomass for energy could:
• diversify energy supply at reasonable cost,
• improve trade balances,
• provide rural income and employment,
• reduce GHG emissions from fossil fuels.
Use of biomass for energy would be bad if;
• GHG emission reduction is not achieved.
• Biodiversity loss though Land Use change is not controlled/monitored through suitable safeguards.
• Suitable Safeguards not used for tackling food insecurity, overuse of water and mismanagement of
soils.
Global Potential for Better Use of Biomass for Energy estimated at 25 to 30% of Global Energy
Supply by 2050.Use of biomass for energy is associated with direct and indirect Land Use Change
emission. The impact needs to be monitored and controlled.
Indirect Land Use Change emission can be controlled by
• Using residues and wastes
31
• Promoting more efficient energy conversion
• Using land “set-free” from higher yield crops
• Using abandoned or degraded land not in competition with food, feed or fibre production
• multiyear crops
• Multiple cropping schemes (agro forestry)
• Land based algae
• More efficient conversion:
• CHP
• Next generation bio fuels

• Integrated bio-refineries
With Carbon Capture Sequestration (CCS), sustainable bio-energy could, in long term, achieve
reduction in atmospheric CO2 levels
Major Mile stones in better use of bio energy would be
• In the first phase mainly being used for electricity and heat, less for transport.
• CCS will push (2050) shifting biomass use to road, ship and aviation fuels.
• Biomass for energy cultivation of potential crops on low carbon land could help sequestion of
atmospheric carbon in soil and could reduce deforestation process thorough economic development
alternatives and access to modern energy.
• Use of good biomass will also help in:
• GHG emission reduction
• Maintenance of biodiversity
• Energy Security
• Low Social Trade Off

Biomass in India

India being tropical with good sun and rain is ideal for bio-mass production. The availability of
biomass in India is estimated at about 540 million tonnes per year covering residues from agriculture,
forestry, and plantations. Principal agricultural residues include rice husk, rice straw, bagasse, sugar
cane tops and leaves, trash, groundnut shells, cotton stalks, mustard stalks, etc. It has been estimated
that about 70-75% of these wastes are used as fodder, as fuel for domestic cooking and for other
economic purposes leaving behind 120–150 millions tones of usable agro industrial and agricultural
residues per year which could be made available for power generation. By using these surplus
agricultural residues, more than 16,000 MW of grid quality power can be generated with presently
available technologies. In addition, about 5000 MW of power can be produced, if all the 550 sugar
mills in the country switch over to modern techniques32
of co-generation.
Biomass does not add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as it absorbs the same amount of carbon in
growing as it releases when consumed as a fuel. Its advantage is that it can be used to generate
electricity with the same equipment or power plants that are now burning fossil fuels. Biomass is an
important source of energy and the most important fuel worldwide after coal, oil and natural gas.

Traditional use of biomass is more than its use in modern application. In the developed world biomass
is again becoming important for applications such as combined heat and power generation. In addition,
biomass energy is gaining significance as a source of clean heat for domestic heating and community
heating applications. In fact in countries like Finland, USA and Sweden the per capita biomass energy
used is higher than it is in India, China or in Asia.

Biomass fuels used in India account for about one third of the total fuel used in the country, being the
most important fuel used in over 90% of the rural households and about 15% of the urban households.

Instead of burning the loose biomass fuel directly, it is more practical to compress it into briquettes
(compressing them through a process to form blocks of different shapes) and thereby improve its
utility and convenience of use. Such biomass in the dense briquetted form can either be used directly
as fuel instead of coal in the traditional chulhas and furnaces or in the gasifier. Gasifier converts solid
fuel into a more convenient-to-use gaseous form of fuel called producer gas.

Scientists are trying to explore the advantages of biomass energy as an alternative energy source as it
is renewable and free from net CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions, and is abundantly available on earth
in the form of agricultural residue, city garbage, cattle dung, firewood, etc. Bio-energy, in the form of
biogas, which is derived from biomass, is expected to become one of the key energy resources for
global sustainable development.

At present, biogas technology provides an alternative source of energy in rural India for cooking. It is
particularly useful for village households that have their own cattle. Through a simple process cattle
dung is used to produce a gas, which serves as fuel for cooking. The residual dung is used as manure.

Biogas plants have been set up in many areas and are becoming very popular. Using local resources,
namely cattle waste and other organic wastes, energy and manure are derived. A mini biogas digester
has recently been designed and developed, and is being in-field tested for domestic lighting.

Indian sugar mills are rapidly turning to bagasse, the leftover of cane after it is crushed and its juice
extracted, to generate electricity. This is mainly being done to clean up the environment, cut down
power costs and earn additional revenue. According to current estimates, about 3500 MW of power
can be generated from bagasse in the existing 430 sugar mills in the country. Around 270 MW of
power has already been commissioned and more is under construction.

Technologies for biomass based energy generation

• Gasification
• Pyrolosis
• Direct Combustion
One of the perceived limitation of biomass is the requirement of land especially clash with the land
33
requirement for food crops. It is estimated that the total land requirement for use of good biomass is 16
mmn hectares where as the total available degraded land is about 100 mm hectares. Such criticism
therefore, would be misconceived.

Examples and Success Stories

There are several success stories of good biomass in the country. One such example is Impunia grass
based bio mass plant at Jhansi (100kW). 18 such projects planned to be replicated: It is given to
understand that cost of power is comparable with grid power.

Limitations of Biomass as energy source

Another perception seems to be that bio mass energy projects may use up the agriculture, plant
residues and other bio products which would otherwise be used as organic (compost) manure. Looking
into the totality and macro level picture, the constraint even if real is much amplified. Such material
would constitute a very small percentage of the total bio mass energy materials.

Wind Energy

Both offshore and onshore wind energy are suitable for generation of power and are being used,
although offshore use is yet to pick up in a major way due underlying higher costs. However, some
countries are moving forward with their plans for offshore wind energy.

More than 95 percent of the wind potential is concentrated in five states in southern and western India.

Even if the previously estimated potential of 102 GW is fully developed, wind would provide only
about 8 percent of the projected electricity demand in 2022 and 5 percent in 2032.

The new Berkeley Lab study has found the total techno-economic wind potential to range from 2,006
GW for 80-meter hub heights (an indication of how high the wind turbine stands above the ground) to
3,121 GW for 120-meter hub heights. Given these new estimates, the availability of wind energy can
no longer be considered a constraint for wind to play a major role in India‟s electricity future. The
research team have been discussing their findings informally and formally with several key government
agencies in India and have gotten positive responses.

Improved wind technology, including higher efficiency and hub heights, accounted for much of the increase
along with more advanced mapping techniques. The previous wind potential estimate in India of 102 GW is
based on the assumption that only two percent of the windy land is available for wind power development.
However, this assumption is not based on any assessment34 of land availability. The Berkeley Lab study
undertook a systematic assessment of the availability of land using publicly available GIS (geographic
information system) data on topography and land use and found a significantly higher availability of land that
can potentially be used for wind power development, which is the primary reason for the higher potential
estimates. The study excluded land with low-quality wind, slopes greater than 20 degrees, elevation greater
than 1,500 meters and certain other unsuitable areas such as forests, bodies of water and cities.

The researchers obtained off-the-shelf wind speed data for heights of 80 meters, 100 meters and 120 meters
from 3TIER.

Offshore Wind Energy

• Expanding to grow leaps and bounds in next decade.

• Globally, Offshore Wind Energy potential estimated at 45 GW by 2020.
• Growth likely be led by Europe supported by North America and Asia.
• Growth so far has been slow, due to various reasons, including higher cost.
• In last eight yrs grew from 70 MW to 1.5 GW.
• In Europe, Onshore Wind Projects are struggling to find land and higher capacity factors leading to
Govts being pressured to provide incentives to Offshore Wind Projects.
• Asia to tap Offshore Wind market by 2014.
• China, with its 9000 miles of coast line, well poised to tap Offshore Wind Energy; China‟s potential
of Offshore Wind Energy estimated at 750 MW; has one operational Offshore Wind Project and two
more in planning stage.
• Higher capital cost getting weighed out by low running cost, longer lasting turbines, high and steady
volumes.

Small Hydro and Micro Hydro

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been vested with the responsibility of developing Small
Hydro Power (SHP) projects up to 25 MW station capacity. The estimated potential for power
generation in the country from such plants is about 15,000 MW. Most of the potential is in Himalayan
States as river-based project and in other States on irrigation canals. SHP projects are economically
viable and consequently private sector has started investing in such projects. The viability of these
projects improves with increase in the station capacity.

Of the estimated potential of 15,000 MW of small hydro power in the country, 5415 potential sites
with an aggregate capacity of 14,292 MW have been identified. The Ministry is providing financial
support to the States for identification of new potential sites and preparation of a perspective plan for
the State for development of small hydro potential. The Ministry is supporting 142 SHP Projects in the
government sector aggregating to 266 MW capacity in 23 States/ UTs. So far, a total of 77 projects
aggregating to a capacity of 148 MW have been commissioned
35 and the other projects are at various
stages of execution.
The Ministry aims to double the current growth rate that leads to a capacity addition of 500 MW per
year with total installed capacity of 4000 MW by the end of 11th Plan. State Nodal Agencies provide
assistance for obtaining necessary clearances and allotment of land at potential sites.

Micro-hydro power is the small-scale harnessing of energy from falling water, such as steep mountain rivers.
Using this renewable, indigenous, non-polluting resource, micro-hydro plants can generate power for homes,
hospitals, governmental buildings, private handicraft centers or small scale industries schools and workshops.

Practical Action promotes small-scale hydro schemes that generate up to 500 kilowatts of power. The micro-
hydro station, which converts the energy of flowing water into electricity, provides poor communities in rural
areas with an affordable, easy to maintain and long-term solution to their energy needs.

"Run of the river" systems do not require a dam or storage facility to be constructed. Instead they
divert water from the stream or river, channel it in to a valley and drop it in to a turbine via a pipeline
called a penstock.

The turbine drives a generator that provides the electricity to the local community. By not requiring an
expensive dam for water storage, run-of-the-river systems are a low-cost way to produce power. They
also avoid the damaging environmental and social effects that larger hydroelectric schemes cause,
including a risk of flooding.

Water from the river is channelled through a settling basin, which helps to remove sediment that could
harm the turbine. The water then flows into the Forebay Tank where it is directed downhill through a
pipe called a penstock. When the water reaches the bottom, it drives a specially designed turbine to
produce the electricity.

Micro-hydro power can also be supplied to villages via portable rechargeable batteries. People can use
these convenient sources of electricity to fuel anything from workshop machines to domestic lighting –
and there are no expensive connection costs. The batteries are charged at a station in the village, thus
providing the local community with a clean, renewable source of power.

For industrial use, the output from the turbine shaft can be used directly as mechanical power, as
opposed to converting it into electricity via a generator or batteries. This is suitable for agro-processing
activities such as milling, oil extraction and carpentry.

Micro-hydro schemes are owned and operated by the communities they serve, with any maintenance
carried out by skilled members of that community. So they provide employment in themselves, as well
as providing the power to re-energize entire communities.

36
Understanding Bihar

The Background

In order to contextualize the scope and potential for the development of renewable energy systems and
their contribution to the future of sustainable development of Bihar, it is necessary to summarize the
current social condition of Bihar, as it has emerged after the division of the State.
1. Bihar is primarily an agriculture based state with 90% of the population living in the rural areas and
10% urbanization (2001 census). It is possible that the 2011 census may show a marked increase in
urbanization; but the basic rural character of the State will not change.

2. The farm / agricultural land holding pattern is characterized by an overwhelming majority of

marginal, small, semi-medium and medium farms (data 1995-96), distributed as below

S. Size class Percentage of

No. holdings
1 Marginal 0 – 1 ha 43.09 %
0 – 0.5 ha (20.81 %)
0.5 – 1 ha (22.28 %)
2 Small 1 – 2 ha 19.21 %
3 Semi- 2 – 4 ha 22.88 %
medium 2 – 3 ha (13.64 %)
3 – 4 ha (09.24 %)
4 Medium 4 – 10 ha 12.76 %
4 – 5 ha (06.05 %)
5 – 7.5 ha (04.16 %)
7.5 – 10 ha (02.56 %)
5 Large 10 – 20 ha and 02.07 %
above (01.47 %)
10 – 20 ha (00.60 %)
20 and above
(Source: Bihar Through Figures - 2007, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Govt of Bihar, pp.97)

Again, these figures may change in the latest Census; they will certainly change in the direction
of increases in the percentages of marginal, small and semi-medium farms due to well
recognized processes of population growth, land division at the household level, continued
marginalization and impoverization etc. From the planning perspective, it can be safely
assumed that 80% and more of the farms will in the near future lie in the size classes
denominated as marginal, small and semi-medium holdings.

3. Unlike most of the surrounding states, as well37

as the all-India average, Bihar has a
significantly higher percentage of agricultural labourers as compared to cultivators. A
comparison with selected States is shown below (data 2001)
 Percentage of agricultural labourers and cultivators in Bihar and other states
Sr. State % Cultivators Percentage of
No. Agricultural Labourers
1 Bihar 32.16 42.84
2 Jharkhand 41.20 16.32
3 Uttar Pradesh 46.98 15.14
4 Madhya Pradesh 46.65 20.32
5 Rajasthan 54.95 05.78
6 Orissa 35.82 21.88
7 West Bengal 19.79 19.64
8 All-India 33.10 20.29

(Source: Bihar Through Figures - 2007, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Govt of Bihar

Even when compared with States at broadly similar levels of development, this adverse ratio
of agricultural labourers to cultivators shows that landlessness is widespread and possibly a
leading cause of poverty. Moreover, the overwhelming predominance of small / marginal
farms, as indicated in the previous paragraph, implies that the current pattern of agriculture
cannot absorb such a large labour population (the small / marginal farms will utilize
household labour in preference to employed labour to conserve cash); nor does the current
low productivity of small / marginal farms provide the wherewithal to increase agricultural
employment; unless the productivity of small farms is increased significantly – which is the
challenge to be faced by RE sources – this situation cannot be significantly changed in the
immediate future. This implies that one of the major objectives to be achieved has to be the
effective deployment / implementation of RE sources / systems to enhance agricultural
productivity particularly at the small / marginal farms level to put them on a sustainable growth
path.

4. Another major implication of the surplus labour in the rural areas is that labour
migration probably takes place to States / areas where employment opportunities are available.
This would be a continuation of the historical pattern both during the colonial period
(labour exported to West Indies, Mauritius etc.), labour migration to Bengal (both West and
East) during the colonial period, labour employed in coal mining and other mining activities
(Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh etc.) in the post-independence era and the
continuing migration of labour to agriculturally and industrially developed states such as
Punjab, Maharashtra, Delhi etc. Since it has been reported in the initiation workshop that
biomass materials like rice husk are being exported to Punjab and sugarcane is being crushed
outside the state; this implies that both biomass based materials as well as able-bodied labour is
creating energy / development in other states38 but these are unable as yet to create significant
energy / development in Bihar.
5. The migration of able-bodied labour out of a region has other sociological implications viz.
that those who are left behind are generally women and children, the old and the dependent
and the disabled. Since they are often unable to look after their own needs, being dependent on
a money- order economy, being subject to debt exploitation and many other travails
associated with extreme poverty, the immediate intervention of renewable energy systems
deployed for welfare functions is also an important consideration, very often to be borne by
the state and its institutions. Otherwise the vicious circle of poverty will continue, with
children unable to attend school or receive education, women being forced to labour long
hours for getting fuel wood and water, ill health forcing debt on older people and so on. There
is now enough literature worldwide

to assert that vicious cycles can be replaced by virtuous cycles of sustainable development
in which renewable energy plays a central role.

6. Another way of understanding Bihar is to consider the relative contribution of various sectors
to the Net State Domestic Product at current Prices (Rs Cr.)

Table 1.3 Contribution of various sectors to the Net State Domestic Product in Bihar
S. No. Sector 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

1 State 1,841,931 2,004,703 2,158,718

(100%) (100%) (100%)
2 Agriculture 384,882 428,031 430,519
(20.89) (25.35) (19.94)
3 Manufacturing 244,105 262,977 285,219
(Regd. & Unregd) (13.25) (13.11) (13.21)
4 All services 988,800 1,071,998 1,180,417
(53.68) (53.47) (54.68)
(Source: Bihar Through Figures - 2007, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Govt of Bihar, pp.64)

It is evident that Agriculture contributes significantly more to the Domestic Product than
combined Manufacturing (both Registered and Unregistered). All services contribute by far
the largest percentage of the Domestic Product. This circumstance can, in fact, be turned
to Bihar„s advantage since Agriculture can become a net producer of green energy (and green
materials) in the near future and services generally have a low intensity of energy
consumption per unit of value addition. Also, instead of committing to a long term path of
energy-intensive industrialization and energy-dependent infrastructure, if Bihar can chart a
path of light industry which can also produce electricity or energy as a by-product, from
renewable sources, it can lay the foundation for sustainable growth across all three sectors of
39
the economy. A significant range of agro-processing industries (food processing, dairies,
cheese factories, abattoirs and meat processing industries etc.) have the possibility of co-
generating electricity and / or heat if suitably designed at the initial stages, which not only adds
 to their viability but also contributes to green electricity in grids. This will be explored further
in the chapter on Bio-energy.

7. The current electricity scenario in Bihar can be judged from the following table

Current Electricity Scenario in Bihar

Attribute Value
State installed capacity 590 MW
Of which Thermal 540 MW
(Barauni) 320 MW
(Muzaffarpur) 220 MW
Hydro (Kosi) 50 MW
Share of CG stations 1379 MW
AT&C Losses 44.45 %
Energy shortage 16.4 %
Peak Deficit 27.6 %
Per Capita consumption 93 kWh
National consumption 650 kWh
Source: 3rd North East and East Power Summit 2010, CEA and PFC

Existing power stations

Name of power station Installed Capacity (MW) Agency

Hydro

Kosi (4x4.8) 19.2 BSHPC*

Sone E&W Canal(2x1.65+4x1.65) 9.9 BSHPC

East Gandak Canal(3x5) 15 BSHPC

Agnoor 1.0 BSHPC

Dhelabagh 1.0 BSHPC

Total 46.1

Thermal

Barauni (2x50+2x110) 320 BSEB

Muzaffarpur (2x10) 320 BSEB**

Total 540
*BSEB transferred the project to BSHPC on 16th Nov.2003
**Now transferred to new JV-Vaishali Generating Co.

(Source: Road Map for Development of Power Sector in Bihar – A Report of the Special Task Force on Bihar, Govt. of India, July 2007)

40generation capacity, is heavily dependent on

Thus Bihar, with approx 600MW of its own
the power supplied by Central Generating Stations. This lack of power poses an enormous
constraint for all future development – whether in agriculture, industry or services.
 Supply position
Peak March 2011 April 10– March 11
Peak Demand (MW) 2123 2140
Peak Met (MW) 1402 1649
Peak Deficit (-) / Surplus (+) -721 -481
Peak Deficit / Surplus (%) -34 -22.5
Energy
Energy Requirement (MU) 909 (p.m.) 12384
Energy Availability (MU) 773 (p.m.) 10772
Energy Deficit (-) / Surplus (+) MU -136 (p.m.) -1612
Energy Deficit / Surplus (%) -15 -13

(Source: Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Govt of India), March 2011 http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/monthly/executive_rep/apr11/25-
26.pdf

Power supply position

Period Peak Peak Peak Peak Energy Energy Energy Energy
Demand Met Deficit/ Deficit/ Requirement Availability Deficit/ Deficit/
(MW) (MW) Surplus Surplus (MU) (MU) Surplus Surplus
(MW) (%) (MU) (%)
9TH PLAN
1409 1288 -121 -8.6 9370 8992 -378 -4.0
END
2002-03 1389 1325 -64 -4.6 8096 7422 -674 -8.3

2003-04 973 788 -185 -19.0 7588 5878 -1710 -22.5

2004-05 980 980 0 0.0 7201 6476 -725 -10.1

2005-06 1314 1116 -198 -15.1 7955 7218 -737 -9.3

2006-07 1399 1162 -237 -16.9 8425 7741 -684 -8.1

2007-08 1882 1243 -639 -34.0 9155 7933 -1222 -13.3

2008-09 1842 1333 -509 -27.6 10527 8801 -1726 -16.4

2009-10 2,249 1,509 -740 -32.9 11,587 9,914 -1,673 -14.4
APR-DEC
2,073 1,659 -414 -20.0 9,792 8,422 -1,370 -14.0
2010
DEC 2010 2,023 1,373 -650 -32.1 1,232 947 -285 -23.1

(Source: Power Scenario at a Glance, January 2011, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Govt of India (pp. 92-93))
http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/planning/power_scenario.pdf

Proposed projects
Name of power project Installed Agency
Capacity(MW)
Hydro
Indrapuri Reservoir (5x90) 41 450 BSHPC
Telhar Kund PSS (4X100) 400 BSHPC
Sinafdar PSS (3X115) 345 BSHPC
 Panchghotia PSS (3X75) 225 BSHPC
Hathiadah-Durgawati PSS(8X200) 1600 BSHPC
Dagmara Barrage (3x42) 126 BSHPC
Thermal
Barauni Extn. (2x250) 500 BSEB
Muzaffarpur (2x250) 500 BSEB
Nabi Nagar 2000 BSEB
Katihar(4x250) 1000 BSEB
Pirapanti 4000 BSEB

(Source: Road Map for Development of Power Sector in Bihar – A Report of the Special Task Force on Bihar, Govt. of India, July 2007).

42
These projects will add enormously to the States existing generation capacity. However, by their very
nature, large projects will involve long construction and commissioning times as also large financial
burden on the States financial resources.

Table 1.9 Bihar’s share of power projects

Name of the project Total Share(MW) Unallocated Shares (MW)
Farakka (3 x 200 MW+ 2 x 500 MW) 363 -
Kahalgaon (4 x 210 MW) 222 12(included in total share)
Talcher St-1(2 x 500 MW) 354 13(included in total share)
Kahalgaon St-II (1x500 MW) 63*
Sub-total 1002
Rangit Hydro ( 3 x 20 MW) 21
Chukha (270 MW) 80
Tala HPS (3x170 MW) 130
Sub-total 231
Total allocation to Bihar 1233 Including unallocated share
of 25 MW
* Date of Commercial Operation (COD) yet to be declared.

(Source: Road Map for Development of Power Sector in Bihar – A Report of the Special Task Force on Bihar, Govt. of India, July 2007)

Tentative share of Bihar in central sector projects expected during 11th Plan
Name Agency Capacity (MW) Tentative Share (MW) Target date
Teesta ST-V NHPC 510 52 2007-08
Thermal
126
Kahalgaon St-II NTPC 1000 2007-08
(firm share)
BARH-I NTPC 1980 324* 2009-11
NORTH KARANPURA NTPC 1320 127* 2011-12
FARAKKA ST-III NTPC 500 53 2009-10
BARH-II NTPC 1320 188 2011-12
NABINAGAR
NTPC 500 103 2010-12
(other than railway)
*as indicated by NTPC, allocation yet to be decided by MoP

(Source: Road Map for Development of Power Sector in Bihar–A Report of the Special Task Force on Bihar, Govt. of India, July 2007)

Power scenario at the end of 11th Plan

Peak 2011-12
Peak Demand (MW) 3607
Peak Met (MW) 1534
Peak Deficit (-)/surplus (+) MW -2073
Peak Deficit/Surplus (%) -57.5
43
Energy
Energy Requirement (MU) 19905
Energy availability (MU) 11755
 Peak 2011-12
Energy Deficit (-) / Surplus (+) -8150
Energy Deficit / Surplus (%) -40.9

(Source: Road Map for Development of Power Sector in Bihar – A Report of the Special Task Force on Bihar, Govt. of India, July 2007)

Thus, both energy deficit and peak deficit have increased enormously towards end of 11 th Plan as
compared to Table -6 (2006-07), indicating demand for outstrips supply.

44
 .
Table - Demand forecast
Year Peak Load Energy
(MW) Requirement (MU)
2006-07 1570 9629
2007-08 1842 11134
2008-09 2177 12874
2009-10 2575 14886
2010-11 3046 17213
2011-12 3607 19905
2016-17 5598 32857
2021-22 9567 58248
(Source: Road Map for Development of Power Sector in Bihar – A Report of the Special Task Force on Bihar, Govt. of India, July 2007)

Since Bihar has started with per capita electricity consumption well below the national
average, the demand growth will be high in the foreseeable future; this will happen in a
situation where all states will be competing for power from CGS. This also indicates the
tremendous potential forfuture RE development in Bihar.

T & D losses
Year T & D Losses
2003 – 04 36.66
2004 – 05 38.88
2005 – 06 43.96
2006 – 07 50.67
2007 - 08 48.79
(Source: Power Scenario at a Glance, January 2011, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Govt of India (pp. 92-93))
http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/planning/power_scenario.pdf

8. Varying estimates exist of Bihar„s Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses :
Table 1.14 Estimates of Bihar’s AT&C losses
Years Source Estimate
2004-06 Power Road Map 40 %
2004-05 BSEB 46 %
2004-05 ICRA 48 %
2003-04 PFC (Performance of State Power Utilities Report) 77 %
2004-04 PFC 74.09%
Reduction Trend 3% p.a. in 2004-05 compared to 2003-04 (PFC Report)

45
With regard to T&D losses, the following observation has been made in section 5.8.10 of
National
Electricity Policy 2005, released by Ministry of Power, Govt of
India:

― It would have to be clearly recognized that Power Sector will remain unviable until T&D
losses are brought down significantly and rapidly. A large number of States have been reporting
losses of over 40% in the recent years. By any standards, these are unsustainable and
imply a steady decline of power sector operations. Continuation of the present level of
losses would not only pose a threat to the power sector operations but also jeopardize the
growth prospects of the economy as a whole. No reforms can succeed in the midst of such
large pilferages on a continuing basis.

Action on reduction of AT&C losses has to be taken on a priority basis, for which adequate
powers are available under the Electricity Act, 2003. The following sections of the Act are
relevant:

Table 1.15 Provisions under Electricity Act 2003 to reduce AT&C losses
Section Pertaining to Penalty
Number
Section 135 Theft of Electricity Imprisonment upto 3 years or fine or both,
subject to qualification; burden of proof on
consumer

Section 136 Theft of Electricity lines and Imprisonment upto 3 years or fine or both,
materials subject to qualification; for repeat offence,
imprisonment not less than 6 months and upto 5
years and fine not less than Rs. 10,000

Section 137 Receiving stolen property Imprisonment upto 3 years or fine or both
Section 138 Interference with meters or Imprisonment upto 3 years or fine upto
works of licensee Rs.10,000/- or both; in case of continuing
offence, daily fine upto Rs.500
Section 145 Civil court not to have
jurisdiction (to entertain suit or
grant injunction)

(Source: Ministry of Power, Govt of India) http://www.powermin.nic.in/acts_notification/electricity_act2003/preliminary.htm)

46
 This is an impressive performance, yet it adds to the problem of demand being far greater than
supply.
10. Agriculture power sales 28% of total sales
Agriculture power revenue 4 % of total revenue
11. The Credit Deposit (CD) Ratio of different categories of banks in Bihar is as shown: (Other figures
in Rs. Crores, rounded)
Table - CD Ratios of banks in Bihar
Bank Deposits Advances CD Ratio
Commercial Banks 91243 26974 29.5 %
Cooperative Banks 2972 1543 51.9 %
RRBs 12801 5615 43.8 %
Total 107017 34132 31.9 %
(Source: State Level Bankers Committee, Bihar: 35th Review Meeting, Jan 2011, pg 20)

Thus, commercial banks business constitutes the largest share of the banking industry in Bihar
and has the lowest CD Ratio.
With respect to other parts of India, the comparative picture is as shown below:
Table 1.17 CD Ratios of Commercial Banks
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
Bihar 20.70 21.90 23.70 26.90 31.40 30.20 31.10
India 56.70 58.40 59.20 58.20 66.00 72.50 75.00

(Source: Road Map for Rural Industrialization of Bihar – Report of the Special Task Force on Bihar, Govt. of India, July 2008;
Annexure VIII – pg 74)

The above comparison indicates that local savings (as deposits) are not returning to the local
economy (as Advances or Credit); in effect, capital is flowing out of Bihar. Taken together with the
earlier observations, this implies that labour, biomass resources and capital have been flowing
out of Bihar. This may serve to elucidate the major reasons why development is not taking place
in Bihar at the desired pace, despite aspirations.
12. The recovery data for bankers is as follows: (Rs Crores)
Table - Recovery data for bankers in Bihar
Bank Demand raised Amt. recovered Recovery %
Commercial 6152 2715 44.13 %
Cooperative 533 225 42.22 %
RRBs 792 560 70.66 %
Total 7478 3500 46.81 %

(Source: SLBC, 35th Review

Meeting, pg. 21)

The bankers accept that the recovery rate is poor. Informal discussion with the bankers
47
has indicated that with poor rates of recovery, bankers are wary of further lending. Hence, one
of the most powerful engines of development is brought to a halt.
 13. However, section 5.8.1 of National Electricity Policy 2005, released by Ministry of Power,
Govt of India, states that ―Public service obligations like increasing access to
electricity to rural households and small and marginal farmers have highest priority over
public finances.

14. The districts affected by left wing extremism have been officially recognized, as follows:
Arwal, Aurangabad, Gaya, Jamui, Jehanabad and Rohtas.

(Source: SLBC 35th Review Meeting - pg 27, pg 29A)

15. The figures indicate that there are a very large number of cooperative institutions financed by
the Bihar State KVIC, almost 2500 in number; their organizational reach could be utilized
for the rapid diffusion of RE across Bihar, particularly as many of them are backwardly linked
to forms of agricultural production. This aspect needs further study.

16. The composite picture that emerges from all of the above, based on an energy perspective, is
as follows :

a. Due to shortages of grid electricity from conventional generation sources, industrialization

will continue to lag, particularly because large sources of generation have long gestation
periods while domestic demand will spurt as aspirations for electricity increase. This
indicates that, under the appropriate conditions, fast deployment modular RE systems can
grow rapidly.

b. Agricultural growth can add to the energy supply sources provided the principal constraints
electricity for irrigation – can be suitably addressed through RE deployment.

c. Growth of light industry linked to various forms of agricultural processing can

become sustainable provided the process waste streams can be harnessed for energy generation.

d. Service sector growth, which is low on energy consumption, can become sustainable
in energy terms, provided there is a conscious strategy for the substitution of energy by
information. Thus, many operations such48as billing, financial and banking transactions,
travel booking, payments etc. can be conducted via computers thereby avoiding travel
cost, travel time and travel energy. With the rapid growth of telecom connectivity, this
 option for development must be consciously utilized to the fullest extent for rapid growth in
the services economy and improvement of the quality of services. This will also
generate low energy employment and progressively higher value employment in the tertiary
sector.

17. Broadly taken together, the various policies across agriculture, water, rural industrialization
and renewable energy are capable of driving growth in a desirable sustainable direction,
though careful monitoring will be called for at all stages, given the present deficit of
infrastructure and other aspects of development. This is the real challenge that the RE Action
Plan has to confront.

18. Finally, this path of development has to be pioneered in an international environment forcing
a multiplicity of crisis, as below:

a. the climate crisis

b. the water crisis
c. the fossil fuel availability crisis
d. the crisis caused by escalating prices of fossil fuels
e. the global agricultural crisis
f. the health crisis

This emergent scenario of global crisis adds further constraints to the development path to
be chosen and it would be unrealistic for any Action Plan to ignore this backdrop. The
remainder of this Report will concentrate on RE sources as potentially providing solutions in
the emerging context, for Bihar. It is important to note here that RE represents hitherto
untapped resources over and beyond the aforementioned labour, capital and agricultural
commodities. These resources are manifest as wind, solar, bio-energy and small hydro
resources which can be harnessed to energize development.

49
INTRODUCTION: DDG

Electricity is the most critical strategic infrastructure in our society today and its importance
will increase in the future. Its direct importance in reliably delivering energy to point of use
enables every other major technological infrastructure in our society. By 2050 World Energy
Council envisages the global energy mix will be made up of at least eight energy sources (coal,
oil, gas, nuclear, hydro, biomass, wind & solar) with none expected to have more than 30%
share of the market. Electricity can make this diverse supply portfolio possible while
simultaneously meeting global energy and environmental demands.

In spite of several initiatives taken by Government of India and progress in extending the
national grid, 26 percent of rural households still do not have access to electricity. In India the
Ministry of Power has specifically targeted scheme; Decentralized Distributed Generation
(DDG) for state actors & community organizations to invest in off–grid generation and
distribution in rural areas. In many areas, despite grid availability, households have chosen not
to connect, frequently because of insufficient and unreliable supply of electricity. With the
demand for power outstripping its availability, rural areas face major challenges of very low per
capita consumption and inadequate power supply (most rural areas receive only a few hours of
supply per day) made worse by poor quality of service.
Rural electrification supply in India has been lagging in terms of service as well as penetration;
Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) is other option for rural electrification that
has been implemented in many areas. The rural household has access to electricity, and the
supply suffers from frequent power cuts, high fluctuation in voltage and frequency with so called
blackouts and brownouts. A major bottleneck in the development of the power sector is the
poor financial state of the utilities, which can be attributed to the lack of adequate revenues and
state subsidies for supply to the rural subscribers. The present policies of building large
centralized generation and extended distribution networks are clearly unlikely to solve the
problems of rural electricity supply, at least in the near future. Decentralized power generation
close to the rural load centers using renewable sources appears to have the potential to
address at least some of the problems of rural electrification. It is another option for rural
electrification that has been implemented successfully in remote villages where connectivity to

50
the grid is not feasible and cost effective. Grid Extension and Decentralized Distributed
Generation are the two basic means used to electrify rural areas.

THE NEED:

There is a far greater challenge in justifying DDG projects in developing countries, particularly
in rural settings to provide electricity to meet the basic needs of village dwellers that do not
have access to grid electricity. Here, the challenge is to work out the economic viability of the
projects which is often more important than the limited choice of site-specific technologies.
Limited rural income generally can only cover operating costs and some equity, leaving the
majority of the initial capital expenditures to be supported in the form of grants from local
government or development agencies.

The starting point still remains the assessment of a suitable technology option which can be
managed by the local community. This means that both business and technical capacities of the
local community must be built to operate and maintain the energy system. For such
applications in remote locations, the most suitable of all technologies (solar photovoltaic or SPV)
turns out to be the most desirable option. Small diesel-generator (DG) sets, which are much
cheaper, offer electricity albeit at high cost to end-users. Currently, a biomass gasification
system coupled with a gas engine is emerging as another attractive option and stands in
between the other two technologies. This technology uses gas rich in methane produced from
biomass gasification (not combustion) which after clean-up is fired in a conventional
compression ignition dual-fuel engine. An alternator linked to the engine produces electricity.
Renewable Energy based-DDG projects across the world have been successful in areas where
demand exists and DDG has been found to be economically viable. However, successes at the
local or the micro-level have rarely been scaled up. This is due to a number of institutional,
financial, and technical reasons. In this section, we look at the issues that have impeded the
development of Renewable Energy based DDG projects.

Financial institutions in India, due to lack of adequate knowledge of these technologies, their
advantages, and returns, are not convinced enough to lend for the purchase of these (RETs).
A number of government agencies collect data at the rural level that focus on different aspects

51
of energy, including resource availability, supply potential, and to a limited extent demand
assessment. This data is neither shared nor collated into a single database for an informed
decision-making system either by the government or private sector, which results in limited
data and information for rural energy entrepreneurs looking to enter the clean energy DDG
market.

DDG concept has been dependent on national programs that have either been technologycentric
or end-use-based without any inter-linkages. Owing to a rigid program based approach,
little or no attention has been given to either the effectiveness of these programs or the issues
that promote human welfare through a measurable approach.

Governments are slowly coming forward with creative ways to support DDG. However, the
gap between government subsidies and the true cost of a project can at times be too wide to be
bridged by local users. Special-purpose models are being created to clearly delineate the
responsibility of the local community in terms of ownership of assets through shareholding,
operation and maintenance, and payment mechanisms. These models still need to be
standardized, improved upon and tested across several different locations before they can be
widely applied.

THE PROPOSAL:

The base line study will be done in remote villages (Cluster of 19 villages from the states of
Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa) of India and this study shall be undertaken by The Green
Mantra (TGM). The aim of this study is to demonstrate how renewable sources of energy can
reduce poverty through improved quality of life and increased livelihood opportunities in
remote, non-electrified villages of India that are not likely to get electricity from the grid.

52
SCOPE OF WORK:

The study will start with significant amounts of desk study to compile a full inventory

of all types of energy interventions in the proposed three states namely Bihar, Orissa

and Jharkhand.

Based on extensive desk studies of available reports, field surveys and site visits, those

Interventions that targeted the poor or rural dwellers will be identified. As a first step

for ensuring energy access, village inventory data is to be compiled to understand

the local availability of resources to meet the energy needs, the skill set of the affected

population and their capability to pay for energy resources.

This can be achieved using data and information available through geological surveys,

demographic surveys, energy supply, demand projections and locally available natural

resources like wind, solar, biomass, and water/hydro resource to meet the energy needs.

The effort would be to first get access to available data through government records,

published information and support of organizations like Google, etc. and supplement it

with grass root level validation and value addition using a survey questionnaire to

assess the availability and acceptability of local resources to meet their energy needs.

WORK PLAN/ METHODOLOGY

The methodology for the study incorporates both formal and informal approaches to obtaining
the information desired. The Work Plan shall be implemented in the following three phases:
1. Selection of District/Block of Villages /Cluster for initial study
2. Preparing a database of Village level Inventory in selected states
3. Prepare a detailed project proposal with cost estimates and revenue model
1. Selection of District/Block of Villages /Cluster for initial study.

53
They are:
 Aurangabad
 Gaya
 Koraput
 Other area in Bihar/ Jharkhand/ Orissa.

2. Preparing a database of Village level Inventory in selected states.

Some of the issues involved and its implication while building up Village Inventory data
base are as under:

 Physical maps of the area (geological maps) showing topography, forest cover, water
bodies etc.

 Socio –political Map / Census data helps in identifying different groups, fixed and
migratory communities, Number of households, adults, women, children , social and
cultural values etc.

 Pre existing energy infrastructure such as proximity to electricity grid/sub stations,

gas pipelines, solid fuel availability and delivery system.

 Availability and proximity to motor able roads, railway tracks, waterways etc.

 Availability of Schools, Banks, post office, Primary health centers, ponds, wells,
tanks etc.

 Level of education and skill sets of local people will help in understanding the most
effective means of communication like posters, leaflets, talks and drama etc.

 Income levels in community and how is the wealth held – in cash, fixed assets like
land, building, capital goods, livestock etc.

54
 Decision making process in community, stakeholders, gatekeepers, influence
Groups.

 Predominant commercial activity /business in the community such as making

handicrafts from local produce, pottery, carpet making etc.

 Whether income is mostly locally generated or comes from elsewhere e.g. migratory
workers in other states or foreign countries.

 How does income vary across the year e.g. with agriculture harvesting, remittance
from abroad or regular salary payments from local industry and offices.
 What is the current level of expenditure by local people per month to meet their
energy needs (in cash or kind).

 An understanding of the ability to pay by local people and their willingness to pay.

 It helps to understand the pattern of expenditure by local people as it helps in

understanding their priorities.

 Sense of ownership and attitude towards theft and pilferage by local community.

 Modalities for collection of revenue. Who will collect? Where will the cash be kept?

 Periodicity of collection regular or harvest linked (payable when able).

3. Prepare a detailed project proposal with cost estimates and revenue model.
The revenue model shall be based on:

 Decentralized Distributed Generation scheme

55
 Micro grid models ( areas connected to grid but poor availability of power)

 Domestic consumers &commercial enterprises tariff

 Selection of Technology and its sizing/suggested suppliers

 Sources for funding recommended

 Recommendation of Local Entrepreneur to set up and operate EA project

 Skills and support required to enable and empower LE

 Income generating schemes suited to availability of local resources, possible after

commissioning of EA project

Sample Districts Selected:

1. Aurangabad (Bihar)
2. Gaya (Bihar)
3. Korput (Orissa)

Dist I – Aurangabad (Bihar)

Population = 25,11,243 (Twenty Five Lac, Eleven Thousand Two Hundred Forty Three)
As per the 2011 Census, 85% of the population of Bihar lives in villages. Of the 38 districts in
Bihar, the villages from District Aurangabad have been selected for the proposed study.

Aurangabad district is located in south western part of Bihar with a total population of more
than 25 lakhs and about 2.86 lakhs households. It is predominantly a rural district (rural
population being 18.43 lakhs against 1.7 lakhs in urban areas, as per Census 2001).
2.42% of the total population of Bihar resides in Aurangabad District, where 1239 villages are
yet to be electrified (including de-electrified).

56
The number of villages for which electrification is to be carried out and the different type of
consumers to be provided connections are given below.
Category of consumers for electrification

Particulars No.

No. of Villages 1239

BPL Consumers 65219

Dist II – Gaya (Bihar)

Population = 43,79,383 (Forty Three Lac, Seventy Nine Thousand, Three Hundred Eighty
Three)

In addition to Aurangabad, the villages from Gaya have also been selected for the proposed
Baseline Study.

Gaya district is located in the central part of Bihar with a total population of more than 43 lakhs
with 5.1 lakh number of households. It is predominantly a rural district (rural population being
29.97 lakhs against 4.76 lakh in urban areas). It is the fifth highest in the population percentage
of Bihar, with a density (per sq km) of 880. The district has a total of 2680 Villages spread in 24
Blocks including 2059 Villages which are yet to be electrified (including de-electrified). No. of
Villages for which electrification is to be carried out and the numbers of the different types of
consumers to be provided connections are given below:
Category of consumers for electrification

Particulars No.

No. of Villages 2059

BPL Consumers 73664

Dist III - Koraput (Orissa)

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Population = 13,76,934 (Thirteen Lac, Seventy Six Thousand, Nine Hundred Thirty Four)
Koraput is one amongst 30 districts of Orissa state. Total 14 Taluks, 231 Villages are in this
district. This district is a part of the tribal belt in southern Orissa with a population of more than
13 lac people with a literacy percentage of 49.87%; out of which 38% are females and 61% are
males.

Electrification Data:

Particulars No.

Total No. of villages 1997

Electrified village 1102
Non-electrified village 895
% of Electrification 55.18%

Preface

Energy is a key driver to sustain an impressive economic growth of 6-8% in the country.
There is hardly any area where energy input is not required though in a varying measure.
So, it is quite important to ensure a sustainable flow of all forms of energy. That is not all;
as energy should also be used quite efficiently. Energy conservation is all the more
needed in the present day scenario. As of now, around 75-80% of our population lives in
the villages, where energy supplies are quite deficient in nature. As per census 2001,
nearly 44% of the rural households do not have any access to electricity. Out of these
some of the villages are situated in quite inhospitable terrains where taking grid power
would either be quite difficult or un-economical. Thus it leaves due scope for alternate
forms of energy to make their way into such remote rural areas.

Recently, the concept of rural electrification via Distributed Generation (DG) has come
as a boon for the rural areas. This is in tune with the Govt. of India‟s initiative to provide
electricity to all by the year 2012. The key objective is to ensure an integrated
development of the villages accompanied by wholesome economic growth of the country.

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CONCEPT OF DISTRIBUTED GENERATION

For a large and dispersed rural country, decentralized power generation systems, where in
electricity is generated at consumer end and thereby avoiding transmission and distribution costs,
offers a better solution. Gokak Committee had gone into details about the concept of
decentralized generation to meet the needs of rural masses. The main recommendations of the
Committee are as under :-

1. The concept of Distributed Generation (D.G.) has been taken as decentralized generation
and distribution of power especially in the rural areas. In India, the deregulation of the
power sector has not made much headway but the problem of T&D losses, the
unreliability of the grid and the problem of remote and inaccessible regions have
provoked the debate on the subject.

2. The D.G. technologies in India relate to turbines, micro turbines, wind turbines, biomass,
and gasification of biomass, solar photovoltaic and hybrid systems. However, most of the
decentralized plants are based on wind power, hydro power and biomass and biomass
gasification. The technology of solar photovoltaic is costly and fuel cells are yet to be
commercialized.

3. In so far as the 18,000 villages in remote and inaccessible areas are concerned, the
extension of grid power is not going to be economical. Decentralized plants based on
biomass, gasification of biomass, hydel power and solar thermal power and solar
photovaltaics are the appropriate solution for these areas. A decision with regard to the
available options will have to be taken depending on the feature of each site/village.

4. As regards the remaining unelectrified villages, the responsibility should rest primarily
with the State Governments. The Govt. of India would, however, act as the facilitator to
them.

5. As people in many of the electrified villages are very much dissatisfied with the quality
of grid power, such villages also encouraged to go ahead with the Distributed Generation
Schemes. These should also be the responsibility of the State Governments

59
 6. In so far as the 18,000 villages in remote and inaccessible areas are concerned, the
extension of grid power is not going to be economical. Decentralized plants based on
biomass, gasification of biomass, hydel power and solar thermal power and solar
photovaltaics are the appropriate solution for these areas. A decision with regard to the
available options will have to be taken depending on the feature of each site/village.

7. As regards the remaining unelectrified villages, the responsibility should rest primarily
with the State Governments. The Govt. of India would, however, act as the facilitator to
them.

8. As people in many of the electrified villages are very much dissatisfied with the quality
of grid power, such villages also encouraged to go ahead with the Distributed Generation
Schemes. These should also be the responsibility of the State Governments.

9. Though India has made considerable progress in adopting technologies based on

renewable sources of energy these are not yet capable of commercial application on a
large scale.

10. Association of Village Panchayat with Village Level Committees is important for the
success of the programme. The fact that the Rural Electric Cooperatives which were
established in the 80.s for distribution of power supplied by the SEBs incurred losses
need not deter us from trying them out again as these did have some positive features.

Origin of the Study

Providing electricity to the rural areas is high on the priority of the Central government.
The Ministry of Power (MOP) has put in place a mission known as REST, which stands
for Rural Electrification Supply Technology Mission. Primary purpose of this mission is
to speed up the electrification of all villages progressively by the year 2012 via use of
Renewable energy sources and similar other decentralized technologies. For rural electrification.
The essence being to set up De-centralised Distributed Generation(DDG) projects based on
renewable energy technologies like biomass and solar etc.

Site Selection

60
Following which, preliminary survey was carried out in the following few villages coming under
the jurisdiction of the Gaya district:

 Amghati
 Telni
 Vohva
 Danipur
 Vijaynagar
 Sarvodayapuri
 Khajuriya
 Vishanpur
 Shankarpur
 Kalyanpur
 Bhakauriya
 Gulariyataud
 Ghavataud
 Jhagraahi
 Morve
 Kodiya
 Domataad
 Purnibathan

A well structured questionnaire was framed for each of these villages to collect the
primary information. The study was based on an end use approach within which the
existing energy use patterns as well as the projected demands of the individual village
were evaluated. Accordingly, the collected data was thoroughly analyses to evolve a
suitable design plan for village electrification. Due consideration was accorded to the
local needs and there from to the demand and supply requirements of energy use in those
areas. The participatory approach of managing the intended facility was given a proper
recognition. In totality, the following few parameters were focused in the first instance
through closely held discussions with the individual rural groups:

· Technical Feasibility (of the energy options)

· Initial Readiness to pay for better mode of lighting (traditional oil lamps in use)
· Overall Sustainability (of the intended project)

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Renewable Energy Technologies as DDG

BIOMASS GASIFICATION

The electric power demand in most Indian villages lies between 20KW-100KW and the locally
available surplus biomass is often sufficient to meet these power requirements. Widespread
availability of agriculture wastage, fuel wood, animal dung and wasteland make biofuel and
biomass based energy appealing, with biomass gasification representing one of the most
promising small-scale electricity generating technologies. The use of biomass gasification
technology for rural electrification still remains limited, though with large potential across
India. Current installed capacity stands at around 350 MW, with small-scale systems
representing around
43MW of this, across 1800 systems. The potential for larger scale replication of biomass
gasification systems is estimated to be between 20,000 MW and 57,000MW.

Fuel supply plays a crucial role in determining the financial viability and sustainability of
biomass gasifier power plants. Competition with food produce makes biomass a potentially
contentious fuel supply, precluding the dedicated use of existing farmland for biomass
production. Mismanagement or unforeseen shortages of managed crops can put pressure on
forests or common property resources and can threaten the feasibility of distributed power
plants. However, in general rural India has an abundance of wasteland and marginal farmland.
Successful projects have helped local communities to effectively utilize energy
plantations or common land for the growing of suitable biomass fuel crops. Agricultural
residuals can supplement fuel crops for small-scale gasification plants. In addition, in some
environments electricity allows for increased irrigation and utilization of ground water stocks.
Where the community can regulate the use of scarce ground water, farmers can grow cash
crops and drought sensitive crops instead of low yielding millets. For small-scale electrification,
particularly community loads in rural areas, biomass gasification represent a sustainable and
relatively low cost option for fulfilling basic electricity needs

BIOMASS DIGESTER

Biogas digesters also hold great promise in delivering change in rural areas, especially in India,
where there are large amounts of cattle. Biogas is produced from animal and human waste
through a process known as anaerobic digestion, done with organic matter. The marsh gas,
or methane, produced, can be used as fuel, replacing traditional biomass or even kerosene
and LPG. Some of the advantages of biogas are that there are lots of animals in India, thus it
can be produced at low cost, and that the technology to make biogas can be produced

62
 locally as well. Furthermore, as Practical Action states, “small-scale biogas production in rural
areas is now a well-established technology,” particularly China and India.

SMALL HYDRO

Small run-of-river hydro has enjoyed modest success in many locations across India as a
localized, cheap, clean, reliable and minimal-impact electrification option. Currently only
210MW are installed across 267 projects, predominating in the north. Small hydro systems
offer significant potential for wider deployment across mountainous rural areas. Across
India significant untapped potential would allow for up to 15GW of additional capacity.
Prospects for significant expansion of hydro-storage are smaller, and recent growth is
stagnating.

The investment costs for small rural and remote hydro power projects in India vary between
Rs. 124,310–Rs.
233,335 per kW. This includes the cost of power evacuation and distribution system. At a
discount rate of 12%, the energy delivery costs range from Rs.3/kWh up to around Rs.9/kWh,
dependent on the plant load factors. Seasonal variation in water flow and under utilization of
the produced electricity can threaten the viability of hydro plants.

WIND HYBRID

Wind power represents one of the most widespread and commercially viable renewable
energy generation technologies, gaining significant levels of deployment across both the
developing and industrialized world. Most of the wind energy deployment is grid
connected. Due to supply variations it is less suited to off-grid stand alone generation.
However, when considered part of a hybrid system, alongside diesel, biomass or solar
generation, wind turbines can be economically appealing. Decreasing capital costs as well as
government incentives strengthen the viability of wind-hybrid systems. However difficulties in
siting of turbines, combined with often undocumented local wind-speed variations, make
effective deployment time and information intensive, reducing its suitability even in hybrid-
configuration for small-scale applications. Wind-hybrid systems are currently in limited
operation at a handful of DDG sites across India. While the wind resource is generally poor in
many parts of India, an estimate a potential for around 45GW across 13 states. They show
wind-hybrid systems to be viable for decentralised generation where average wind speeds
exceed 4.75m/s. The cost estimates are highly sensitive to scale, load factor, wind resource

63
 and choice of back-up/supplementing generation. Diesel and increasingly biomass
gasification technology are chosen to supplement wind power, with per kWh cost
estimates ranging from between Rs.7/kWh and Rs.10/kWh; our fieldwork puts the
estimated cost per unit around Rs8/kWh.

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC

The Indian climatic conditions are highly suited to solar photovoltaic (PV) technology; India
enjoys between 250-300 sunny days per year, translating to between 4-7kwh/m2 (compared
to an average of 2.7kwh/m2 in UK and Germany). With capital costs of between $3,000/kw
and $6,000/kw, solar PV and thermal technologies are very expensive, making them only
suitable for small highly dispersed loads or for remote locations. Solar Home Systems (SHS)
and small solar panel systems have been used in such niche applications especially in projects
that requiring small loads of 20-100W. SHS do not have sufficient capacity to serve small
rural industries and groups of villages with 50-100kw demand profiles. However, SHS and
solar lanterns have been successful in southern India and are becoming more widely available
in northern parts.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) under its PV programme has distributed
around 610,000 systems, totalling around 20MW of capacity. This includes solar lanterns,
home lighting systems, street lighting systems, water pumping systems, and an aggregate
capacity of about 1.2 MW of stand-alone power plants. For community scale solar power
plants, the cost of delivering electricity for Indian conditions at Sagar Island (Sunderbans,
West Bengal) to be between Rs. 26-34/kWh10. Similarly, energy delivered from solar
lanterns and SHS is estimated to typically lie between Rs.20/kwh and Rs.30/kWh

64
Technology Application Advantages Disadvantages

Small biomass Water pumps Mills Allows for income- Noxious emissions
plants Refrigeration Lighting generating activities
and communication Base load operation,
continuous operation
possible

Mills Lighting, Long life, high Site-specific

Mini-hydro communication and reliability Intermittent
other Water availability
Allows for income-

generating activities

Wind Lighting and No fuel cost Expensive

communication batteries
Intermittent
Mills pumps
energy services

PV/Solar Basic lighting and No fuel cost High capital

electronic equipment costs High cost
of battery
replacement

Needs further
R&D

65
NEW INNOVATION IN OFF GRID TECHNOLOGY

¾ Light-Emitting Tapes
Solar Charged adhesive and magnetic tapes with socket-less LEDs encased in
silicon for lighting outdoor stairwells, hazardous areas and materials, sign posts,
fence perimeters, entrances, vehicles, trailers, boats, docks, and traffic cones. The
weatherproof tapes may be cut into any lengths for fitting into small areas or any
size surface while emitting light to the cut point. Unlike
Electroluminescent or other LED light ropes in the market, this tape is powered by
the sun and is not affected by cutting it to any desired length.

¾ Power Generation Station

Not only can this remarkable power station provide enough energy to charge up your
digital devices, LED lighting, and even run a group of special window fans without
need of tapping into the grid, it can also charge “AA” and “AAA” batteries directly
for your flashlights, MPEG players, and digital cameras.

¾ Self-Powered Safety Strip

Weighing in at only 3 ounces (including batteries), this waterproof reflective active
light safety strip charges up using flexible solar film requiring only a few hours of
full sunlight to light up through
the night from over 140 lights dispersed across its surface. No replacement
batteries necessary to emit light for up to 5 years.

¾ Self-Powered Hollow Blinking Safety Cone

This retro-fitted product attaches to any traffic cone or safety barrel allowing it to
remain hollow for stacking and flashes red light all week long from only a few
hours of sunlight exposure on a single day.

66
ASSESSMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES IN GAYA

The economically exploitable renewable resources in Bihar are solar, wind, hydro and biomass.
With an solar average irradiation of 4.89kwh/m and average daily sunshine of 8 hours, solar
power is a very attractive energy resource. if the installation cost are competitive enough, solar
photovoltaic technology is tipped to dominate the scene as it can be implemented anywhere in
the state for electricity production
Wind power on the other hand, is not a very attractive resource in Bihar. This is mainly due to
low wind speed across the state. The resource may be exploitable with low power wind
generation, however it is expected that the penetration rate of such system will not dominate due
to higher installation costs compared with other technologies.

Hydro power is not feasible due to flat land topology, flow rate and available head heights are
not very high, limiting the application to low hydro schemes. The available flow for operation of
hydro power plant is seasonal which interrupted for many months of a year.

A variety of biomass resources are available in Bihar such as domestic waste, by product from
agricultural production such as rice and wheat husks. This option is most attractive as it can co-
exist with production of much needed food products, and the largest waste product from the rural
area of Bihar is agricultural waste, rather than domestic waste

ASSESSMENT OF SYSTEM DEMAND

The absolute minimum demand scenario assumes that every household is equipped with two
CFL lights. The service is assumed to have limited availability being 5 – 6 hours of electricity
supply service per day. Once there is access to electricity demand will certainly grow. It was
assumed that have more or less the same consumption pattern.

67
Cost of technology

Generation Type Capital cost O $ M cost Notes

Solar 1.608(LK)kwh 1500 kwh AVERAGE
IRRADIANCE(
Wind AVERAGE WIND
SPEED(2.1 M/S) AT
50 METRE HUB
HEIGHT
Bio mass

CHOICE OF TECHNOLOGY

The Projected village was extensively surveyed to arrive at the best possible technology Option
for basic electrification. Biomass based power plant was ruled out both on the basis .Of degree of
difficulty in collecting the dung as well as the non-uniform distribution of cattle (often put for
sale) amongst the community. There is a good sunshine (4.89kWh/m2/day) at the site, which
would have made it an ideal choice for the use of a solar PV based village powers system.
However, its high initial capital cost swung the balance in the favor of a biomass energy based
power system commonly known as a biomass gasifier.

Accordingly, biomass technology was deemed as a best possible alternative for

this village having a forest covers thousands of Ha. There is a grazing land more than 100 Ha
, which has been encroached upon by the villagers for agricultural purposes. Cluster of villages
has an annual surplus availability of woody biomass in the range of thousands of
tones enough to keep a biomass gasifier system of 650 kWe going on for a daily
operation of 4-6 hours. The dry and fallen wood is found year round excepting during
the rainy season.

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The biomass Gasifier technology

Biomass gasification is a process of converting solid biomass fuel (like wood) into a
combustible gas. It is commonly known as the producer gas, which results due to a series
of thermo-chemical reactions. The gas is a low heating value fuel, with a calorific value
of 1000-1200 kcal/Nm3. Nearly 2.5-3.0 Nm3 of gas can be derived via the gasification of
about 1 kg. of air-dried biomass. It can then be used in an energy-efficient manner with a
fairly good control mechanism to meet thermal energy demands in ovens/burners, boilers
or kilns etc. However, the gas can be cooled, cleaned and fed to an engine to operate either on
dual fuel or in a 100% producer gas mode to produce some useful electricity.
The biomass gasifier with 100% producer gas engine is a proven and eco-friendly
technology and thus carbon neutral. Further, the ash content of biomass as wood blocks
(5 cm cube) is less than 0.5 %. It is also possible to use the unburnt charcoal taken out
from the gasifier for any commercial purpose.

In recent years, the rationale has been further by the environmental imperative. Local and
regional
environmental problems associated with the generation of conventional energy have provided a
strong argument for enhancing the role of renewable within the broad energy development plans
of the country. More recently, the Kyoto Protocol, agreed at the conference of parties to the
framework convention to climate change, in December, 1997, adds a global perspective to the
environmental imperative. It has been directed, last decadeand- a half, for promotion of wind,
biomass, and solar energy technologies (and of other RETs) in the Indian energy-economy. This
has provided a great deal of empirical knowledge about strategies for successful commercialized.

Future of biomass-sustainable energy: Unlike coal, oil and natural gas, whose reserves are
limited, sources like the sun, wind, and vegetative „waste‟ can be used to generate energy in a
sustainable way. The sun‟s energy can be used to generate electricity, and heat as well as cool
building cheaply over a long period of time without creating pollution. The wind energy is also
used to generate electricity. Biogas plants can utilize human and animal waste to produce fuel for
cooking and other uses, reducing the dependence on fossil fuels. It is estimated that the country
has potential of 100,000 MW renewable energy (Padmanabhan, 1999). However, the share of
renewable energy sources is 1378 MW, a mere 1.5% (exclusive of Hydro-power) of the total grid
power generating capacity in the country (90,00 MW). It has often been pointed out that an
important reason for the slow rate of diffusion of renewable energy technologies is the high
front-end cost. This will no longer be there as the fossil fuel is expected to reach their maximum
potential and their prices will become higher than the renewable energy options. It is expected
that the setting of clean technology in the coming years will facilitate channeling of funds from
the developed countries to support renewable energy sources development in developing
countries due to issues, such as, climate change becoming urgent. Thus finance is no longer a

69
constraint.

Renewable source of energy other than hydropower e.g. solar, wind and geothermal sources,
currently provide only a small fraction of global energy use. The most prevalent source of energy
is biomass. Biomass furls include wood, logging wastes and sawdust, animal dung, and
vegetable matter consisting of glass, leave, crop residues and agricultural waste. Globally,
biomass fuels accounts for 12 % of total energy requirements. In developing countries, however,
biomass accounts for 36% of all energy used smith (1987) and De Coninth et al. (1985). In India,
the biomass programmes are mainly targeted to meet the needs of rural and remote areas and
have helped in reaching electricity to the interior un-reached section of the population.

One of the reasons for slowdown in installation/commissioning of biomass-renewable energy

generation is due to inadequacy of the input material. To overcome this, attempts are being made
to use alternatives to cattle dung like poultry dropping, sericulture waste, press mud, wastes from
sago industry, bagasse from sugar mills and like wise. Since biomass based energy system can
help to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, a project on carbon emission reduction through
biomass energy for rural India, prepared by the center for application of science and technology
in rural areas, in the Indian Institute of Science, is proposed to be posed to UNDP/GEF for
multilateral funding.

Estimates indicates that if all forms of biomass were taken into account, their carbon dioxide
emission reduction potential would be equivalent to about 50 million tones by the year 2010
(Sharma, 1999). But this will only be possible once biomass is used as a source of energy. Mere
afforestation may not balance out excess carbon for an extended period of time. Because
uncontrolled burning and decay of the mature plantations will bring back a sustainable quantity
of carbon, back into circulation. The increased production of carbon dioxide in developing
countries should be offset by greater energy conservation. Efforts to make renewable sources of
energy less costly and more widely available should continue: practicable methods should be
developed for waste incineration as a energy in the table.

*) - Modernisation of Biomass Technology in India

Biomass as a technology has slowly built up in India in recent times. A decade of experience
with modern
biomass technologies for thermal, motive power and electricity generation applications exists in
India. Gasifier technology has penetrated the applications such as village electrification, captive
power generation and process heat generation in industries producing biomass waste. Over 1600
gasifier systems, having 16 MW total capacity, have generated 42 million Kilo Watt hour (KWh)
of electricity, replacing 8.8 million litres of oil annually (CMIE, 1996). An important aspect of
small gasifier technology in India is the development of local manufacturing base. The large
sized gasifier based power technologies are at R&D and pilot demonstration stage. The thrust of
the biomass power programme is now on the grid connected megawatt scale power generation
with multiple biomass materials such as rice straw, rice husk, bagasse, wood waste, wood, wild
bushes and paper mill waste. Nearly 55 MW of grid connected biomass power capacity is
commissioned and another 90 MW capacity is under construction. Enhanced scale has improved

70
economics as well as the technology of biomass power generation. Technology improvement is
also derived from joint ventures of Indian firms with leading international manufacturers of
turbines and electronic governors.

Four gasifier Action Research Centers (ARCs) located within different national institutions and
supported by the MNES have developed twelve gasifier models, ranging from 3.5 to 100 KW.
Two co-generation projects (3 MW surplus power capacity) in sugar mills and one rice paddy
straw based power project (10 MW) werecommissioned. While the co-generation projects are
successfully operated, the 10 MW rice straw based power project completed in 1992 ran into
technological problems and is closed since last two years due to want of suitable raw material. A
rice husk based co-generation plant of 10.5 MW capacity installed by a private rice processing
firm in Punjab and commissioned in 1991 faced problems such as unavailability of critical spares
of an imported turbine and uneconomical tariffs from the state utility despite power shortage in
the state (Ravindranath and Hall, 1995). The rapid escalation in the price of rice husk and low
capacity utilization added to the cost making the operation uneconomical. The experiences with
R&D and pilot project suggest the need for considerable technological and institutional
improvements to make biomass energy competitive.

The future of modern biomass power programme rests on its competitive ability vis-à-vis other
centralized electricity generation technologies. Policies for realizing biomass electric power
potential through modern technologies under competitive dynamics has a recent origin in India.
The biomass electricity programme took shape after MNES appointed the task force in 1993 and
recommended the thrust on bagasse based cogeneration. The focus of modern biomass
programme is on the cogeneration, especially in sugar industry. A cogeneration potential of
17,000 MW power is identified, with 6000 MW in sugar industry alone (Rajan, 1995).
Programme for biomass combustion based power has even more recent origin. It began in late
1994 as a Pilot Programme launched with approval of two 5 MW projects. Interest subsidy
programmes on the lines of that forthe bagasse based co-generation was extended in 1995. The
programme also initiated a grid connected biomass gasification R&D-cum-Demonstration
project of 500 Kilo Watt (KW) capacity. A decentralized electricity generation programme
initiated in 1995 provided support for total of 10 to 15 MW of small decentralized projects aimed
at energy self sufficiency in electricity deficient rural locales. The programme aims to utilize
some of the 350 million tons of agricultural and agro-industrial residues produced annually in
India.

The cost of electricity generation from these plants are anticipated to be

quite competitive at Rs. 1.8 per KWh. Modern biomass supply has to be driven by the dynamics
of energy market. Supply of biomass at a competitive cost can be ensured only with a highly
efficient biomass production system. Productivity of crops and trees depend critically on
agroclimatic factors. To enhance biomass productivity, the MNES is supporting nine Biomass
Research Centers (BRCs) in nine (of the fourteen) different agroclimatic zones in India with an
aim to develop packages of practices of fast growing, high yielding and short rotation (5-6 years)
fuelwood tree species for the degraded waste lands in these zones. Some centers have existed for
over a decade. Packages of practices for 36 promising species are prepared. Biomass yield of up
to 36.8 tons per hectare per year is reported (Chaturvedi, 1993) from some promising fuel-wood
species. Since the knowledge of these package of practices has remained limited within the

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research circles, their benefits remains to be realized. The mean productivity of farm forestry
nationally is very low at 4.2 tons per hectare per year (Ravindranath and Hall, 1995).
Exploitation of bioenergy potential is vitally linked to the adequate land supply. While the use of
cultivable crop land for fuel remains controversial under the "food versus fuel" debate, there
exists a vast supply of degraded land which is available cheaply for fuel-wood plantations. The
estimates of degraded land vary from 66 million hectares (Ministry of Agriculture, 1992) to 130
million hectares (SPDW, 1984). With improved biomass productivity and efficient energy
conversion, it is feasible to sustain a significant share of biomass in total energy use in India by
utilizing a fraction of this degraded land for biomass plantation.

*) - Biomass Pollution Control Strategies

The combusting of unprocessed biomass dominates rural energy combustion in the developing
world and may also be important in urban communities. As many as two billion people,
particularly women and children, may be exposed to indoor pollution resulting from the use of an
open fire for cooking and heating, with inadequate ventilation. Concentration of particulates and
oxides of sulphur and nitrogen substantially exceed proposed health norms. The most important
effects are respiratory, ranging from predisposition to acute infections in children to chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease in adults. As many as 700 million women in developing countries
may be at risk of developing such as serious disease. In addition to these direct effects on health,
the environmental degradation resulting from the unsustainable use of biomass may compromise
the food producing capabilities of rural communities (WHO, 1992).
Mitigation of indoor air-pollution can be achieved by the use of processed biomass (charcoal),
biogas, or methanol and the adoption of simple ventilation measures and improved stoves.
Hopefully, there will be a discernible trend in developing countries together with the extension
of local processing technologies. The introduction of appropriate species of vegetation, to
provide a renewable source of biomass should be planned as a part of environmentally sound
development Kazuhisa Miyamoto (1997).

*) - Conclusions & Recommendations

Wider uses of improved technologies for the local conversion of raw biomass into better, more
efficient types of fuel, such as biogas, are needed through out the developing world. This results
in little pollution if equipment is properly maintained, and contributes to a cleaner indoor
environment. It will also be necessary to promote renewal of biomass vegetation, in order to
prevent environmental degradation with loss of agricultural land essential for the survival of the
rural communities. Renewal of biomass also promotes a balance between carbon dioxide
productions during fuel combustion and its uptake by the biomass vegetation during
photosynthesis.

National programme on biomass gasifiers

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is implementing a National

Biomass Gasifier Programme for mechanical, electrical, thermal heating applications and
village electrification since mid nineties. Various types of financial incentives are

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available for installation of gasifier systems under this programme. Biomass gasifiers in
the capacity range of 5 kW to 1 MWe electric capacity have been developed indigenously
and are being manufactured by various manufacturers in the country. The systems being
proposed for village electrification applications are based on 100% producer gas, which is a
recent technological development. The biomass gasification systems can be used for a diverse
range of applications in the rural areas. Apart from use as a cooking fuel and for electricity
generation, the gas can be used for heating applications in village industries. The estimated cost
of village electrification projects with biomass gasification systems is about Rs. 50,000/- to Rs.
80,000/- per kWe in capacity range of 5 KW to 50 KW including the cost of land, civil works,
distribution lines etc. Biomass Gasifiers in India are being made in capacities ranging from a few
kWs to MW.

System capacity
There are around 100 households availing the benefit of biomass based lighting. Two
light bulbs of 40 W each are being used for indoor lighting in each household. These
lights remain operational for about 4 hours (6-10 p.m.) on a daily basis. Five nos. of street
lights also lit up a few vital entry and exit points within the village at night. Such lights
also stay on for about 4 hours daily. The plant capacity is around 8.20 kWe as per the
following breakup:

Number of households 100

Total domestic lighting load (@ 80 W per household) 8.0 kW
Street lighting loads 5 No.s (40 W each) 0.2 kW
Total connected load 8.20 kWe
The system capacity was scaled up to 10 kWe taking into account the near-term
electricity demand as also the associated technical losses etc. A well performing producer
gas engine offers a distinct cost advantage at Gaya since it does not use diesel. However what is
really needed is an assured supply of biomass.Table below gives a bird‟s eye view of Projected
village from several important considerations.

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Name of the Village

Distance from the nearest roadhead

Distance from block office

Distance from electrical substation/

11 kV line

Distance from nearest

powerhouse

Total number of households

Total population

Number of hamlets/dalit bastis

Community facilities available

Commercial establishments

Primary Occupation

Important crops

Total Household load

Total Street lighting load

Commercial load

Industrial load

Community load

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 Daily hours of use (lighting)

Daily hours of use (commercial load)-

proposed

Technology option considered

Installed System capacity

Management of funds

TOTAL PROJECT COST

SOURCE OF FINANCING

REVENUE GENERATION

Raw feedstock availability

The wood collected for the purpose contains nearly 25-30% of moisture. It is removed
prior to being loaded in the biomass gasifier system through a sun drying system. Total
quantity of firewood used per day is around 60 kg to ensure 4 hours of daily operation.
Specific fuel consumption is nearly 1.5 kgs of wood per unit of electricity generated at
the site. Buffer stock of woody biomass is maintained for about 4-7 days at a time in a
specially created shed at a distance of just 0.5 km. from the plant location. Wood is
moved from that point to the system via a trolley mounted arrangement.

BARRIERS

Even when demand exist and economically DDG project based on renewable energy failed and

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success of pilot project was rarely replicated. This section identifies and categorized the relevant
barriers. Existing literature has explores technological, financial and broader institutional
barriers to small scale renewable technology dissemination. It has less often focused on the role
of organisational structures that determine ownership, management, local participation and
conflict with the prevailing regulatory environment.
Barrier is divided into three parts initial barriers, organisational barriers and structural barriers.
The majority of the projects surveyed represents pilot or early implementation initiatives and as
such encountered a range of challenges we might characterize as initial barriers. These barriers,
although significant and potentially critical, represent problems that can be overcome by
organisational learning, capacity building or simply by redesign of subsequent project strategies.
Organisational barriers are often problems that have been overcome in early projects, but
learning alone will not eliminate them. By the nature of project implementation, first movers
may possess the right combination of individuals, organisational capacity and other leadership
traits that mitigate the effect of the potential challenges. Subsequent large scale replication,
whilst continuing to face these same challenges, has to be able to succeed even without
exceptionally strong local leadership and find organisational structures that are less dependent on
exceptional individuals to take local or regional leadership.

Structural barriers take the form of those challenges faced by projects that arise from fundamental
problems in the regulatory and institutional environment. Examples include unfavourable licensing
constraints or problematic tax and subsidy regimes. These barriers will likely continue to pose a
threat to project replication unless concrete steps are taken to reduce or remove them through
various regulatory or policy actions.

Initial Barriers

The most significant initial barrier is the appropriate technology choice. Where organizations have
had limited experience with project implementation, or are using new technologies, equipment
failures, resource availability problems or other critical technology issues may threaten the longer-
term sustainability of the project. Few implementing organizations have yet demonstrated effective

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methods for handling technology risk, short of simply avoiding locations that are not suitable for
their favoured technology. Where state nodal agencies of MNRE have been charged with remote
rural electrification, they typically revert to solar lanterns.
In addition, establishing village power plants is associated with significant financial and
organizational risks. Unproven technology, unpredictable local conditions and uncertainty about
the capacity of the organization to deliver, all contribute to the risk of failure. Such project risks
can be managed effectively by replicating successful approaches and learning from failures.
Increasingly organizations are moving beyond pilot phase programmes with effective strategies
in place. For initial projects, financing can represent the single largest barrier to entry. High
capital costs of DDG projects exclude many smaller NGOs from considering such initiatives and
government subsidies are often hard to access. Where financing is available, it is sometimes
restrictive.

Organizational Barriers

Plant load factor plays a critical role in determining economic viability of DDG technologies. The
load factor is largely dependent on organizational approaches to distribution and supply ensuring
adequate load and where relevant bio-fuel supply for the system. Where organizational approaches
lack the incentive to increase or maximize load, by adding additional customers, the viability of the
project may be threatened. Where measures are taken to help communities increase load through
income generating activity or acquiring modern appliances, the project may succeed with increased
benefit for local people. Cooperatives and self-help groups may be suitable local bodies to work in
partnership with implementing agents to ensure engagement by local households and businesses,
whilst also highlighting the opportunities created by a reliable electricity supply.

Local cooperatives, NGOs, Village Energy Committees and Panchayats can help ensure the reliable
collection of bills and timely repairs and maintenance. Whereas past programmes implemented by
outside organizations without such local participation often saw subsequent disuse and petty
disputes emerging, the increasingly community oriented approach to ownership and management
has helped circumvent these issues.

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Typically government projects are able to avoid the regulatory challenges that can constrain non-
government organizations; however such top-down approaches can incur organizational and
participatory challenges of their own, with regards localized management and community
participation. Limited organizational capacity to engage with local people combined with retained
ownership that offers few incentives for cooperation of local people can contribute to both under-
utilization and disuse of power plants. Although government projects do not face the same hard
budget constraints as other projects, low plant load factor threatens long term viability of such
projects. Working alongside a local NGO, Panchayat, cooperative or self help group can help
establish sufficient demand for power to thus ensure sufficient PLF for viable plant operation.

Reliable resource availability or fuel supply can be critical for success of DDG projects. Local
knowledge of seasonal variation or farming patterns can be utilized to identify future problems. For
biomass gasification, successful projects, Have demonstrated effective energy plantations utilizing
village waste land. The addition of cash crop into the community can also help offset the risk
associated with other food crops for market, providing a stable price for gasifier fuels such as
Daicha, Ipomoea, rice husk and other crop residuals. Establishing effective fuel supply or drawing up
fuels supply agreements with the local community requires leadership or experience. Successful
projects have demonstrated how reliable fuel supply can be ensured however lessons must be
learnt from previous mistakes. Caution should be exercised with regards proximity of neighboring
biomass projects and upward pressure on food crop prices, both of which can be avoided with
utilization of waste land and dedicated plantations.

Structural Barriers

Whilst pilot projects have demonstrated the potential contribution from DDG renewable
technologies, large scale deployment is limited by numerous structural barriers. Tax, subsidy and
regulatory regimes can be used to accelerate effective rural electrification; however their effect at
present remains a constraining one. State actors retain a monopoly on generous central subsidies,
whilst non-state actors struggle to secure financing. Credit constraints exist under a risk-averse

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commercial banking sector and are reinforced by a lack of demonstrated medium term successes
that could build confidence and capacity for lending. Whilst several international support
mechanisms such as the UNFCC Clean Development Mechanism have begun to support small-scale
non-governmental projects, the transactions costs associated with applications make individual
submissions prohibitive.

The prevailing Indian approach to rural electrification remains highly centralized and a target-driven
supply push strategy; this can impede the contribution from non-governmental groups, local bodies
and the private sector. Where support does exist, incentives and financial grants are often misused
or misdirected hindering implementing organizations or constraining technology choice. Subsidies
that are currently tied to implementation rather than project performance have resulted in limited
viability and sustainability of many projects.

Whilst government reports have recognized the potential role for DDG in meeting India’s
electrification challenges, their recommendations (Gokak Committee 2003) and even policy
provisions (Electricity Act 2003) have failed to see changes at the state level. There continue to exist
severe regulatory barriers to rural generation and distribution; existing legislation lacks clarity and
open to alternative interpretation and rent-seeking with significant bureaucratic delays and barriers
(corruption, coop licensing).

The Business Model for Gaya village system

IT is quite apt to enunciate a properly functional business model for this specific mode of
power generation, which can translate into significant gains for all possible stakeholders.
Following three of models make good business sense:
· Technical
· Financial
· Social
·
Technical Model

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Seemingly, it is the most vital component of a decentralized distributed generation
system. Any inexactness in devising a site specific technical model can lead to plethora
of operational problems. A properly formulated technical model was
put into action, the immediate consequence of which is a smoothly functioning biomass
power system at Gaya. Following few are the key linkages of a successful technical
model:
 Identification of village (s)
 Feasibility study
 Choice of technology
 Constitution of a VEC
 Land allocation by VEC
 Award of annual maintenance contract
 Raising dedicated plantation
 Upgradation of technology

Social Model

The empowerment of the village community is quite crucial to an overall success of a

power system like at Gaya. It instills in them a sense of purpose and belonging to care
for the system upkeep in no uncertain terms. Of special significance is the role
intended/played by a designated body better known as the Village Energy Committee
(VEC). VEC is as good as a cooperative society and exercises control over the following
few parameters of immediate relevance to the community and system operation as a
whole:

 Monthly Electricity charges

 initial contribution from the beneficiaries
 fuel supply arrangement
 security of the plant

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Penetration of DDG

As on 30 April 2010, 16.1 per cent5 of India‟s villages‟ were still unelectrified. These villages
are expected to be electrified through a mix of GE and DDG. The MNRE has undertaken the
remote village electrification program me targeted at electrifying un-electrified remote census
villages and remote un-electrified hamlets of electrified census villages where grid connectivity
is either not feasible or not cost-effective. A total of 5259 remote villages/hamlets were
identified in 2001 for rolling out the project, out of which 3332 villages have already been
covered .The plan is to electrify 296 villages through distributed generation technologies of
biomass gasification and small hydro.

Rural Energy Synonymous with Rural Electrification

Over the years, planners have regarded delivery of rural energy services as synonymous with
rural electrification. This is reflected by the fact that once a village has been declared electrified,
the energy needs of the village are deemed to have been met, regardless of whether electricity
is available to that village and whether the village rural electrification infrastructure is
operational throughout the year. At the same time, energy needs related to cooking, water
extraction, and space heating have not been look date as an integral component of this
energization program and thus are developed as disjointed and specific programs catering to a
particular end use.

Credit Access to Poor

The rural poor, owing to limited cash flows have limited options for investing in clean energy
technologies like solar home lighting systems. In light of this, access to credit becomes crucial
for facilitating access to clean energy technologies, especially for relatively capital intensive
DDG systems. Owing to the consumptive nature of energy, cumbersome procedures involved in
accessing formal credit and the reluctance of formal banking institutions to provide credit to the
poor for meeting their household energy needs, especially in the remote areas, the poor have
remained outside the mainstream, especially in terms of accessing clean technologies like solar
home lighting systems, biogas plants, etc. The poor are unable to provide the required guarantees

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and hence, financial institutions do not develop packages for decentralized rural energy
programmes.

Lack of Adequate Information/Data for Market Development

Limited data and information exists for rural energy entrepreneurs looking to enter the clean
energy DDG market. However, due to the fact that a number of government agencies collect data
at the rural level that focus on different aspects of energy, including resource availability,

Supply potential, and to a limited extent demand assessment, this data is neither shared nor
collated into a single database for an informed decision-making system either by the government
or private sector.

Lack of Research and Development (Including Customization) in Technology

In spite of the need, sufficient emphasis has not been laid on technology development in the national level
energy emphasis on the necessity of designing devices as per the needs of the community and this is
reflected in the absence of a mechanism that can take and incorporate feedback for assessing R&D
requirements from the community in the planning process. For instance, the kerosene devices used in
rural areas for lighting purposes are technically archaic in nature. This not only results in higher kerosene
consumption, but also in higher emissions of smoke and poor luminosity.

Lack of Adequate Awareness about RETs in Rural India

The use of RETs and their advantages are still not widely known in rural India. As a result most
rural folk are not aware of these technologies and their advantages. Furthermore, the high up-
front cost of these technology options make RE-based DDG options out of the reach of the
Common rural consumer unless backed up with some support and access to financing.

Lack of Confidence in RETs in Rural India

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Even in areas where the rural consumers are aware of these technologies, that is, in areas where
pilot projects or large scale programmes have been implemented, the limited Success of these
projects/programmes has resulted in the consumers often being wary of investing in these
technologies due to their past failures. The rural poor have a very Limited risk-taking capacity
and unless completely certain as to the products sustainability and viability, would not
Take the risk of investing in it.

Risks Associated with Developing a Marketing Enterprise in RE Technologies

Entrepreneurs face issues like competition from highly subsidized yet unsustainable RE products
being marketed by the state Renewable Energy Development Authorities (IREDA) under the
MNRE programmes. These government programmes are often seen as another target to be
achieved, and as a result, the product development and customization to local needs, sustenance,
after sales services, etc., are poor. Besides, the marketing skills and Knowledge of entrepreneurs
with regard to RETs are often not very developed. Entrepreneurs face large pre investment risks
associated with the costs of marketing, contracting, and information collection.

One of the key requirements for entrepreneurs includes upfront investment in the supply chain to
ensure smooth delivery of services. For instance, the availability of spares in the local market or
trained mechanics, who undertake repairs and change installations, can contribute to sustained
delivery of services. Small-scale local entrepreneurs may also need to be made aware of the
unexploited market potential in the sector and be provided with initial assistance in market
research and development. In order to encourage such innovation and ownership, micro-credit
schemes have supported the development of local capacities to plan, execute, maintain, and
finance rural infrastructure.

Willingness to Pay

Successful deployment of rural energy interventions is contingent upon widespread willingness

to pay amongst rural households and energy users. Willingness to pay in turn is contingent upon

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the following broad conditions:
• Availability and access to credit.
• Image and brand status of service/product provider.
• Earlier experience with such products.
• Cost comparison with incumbent energy source––break up between up-front costs and
variable costs.
• Impact on livelihood.
• Life of the product and daily operability of the product.
• Repair and maintenance of the product and the availability of spare parts and service
network.

These, however, are quite likely to be only perceived barriers. It has been seen that electricity
consumption has high value for rural households and where access exists, willingness to pay is
high, even amongst poorer households. Consumers are generally willing to pay significantly
more for shorter outages and better-quality supply even in grid connected areas. This is also
confirmed by observations that in remote and off -grid areas consumers are willing to pay a
premium for electricity connections, either from diesel generators or for non-conventional
connections.

Financial Viability

Financing is a major issue for DDG systems based on renewable energy. The major components
related to cost are capital cost and operation and maintenance cost. The relatively high capital
cost results in the overall high cost of generation related to these systems. Owing to the lower
income levels, the rural households are generally able to meet the operational costs and some
part of the capital cost related to the DDG systems. The relatively high capital expenditure
requires the government to provide Support in the form of capital subsidy/grant to render the
DDG systems financial viability. The involvement of the local community stakes in a way
enhances the viability of the project.

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Limited Site Specific Site Options

The DDG-based renewable energy projects are site specific and may face issues related to
limited options for technology selection owing to its dependence on the availability of the locally
available renewable energy resource and dispersed population. Further, low levels of population
Density may offer low levels of demand, resulting in short hours of operation of the system
thereby impacting the project viability.

Conclusion
This report work has achieved the following:

1. Found an alternative to enhance distribution networks in rural areas.

2. The cost-benefit analysis of the system is was done.

The ideal ratio range between the biomass and solar is also calculated on the basis of financial
tools, baseline surveys in the given 19 villages of Gaya, Bihar which is (65-70%) Solar and (30-
35%) Biomass based energy. These attributes are of prime importance and can be a useful
add-on. These are therefore suggested as future work.

The pricing, installation and distribution of power is based on the uneven features of villages
covered and the preferences, response of the residents. Levels of education, poverty are also
important factor in pricing slabs which vary from Rs. 40 to Rs. 150 per household.

This work presents a scheme that is useful in enhancing the present schemes for operation of
REDG-integrated distribution networks. In an attempt to make this tool more significantly
viable, the robustness of the scheme should be further examined. It is recommended that this
scheme be applied to a larger distribution system of this topology. Considerations for other
topologies of distribution system (i.e. loop, etc) should also be developed.

The advancement of this thesis in the future involves the consideration of two features:

The advancement of the performance assessment tool to include a more expansive set of indices
for the reliability assessment of the system as well as a cost benefit analysis scheme for the
evaluation of the impact of the integrated REDG on the system.

The development of a cost-benefit analysis component which is dedicated to the

determining the contribution.

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REFERENCES
1. J. Momoh, Electric Power Distribution, Automation, Protection and Control. USA:
CRC Press, 2008.
2. http://www.power.uwaterloo.ca/~claudio/software/pflow.htm. [Online].
http://www.power.uwaterloo.ca/~claudio/software/pflow.htm
3. “Electrical Power Distribution” , A S PABLA
4. “AC Power Systems Handbook”, Jerry Whitaker, CRC Press 1999
5. “Electrical Energy Systems”, Mohamed El-Hawary, CRC Press 2000
6. Journals and Conferences papers.
7. Previous available tenders and contract documents.
8. MNRE Website.
9. Environment Carbon Solutions Private Limited Website.
10. Block samiti and Gram Panchayat Handbook.
11. Census 2011, India.

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