Renewable Energy Focus
Volume 38
September 2021 www.renewableenergyfocus.

com

Renewable energy for electricity use in

RESEARCH PAPER

India: Evidence from India’s smart cities

mission
Govindarajan Hari Krishnan * and Ganesh L.S.

Department of Management Studies (DoMS), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, IIT P.O, Chennai 600036, Tamil Nadu, India

Cities influence climate change since they consume large amounts of energy leading to higher carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions and environmental degradation. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)
hypothesis establishes that renewable energy consumption in India can significantly offset CO2
emissions. The application of the ‘‘Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF)’’ on the use of
renewable energy (RE) for electricity in 45 Indian cities under smart city mission and its results are
presented here. The analysis show that the penetration of RE in cities is low. Apart from electricity
generation within cities, the best performing ones could successfully harness RE from outside city limits
through regulatory incentives. The potential and strategies to harness more RE in cities is presented. The
challenges in higher RE adoption in cities and required policy recommendations are also discussed.

1. Introduction At the beginning of 2013, there were approximately 143 ongo-

Industrialization and better livability drive people to migrate to
urban areas. Morikawa [1] defined urbanization as a transforma-
tion of the rural lifestyle and expansion of urban built-up area.
Governments across the world are concerned with various issues of
urbanization. The meta-level term ‘‘smart city’’ is complex and
evolving for cities to tackle modern urbanization challenges. Till
today, smart cities lack a widely acceptable definition in the
researcher and practitioner community. In the past, smart cities
have largely been recognized in terms of establishing Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and appli-
cations in communities in the 1990s. However, this has been
extended to include the governance, managerial and behavioral
domains as well. For example, as per Albino et al. [2], the label
‘‘smart city’’ indicates the capacity of clever people to generate
clever solutions to urban problems. Neirotti et al. [3] emphasized
upon greater research attention to physical, chemical, biological
and human systems for the very purpose of social and environ-
mental sustainability of cities towards realizing improvements in
the quality of life and livability of citizens in cities.
*Corresponding author. Govindarajan, H.K. (krishmec@gmail.com), L.S., G. (lsg@iitm.ac.in)
ing or completed self-designated smart city projects across the
world: North America had 35 projects; Europe, 47; Asia 50; South
America 10; and the Middle East and Africa 10 [4]. These numbers
increased to over 250 projects across 178 cities in the world [5].
This increase in the smart city phenomenon, including India, is
due to rising urbanization challenges, innovation in technological
interventions combined with advancements in infrastructure.
As per the World Bank, India’s urbanization rate stood at 34.5%
in 2019. Historic urbanization rates of India as per the World Bank
estimates is presented in Figure 1. This was lower than the world
average of about 55.7% [6]. However, the absolute number of 450
million or more people living in Indian cities poses various chal-
lenges, particularly those concerning energy, for policy makers.
Through an empirical study, Ghosh and Kanjilal [7] highlighted
the unidirectional causality running from energy consumption to
economic growth and further to urbanization in India. According
to the United Nations (UN), cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata
feature in the list of mega cities having populations more than 10
million, and have registered the fastest growth of urbanization.
Further, it is expected that Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and
Ahmadabad will feature in this list by 2030 [8]. Due to this rapid
urbanization and the associated challenges, India declared 100

1755-0084/ã 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ref.2021.05.005

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cities to be covered under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM). It is
estimated that Indian cities alone consume more than 70% of total
primary energy supply in the country. In order to tackle urban
challenges in India, the National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
has been formed under the National Action Plan for Climate
Change (NAPCC) to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). In part, the SCM under the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs (MoHUA) has been conceptualized and implemented in
India. It serves to promote economic, social and environmental
sustainability in Indian cities. This paper discusses ‘‘Climate Smart
Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF)’’ established under SCM
and implemented by National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA),
and analyzes renewable energy (RE) data of 45 cities for electricity
use in Indian cities and possible strategies to harness more RE in
the wider context of national and international co-operation and
greater attention from researchers, urban planners, energy policy
and decision makers, smart city functionaries and private sector.
2. Literature review
The literature is broadly reviewed for understanding the relation-
ships among the urbanization phenomenon, urban energy use
particularly electricity and the associated carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions, the role of RE in reducing CO2 emissions across differ-
ent nations including India and theoretical concepts and solutions
that are available for overcoming RE-grid integration challenges
that can result in higher RE for electricity use in cities.
2.1. Urbanization and energy use
Govindarajan and Ganesh [9] through a morphological represen-
tation listed different energies that are demanded for various
applications by end users. For example, electricity is one of the
major energy requirements for urban centers due to its multiple
degrees of freedom from running household mixers to industrial
furnaces. Globally, buildings are responsible for one-third of the
energy related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and hence the
residential sector in cities has a crucial role to play in energy related
CO2 and other GHG emissions. According to United Nations (UN)
Habitat, cities consume 75 percent of energy worldwide and are
responsible for more than 70% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
now [10].
It is also widely accepted in the literature that economic activi-
ties drive urbanization and energy demand. It is well established in
literature that there exists a relationship between urban densities
and energy consumed for transportation purposes: lower the
% population living in urban areas in India
40
35 34
30 31.16
28.53
25
20
15
10 11.4
5
0
1901 2001 2011 2017
FIGURE 1
Urban Population as % of total population (India).
RESEARCH PAPER
urban density higher the energy consumed for transportation,
as proved by the fact that CO2 emissions per capita drop with
the increase of urban population densities [11–13]. Similarly,
through a city clustering algorithm, Gudipudi et al. [14] found
that by doubling the city density, the CO2 emission per capita due
to transportation and buildings’ energy use can be brought down
by at least 42%. However, the literature points to less significant
results between the two considering the relationship between
electricity consumption and urbanization. Lariviere and Lafrance
[15] studied Canadian cities’ electricity consumption per capita
RESEARCH PAPER
and urban densities and found a less significant relationship
between them when compared to urban densities and gasoline
use per capita. They concluded that local socio-economic factors
play a critical role in electricity consumption in cities.
Urbanization in India has driven demand for modern fuels such
as LPG and electricity replacing inefficient and more polluting
kerosene and traditional fuels such as wood through consistent
policy actions. While urban and rural electrification is close to
100% in India, per capita electricity consumption for better living
standards is still a concern in urban areas. Considering urban load
centers are away from centralized power plants, the electricity
needs get accentuated due to associated transmission and distri-
bution (T&D) losses.
2.2. Urbanization and CO2 emissions
Literature points to mixed effects of urbanization and associated
carbon, particulate emissions. For example, there are inconclusive
findings in literature about the CO2 emissions and urbanization
relationship in the short and long runs as highlighted by Rahman
and Vu [16]. However, Pata [17] had earlier found a positive
relationship between urbanization and CO2 emissions in Turkey.
Similarly, Liu and Bae [18] found a positive relationship between
CO2 emissions per capita and urbanization in the long run for
China. However, Hossain [19] established that urbanization in the
long run had significant negative impacts on carbon emissions for
certain countries like Philippines, South Africa and Thailand,
positive significant relationship for Brazil, China, Turkey and
India, and negative but not significant for Mexico. Similarly,
Gasimli et al. [20] found negative significant impact in the long
run for Sri Lanka. Studies focused on urbanization and CO2 emis-
sions are limited in the Indian context in literature.
2.3. Urbanization, RE and CO2 emission
While examining the data from five countries, viz., Argentina,
Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela, Koengkan et al. [21]
found a unidirectional relationship running from consumption of
RE and urbanization. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)
(Figure 2) hypothesis evaluates economic growth expressed in per
capita income and environmental pollution in per capita CO2
emissions [22]. EKC follows an inverted U-shape depicting the
increase in per capita income as per capita CO2 emissions increase
upto a maximum point after which the former starts to drop. The
relationship between RE consumption and CO2 emissions has
been studied in the context of the EKC hypothesis. Sulaiman
et al. [23] found that increase in RE consumption reduces per
capita CO2 emissions in the short and long run in Malaysia. Al-
Mulali et al. [24] studied Vietnam and found no significant effect
of electricity consumption from RE on per capita CO2 emissions.
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FIGURE 2
Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC).
For Indonesia [25], South East Asian nations such as Malaysia,
Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand [26], 25 African countries [27]
and 40 countries [28], increase in per capita RE consumption was
associated with reduced per capita CO2 emissions. However, Bölük
and Mert [29] examined 16 EU countries and found that per capita
RE consumption increased per capita CO2 emissions. Farhani and
Shahbaz [30] studied 10 MENA countries and concluded that per
capita consumption of electricity from RE sources increased per
capita CO2 emissions. Hence, the results in the literature about the
relationship between RE and CO2 emissions on per capita basis are
inconclusive. This may be due to the cities that lie at different
points in the EKC and the relationship is required to be studied in
the context of a geographical location, the EKC and time period.
The application of the EKC for urbanization and RE has been
studied in the Indian context as well. The literature establishes
that cities in India require a significant portion of RE to offset CO2
emissions. Sinha and Shahbaz [31] have tested the EKC hypothesis
and found it to be valid in the Indian Context. The results of the
study showed that India currently lies on the positive slope of the
curve. Hence, increases in per capita income are associated with
CO2 emissions increase, and RE consumption was found to have a
significant, negative effect on CO2 emissions. Similarly, Kanjilal
and Ghosh [32] recommended low carbon technologies for sus-
tainable growth after validating the EKC hypothesis using thresh-
old co-integration tests between carbon emissions, energy use,
economic activity and trade in India. Hence, use of RE will reduce
CO2 emissions in India in the short and long run. This is well
supported by literature through empirical studies and data.
2.4. RE-grid integration concepts and solution
While it is established that RE will reduce CO2 emissions in India,
the related challenges in integrating large scale RE into grid
systems for achieving high RE penetration and related investment
decisions remains a challenge in India and worldwide [33]. Bird
et al. [34] highlighted that integrating a higher amount of RE into
the grid requires significant supply and demand side flexibility
options in order to accommodate the intermittent nature of RE
and preserve energy balance. On the supply side, conventional
generation via fossil fuels, large-hydro and nuclear are being
studied for offering reserve potential and their associated costs
for providing multiple power ramp ups and downs in a given
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September 2021
period. In addition, grid level energy storage systems such as
pumped hydro, compressed air systems and batteries are also
considered for this purpose. Similarly on the demand side,
demand response programs to control highly flexible loads such
as HVAC, heat pumps, lighting, etc., are also being studied and
tried out [35]. In between the spectrum of conventional energy
supply and demand side flexibility offerings and options for RE-
grid integration, other potential technological solutions such as
microgrids, distributed energy storage, vehicle to grid and
dynamic pricing models to manage the RE supply variability are
under various stages of development across cities [36,37]. One
such microgrid model to circumvent the challenges was proposed
by Alagoz et al. [38] who presented a smart grid architecture to
integrate and manage a network of distributed RE generation,
energy storages for various load consumption scenarios and pre-
serving energy balance of individual systems and the system as a
whole. Further, Alagoz et al. [39] have proposed an autonomous
dynamic demand responsiveness program through real time pric-
ing signal in a PID (proportion-integral-derivative) controller
using game theoretic models to achieve energy balance of the
system. Maddouri et al. [40] extended this work and simulated a
microgrid system that has been found to reduce energy cost by
20% and cut down technical line losses by 50% in Tunisia. Simi-
larly, Yuan et al. [41] integrated various distributed RE sources with
grid under multiple microgrids and uncertain loads through effec-
tive real time pricing signals obtained from a bi-level programming
method. With increase in residential loads globally [42], studied
the integration of RE in the residential sector. Apart from the
energy reliability issue due to intermittent nature of RE, integrat-
ing a higher amount of RE can potentially result in serious power
quality issues that require greater attention in grid management [
43]. In this paper, we aim to discuss the applicability of such RE-
grid integration challenges, theoretical concepts and solutions in
order to increase RE’s contribution in electricity use in Indian
cities. In this direction, a study of Indian cities for RE for electricity
use will be useful for policy makers, urban planners and city
functionaries to evaluate the present state and progressively plan
for the future through appropriate policies and programs includ-
ing applicability of latest technological concepts and solutions,
capacity building and institutional strengthening in cities. The
research questions addressed in this paper are (a) What is the level
of RE generated electric power supply and consumption in Indian
cities?’’, (b) What are the best practices of cities in India that could
supply and consume higher amounts of RE in the overall electric-
ity supply?’’ and (c) ‘‘What are the new potential technological
solutions for higher RE penetration that can be considered in the
Indian Context’’?
3. Method
The literature points to various methodologies used in the assess-
ment of smart cities and many researchers have considered energy
use as one performance criterion among them. For example, a
fuzzy logic methodology based on 5 judges and 4 criteria (smart
economy, smart environment, smart energy and mobility, smart
governance) to assess smart cities was proposed by Lazaroiu and
Roscia [44]. Girardi and Temporelli [45] considered seamless inte-
gration of RE use as a key performance indicator in evaluating
cities through environmental, economical, energetic and social
Renewable Energy Focus
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fields. There are research papers whose methodologies focus only
on the energy or single other component and sub-component of
smart cities’ performance. For example, Calvillo et al. [46] stressed
upon multiple elements while modeling urban energy systems,
including grid infrastructure. Arora [47] analyzed the financial
sector development and financial services access in 18 cities
named under SCM that addresses economical aspects of cities.
In this paper, the methodology adopted to assess the use of RE
under the CSCAF project is to evaluate the city’s electricity supply
and consumption data since a large part of the RE potential is
harnessed for generation of electricity in India.
For evaluation, the cities were divided into three tiers based on
population. The criteria for the tier classification and the number
of cities that participated in each tier are as follows (Table 1).
The CSCAF’s objective was to build and analyze baseline data of
cities and suggest suitable RE recommendations for the 96 cities
that participated in the evaluation process. The entire process
spanned over six months and involved more than 27 government
departments/organizations at the national, state and city levels. To
facilitate cities to participate in the assessment, 8 cluster and 4
regional workshops were conducted by the sector experts to build
capacity in more than 300 state and city officials. Data collection
was done in a rigorous and time-bound manner to ensure that only
relevant data and evidence were collected in order to avoid noise
in the data set. The data from the cities were checked for com-
pleteness and relevance. If any additional data or evidence was
required for the purpose of evaluation, the same was sought from
the cities in the interim phase of the project. An online portal was
designed for cities to collect data that was systematically checked
for correctness through timely feedback and knowledge support
from sector experts.
Finally, only those cities with relevant data and evidence avail-
able were considered for final evaluation. The breakup of the
number of cities where data and evidence were available and
found to be satisfactory for assessment of RE for electricity use
in cities is found in Table 2.
The cities were asked to provide data for the following.
1 Total energy generated (KWH) from all grid connected RE
sources within the city during the six-month assessment
period.
This indicates the total electrical energy generated from grid
connected solar systems and ‘‘other’’ RE on-grid systems such
as windmills, biogas, combined heat and power (CHP) plants
etc within the city for this purpose. However the ‘‘other’’
contribution is found to be less significant when compared
to solar systems in cities.
TABLE 1
Criteria for Tier classification and number of cities participated.
Tiers Criteria Number of cities
participated
Tier 1 Population greater than 10 Lacs 31
Tier 2 Population between 5 Lakhs and 30
less than 10 Lacs
Tier 3 Population less than 5 Lacs 35
Total 96
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TABLE 2
Number of cities for final evaluation.
Tiers Number of cities for final evaluation
Tier-1 15
Tier-2 13
Tier-3 17
Total 45
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2 Total energy consumption (KWH) in the city during the six-
month assessment period.
This measures the total electrical energy consumption in the
city for all type of loads such as residential, industrial, com-
mercial, municipal, etc.
3 Total energy supplied (KWH) to the city from all grid connected
RE sources during the six-month assessment period.
Apart from generating and supplying RE within their city lim-
its, cities can also supply such green power from outside city
limits through transmission, wheeling and banking arrange-
ments permitted under regulations issued by the respective
state electricity regulatory commissions in the cities.
4 Total number of units (KWH) lost due to Aggregated Technical
and Commercial (AT&C) losses during the six-month assess-
ment period.
AT&C loss reduction through government programs and
advanced technologies is becoming quite common in cities.
It is also an energy efficient way of delivering electric services by
utilities.
5 Cumulative installed capacity (KW) from RE sources for self-
consumption during the six-month assessment period.
This measures the total off-grid and on-grid RE captive capaci-
ties in the city for self-consumption at the end of the assess-
ment period.
6 Total connected load (KW) in the city during the six-month
assessment period.
This measures the total connected load (KW) for different
customer segments in the city at the end of the assessment
period.
These data points were analyzed based on three composite
indicators and one RE index designed for this purpose.
Composite Indicator 1 (CI1): This measures the ratio of total
electrical energy generated (KWH) from all grid connected renew-
able sources in the city to total electrical energy consumption in
the city (KWH) during the assessment period.
Total energy generated ðin KwHÞ from all grid connected
renewable energy sources within the city
Total energy consumption ðin KwHÞ in the city
Composite Indicator 2 (CI2): This measures the ratio of total
electrical energy supplied (KWH) from all grid connected renew-
able sources to the city to total electrical energy consumption
(KWH) in the city adjusted for city’s AT&C loss (KWH) during the
assessment period.
Total energy supplied ðin KwHÞ from all grid connected
renewable energy sources to the city
Total energy consumption ðin KwHÞ in the city
þ total number of units ðin kWhÞ lost due to AT&C loss
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Composite Indicator 3 (CI3): This measures the ratio of RE TABLE 4

installed capacity (KW) for self-consumption to total connected Summary of results (all cities).
load (KW)in the city at the end of the assessment period. CI1 (%) 0.24
Cumulative installed capacityðin KW Þ from renewable CI2 (%) 2.97
energy sources for self consumption CI3 (%) 0.51
REI 1.38
Total connected load ðin KWÞ in the city
Total electrical energy (KWH) derived from RE sources (%)
Renewable Energy Index (REI) for Cities: With the help of
above composite indicators, an index (expressed in percentage)
was designed in consultation with the experts in the area for the
electrical energy from RE sources primarily from capacities
RESEARCH PAPER

total electrical energy in the city derived from RE sources. The

installed outside city limits. While Namchi derives about 50%
weights for each CI were discussed in detail by the experts and
of its electrical energy (about 4.2 million units) from hydro power
stakeholders to reflect the priorities of the government and cities
sources, Bengaluru supplies about 1291 million units of RE, major-
in the adoption of RE. An equal weight was given to CI1 and CI2 as
ity of which is from sources installed outside city limits through
it was felt that RE supply from outside city limits is as important as
wheeling and banking arrangements. However Diu, the third best
RE generation within the cities, considering space availability and
performing city, has 26.5% of total connected load (KW) as RE
electricity consumption. However, the expert committee also felt
installed capacity (KW) within the city. Hence, the best perform-
that CI1 and CI3 combined should exceed CI2 since supply from
ing cities have followed different strategies depending upon
outside city limits has implications on T&D losses. Hence, weights
income, land/space availability, population, population density
of 0.4, 0.4 and 0.2 were decided for CI1, CI2 and CI3 respectively
and industrial/commercial activities. On an average, about 1.38%
while designing the index. Although the weights for an index were
of the total electrical energy (KWH) is derived from RE sources for
subjected to decision makers’ discretion, researchers have accepted
all the evaluated cities. The net composite scores and renewable
them in general Lazaroiu and Roscia [44].
energy index for all cities considered together are tabulated (Table
REI ¼ ð0:4  CI1 þ 0:4  CI2 þ 0:2  CI3Þ  100 4).
This indicates potential for study of challenges and further
policy research for adoption of RE in Indian cities. With the
4. Results and discussion
adoption of electric vehicles in India, the electricity requirement
This Section consists of two sub-sections: sub section 4.1 discusses
is bound to increase. This will present a challenge as well as an
the analysis of city data and the results based on the methodology
opportunity for cities to transition to RE sources.
discussed in section 3 to answer research questions 1 and 2,
following which we discuss the future prospects and solutions
applicable for higher RE integration and penetration for cities
4.2. Possible solutions and strategies in Indian context
This sub-section 4.2 discusses the RE-grid integration challenges,
under study in sub section 4.2 for addressing research question 3.
potential technological advances, solutions and concepts for over-
coming such integration challenges in order to improve RE pene-
4.1. Analysis and results of the evaluation framework
tration for electricity use in Indian cities. In this context, the
The composite indicators and renewable energy index for each city
progressive strategies for decarbonization of cities and meeting
and the cities in total were calculated and analyzed. The results
SDG7 goals are also discussed with reference to the results obtained
indicate that majority of cities (33 out of 45 cities) meet less than
from subsection 4.1.
1% of their electrical energy demand from RE sources (Table 3).
Historically, India has been promoting renewable energy
Overall, CI2 scores are better than CI1 and CI3 for all cities
through renewable energy purchase obligations, renewable energy
implying that cities not only rely on harnessing RE within the
certificates, accelerated depreciation of renewable technologies,
cities but also look at supplying them from outside city limits to
provision for capital and interest subsidies, feed-in-tariffs and
maximize the use of RE, reduce pollution and contribute positively
tweaking of transmission and wheeling charges for bridging via-
to climate change issues. For example, the top two performing
bility gaps. While this has delivered results to a certain extent to
cities, Namchi and Bengaluru supply 40.12% and 16.77% of
the government as shown in results under sub-section 4.1 on the
issue of deployment of RE for electricity use, decarbonization of
TABLE 3
cities and meeting the country’s overall NDC under SDG7 goals.
Summary of results (individual cities).
The interventions stated above are considered to be largely regu-
Renewable energy index (REI) Number of cities latory in nature thus strictly not addressing the technical problems
25% and above of electrical energy 0 associated with RE-grid integration such as preservation of energy
derived from RE sources balance in the renewable energy grids, power quality and reliabil-
10% - <25% of electrical energy 1
ity issues, optimal energy pricing solutions that were directly
derived from RE sources (Namchi)
5% - <10% of electrical energy 2 related to the solutions for increasing RE penetration in India.
derived from RE sources (Bengaluru and Diu) Meanwhile, RE related off grid applications continue to attract
1% - <5% of electrical energy 9 wider research attention in applications such as industrial pro-
derived from RE sources cesses (heating, drying, cooling etc.), domestic water heating and
Less than 1% of electrical energy 33
rural/remote usage for cooking, mini grids for meeting community
derived from RE sources
electricity requirements through building hybrid RE systems in

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India [48,49]. These systems are relatively less complex, easy to
design and require limited policy and regulatory foresight. With
the recent achievement of about 100% electricity connections for
households in India through expansion of T&D network over the
years, RE-grid integration is becoming necessary from energy
security standpoint as well as its contribution to lessen carbon
emissions to atmosphere and meeting NDC commitments of
India. In this context, the role of Indian cities in harnessing more
RE through latest available technological concepts and solutions
becomes imperative.
In the past few years, new technological advances in the elec-
tricity sector such as smart metering for harnessing RE through
smart grid across cities are being tried out. They have delivered
varied results across the cities due to policy, regulatory, technical
and financial gaps and constraints. With their better socio-eco-
nomic conditions, Indian cities are better positioned for harnes-
sing new technological advances in renewable energy, informa-
tion and communication technologies (ICT), digital and control
mechanisms. However due to their large high population and
density, this presents with Indian cities a unique combination
of both, opportunities and challenges. Historically Indian cities
have been the largest consumers of electricity. This demand is
largely met by conventional generation sources which are away
from city centers. While there is steady increase in electricity
demand from Indian cities, the addition of conventional genera-
tion capacities slowed down due to natural resource and environ-
mental constraints, and simultaneous increase in RE. This phe-
nomenon calls for the adoption of new concepts and technologies
facilitating RE-grid integration such as smart metering [50],
demand response [51,52], grid level energy storage [53], microgrids
[54], virtual power plants [55] and energy pricing models [56] for
higher renewable energy penetration in India now.
Out of the total 375GW installed generation capacity in India,
bulk of the power is consumed in cities for various end-use
purposes. India follows the global trend of adopting pumped
hydro energy storage for large scale energy storage for power
system operation in offering the generation reserve and supply
flexibility of about 96GW [57]. While this will help India to a
certain extent, the gestation period and environmental con-
straints in developing such pumped hydro energy storage are large
and complex. Cities and local energy utilities are also required to
build a certain amount of supply and demand flexibility through
demand response and dynamic energy pricing programs and
allowing distributed RE generation with checks and balances in
the cities. In this regard, there is a conceptual shift from ‘‘con-
sumer’’ to ‘‘prosumer’’ with the intervention of latest technologies
such as micro grids that enable a conventional consumer to play
both, energy consumer as well as producer roles in Indian cities.
These modern distributed generation systems have the character-
istics of virtual power plants where the prosumer could export in
case of excess energy generation within and outside the micro grid
network. However, such grid tied assets involving combinations of
RE sources and energy storages sometimes are charged from the
grid powered by fossil fuel sources. Also, micro-grid owners enjoy
energy price arbitrage and the potential of trading profits by
charging their storages during low grid price scenarios and dis-
charging when higher prices prevail. Such happenings dilute the
basic conceptual premises underlying RE and dynamic pricing,
RESEARCH PAPER
and hence face severe criticism by policymakers and utilities in
India. Hence, suitable technology, pricing, correction in electrical
circuits and, necessary process checks and balance through reg-
ulations to accommodate these phenomena are required. More-
over, historically time of use and critical peak pricing are imple-
mented for industrial and commercial segments for peak load
management in certain Indian cities. With large RE-Grid integra-
tion, the load curves can be smoothened through technological
and energy pricing strategies with the objective of maximizing
social welfare and RE penetration in India. In this regard, the
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energy business models, regulatory mechanism, terms of energy
performance contracts and, economic and financial returns of
such grid tied assets require research attention in Indian context.
In India, the net-metering mechanism is widely used to promote
distributed generation [58]. Due to the absence of both, energy
storage and islanding property of the system, net-metering of large
scale distributed generation serves the potential to become virtual
power plants (VPPs) for distribution utilities in India. With the
adoption of electric vehicles in Indian cities, vehicle to grid
technologies allow certain level of flexibility for RE-Grid integra-
tion to city utilities [59]. This can also potentially limit the need for
external energy storage and thus avoiding associated costs. Apart
from providing certain amount of flexibility, the electric vehicles
under VPP mode can also lend support during peak clipping and
valley filling interventions in peak load management and thus
contribute to demand side management programs of utilities.
Unlike microgrids, VPPs cannot be islanded and have no physical
electrical boundaries and hence scaleable from city utilities per-
spective. Contextually, VPPs are planned, implemented and con-
trolled by utilities while microgrids by end consumers. In future,
both have a role to play a role in RE-grid integration in Indian cities
with proper regulatory framework creating a win-win situation.
Apart from the technological challenges, RE financing costs is one
of the highest in India when compared globally and hence acts a
deterrent for promoting RE investment [60].
Hence, urban electricity policies in India require a mix of
innovative technical, financing, regulatory and policy interven-
tions for overcoming RE-grid integration challenges and promot-
ing higher RE adoption for electricity use in Indian cities. In the
next section, we present general policy recommendations for
increasing RE in cities, reducing AT&C losses and conclude with
our study findings.
5. Recommendations and conclusion
India has diverse geographical and agro-climatic regions. Franco
et al. [61] observed that urbanization in India is due to a ‘‘rural
push’’ rather than an ‘‘urban pull’’, resulting in a combination of
unemployment, growth of slums and degraded quality of urban
life. He studied the effect of energy consumption due to urbaniza-
tion in the Indian context and found that reduction in energy
intensity and emission intensity requires continuous monitoring,
information feedback systems, introduction of energy quota man-
agement, incentives for energy efficient facilities, shutting down
of inefficient facilities, setting up of smart residential buildings,
and reduction of T&D losses. Additionally, high population den-
sity presents lesser roof space per capita in Indian cities. For
assessing the building roof and available space in urban areas, a
GIS based modeling for RE installation will be useful for cities [62].
41
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Similarly IoT based solutions can improve RE adoption in cities [
63]. Since electricity distribution is a state subject in India, various
state governments have different policies for adopting RE in their
cities. The cities that have higher RE supply have not only relied on
capacities within them but also from those outside city limits. It is
also observed that high hydro potential harnessing states could
successfully supply higher amounts of RE to their cities. However,
this may be practically difficult for some states and cities. Only a
few states and cities are able to successfully devise policies to
supply RE from outside city limits by drafting transmission and
RESEARCH PAPER
wheeling regulations and policies. The net-metering and other RE
policies at a state-level also deter consumers to take a stable view
on project returns resulting in low adoption of RE.
Due to limitations of installing wind technologies within cities,
only solar photovoltaic (PV) is currently harnessed through roof-
tops largely. However, policies promoting solar PV are limited by
effective rooftop area availability, technological and technical
constraints related to the grid. A large part of the solar photovol-
taic value chain, such as poly-silicon, ingot and wafer manufactur-
ing, happens outside India, which has relatively less value adding
midstream and upstream manufacturing facilities such as cell and
module manufacturing, project development and operation and
maintenance of solar projects. Hence, this raises customer doubts
on technology, quality and serviceability incase of fault or poor
performance. Also, the entry of private utility companies into the
local RE market requires regulatory provisions to preserve compe-
tition and monitor fairness of electricity prices for distributed
generation to be successful. In addition, there is a dearth of
insufficient interconnection rules and technical feasibility for grid
operations for any large-scale distribution generation (DG) scenar-
ios for managing variability of RE. In some cases, policies add up
energy storage costs for arriving at a final RE price, which then
becomes substantially high. Also, RE prices affected by a global fall
in photovoltaic module prices create doubts in the minds of
customers.
By overcoming the above challenges and taking advantages
from latest technologies discussed in sub-section 4.2 through
appropriate technical, policy and regulatory framework, Indian
cities can substantially attract domestic and foreign investments
for RE and its integration with the grid. For example, if the cities
target 10% electrical demand to be met through RE based on the
designed renewable energy index criteria, a conservative estimate
of $2 to $3 bn investment, corresponding to about 5–6 GW of
power generation capacity will be required only in the evaluated
cities in India. Alternatively, cities can also plan large scale solar
and wind energy projects such as solar parks and wind farms
outside city limits and benefit from high yields to be supplied
through successful banking, transmission and wheeling arrange-
ments. The necessary policies and regulations are required to be
drafted to permit such successful banking of green energy at
attractive tariffs for industrial consumers. In this regard, proper
tariff designs and regulatory approvals embedding energy equity
and justice principles are required for successful transition to a low
carbon economy in cities. Also clean energy policies inviting
investments will drive local green jobs [64] related to clean energy
adoption.
The evaluated cities are losing considerable value (conservative
estimate of more than $1bn) in AT&C losses on the average every
42
Renewable Energy Focus
Volume 38
September 2021
year. India’s electric power T&D losses were 19.3% compared to
the world average of 8.3% [65]. This is in contrast to developed
countries where T&D losses are low, typically in the range of 7%
and below [66]. A staggered plan for reducing AT&C losses, with
and without investment, is available for cities through various
government programs in India. In order to reduce losses, the
following recommendations concerning technological advance-
ments are made:(a) advanced metering infrastructure to improve
metering, billing and collection (MBC), (b) high voltage distribu-
tion system (HVDS), (c) system strengthening through new and
up-gradation projects, (d) deployment of IT technologies, (e)
proper operation and maintenance practices of electrical infra-
structure, (f) reactive power compensation, (g) electronic payment
collection to improve collection and reduce commercial losses, (h)
usage of aerial bunched cables/underground cabling for reducing
thefts, (i) distribution automation, and (j) regular system level
energy audits enabled by digitalization to arrest system leakages.
Thus, this paper has highlighted SCM and CSCAF partnership
methodology and results in assessing cities on RE adoption. The
results of the framework indicate that the adoption of RE in Indian
cities is low. This is due to the past efforts of the governments
which have largely been regulatory in nature. The technical chal-
lenges involving RE-grid integration such as preservation of energy
balance in RE grids, power quality and reliability issues requires to
be tackled through modern technological solutions along with
energy pricing. In this paper, these were presented and discussed in
the context of Indian cities. The assessment also helps each city to
have benchmarks with other Indian cities on RE for electricity use
performance. Also, the cities were provided with recommenda-
tions for suitable policy measures to transition to higher levels of
RE along with reduction in AT&C losses to mitigate climate change
effects.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of interest
We declare that this manuscript is original, has not been published
before and is not currently being considered for publication else-
where. We know of no conflicts of interest associated with this
publication, and there has been no significant financial support for
this work that could have influenced its outcome. As the corre-
sponding author, I confirm that the manuscript has been read and
approved for submission by all the named authors.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
The entire work involving conceptualization, methodology, data
sources & collection, validation, formal analysis, investigation,
resources, data curation, writing-original draft and writing- review
& editing was performed by Hari Krishnan Govindarajan (Primary
and Corresponding Author) under the supervision of Prof. L. S
Ganesh (Second Author).
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