A Colloquium presentation on the benefits of the expansion of the energy grid in rural India.

1. Angshuman Pal
B. Mechanical E. – IV (A-2-2)
001411201048
Jadavpur University
EXPANSION OF THE ENERGY GRID –
TRANSFORMING RURAL INDIA

2. Contents
 Introduction
 The Indian Rural Sector
 History
 Post Independence
 Electricity Production
 History of Energy Production
 Electricity Consuming Sectors
 Concept of Energy Grid
 Types of Energy Storage
 Rural Requirement of Energy
 Agricultural Equipment
 Social Development
 Advanced Connectivity
 Conclusion
 References

3. Introduction
 The development of the Indian union is intricately
woven and is dictated by the development of its rural
sector. And along the highway of rural development,
energy connectivity is without doubt a major step and
achievement.
 In India, a village is defined as a region having less
than 5000 inhabitants, a population density of less
than 400 per sq km, and where at least 25% of the
adult male population is dependent on agriculture as
a means of livelihood. These villages across the
length and breadth of India contribute a lion’s share to
our economy and social structure.
 In an increasingly energy dependent world, progress
of a civilization is intrinsically linked to the demand for
electrical energy that the region has. Thus the metre
of measuring progress the rural society can be its
energy connectivity.

4. The Indian Rural Sector: History
 For major parts of the previous millennium, India was
an entirely village-dominated landmass. Through the
annals of history several rulers – both from within the
country and from outside – came to rule the
subcontinent. The villages formed the backbone and
major portion of the kingdoms, while the rulers ruled
from a few major cities.
 With the advent of the British and under growing
influence of western civilization, more emphasis was
gradually being given to the birth of cities, and major
hubs of population were growing up when the British
Empire was on its course of establishment.
 Essentially, the newly formed cities differed from the
villages by the way of life of the inhabitants and the

5. The Indian Rural Sector: Post-
Independence Progress
 The economic social and political structure of the
Indian villages was systematically broken down by the
British policies, including the Permanent Settlement
Act of 1793. Through the 19th and the 20th centuries
more people started flocking to the cities thus
degrading the economic condition of the villages and
the entire country as a whole.
 Commercial energy was little used and adoption of
modern technologies was grossly limited. The initial
five-year plans under Nehru paid attention to this
issue, and considerable focus was given to this sector
leading to the Green Revolution of the 1970s.
 Primary focus was given on use of mechanised
equipment instead of human or animal power for

6. History of Energy Production
 The first electrically driven device in India had been a light
bulb, demonstrated in Calcutta in 1879. At the dawn of the
20th century, electrical connectivity and devices started
gaining popularity with distribution of electric lighting
licences, leading to the establishment of the Indian Electric
Co., now the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC).
 What was initially a means of lighting soon emerged to be
a game changer in industry and the services sector.
Further, with the establishment of commercial thermal and
hydroelectric plants, availability of power increased
exponentially and power requirement was deemed as a
major benchmark of progress.
 From an installed capacity of 1362 MW at independence in
1947, we have reached a production capacity of 326.8 GW
as of 2017. The last decade has seen annual growth in the
range of 10% per annum.

7. Electricity Consuming Sectors
 The consuming sectors of Indian electricity can be
subdivided into Domestic, Commercial, Industrial, Traction,
Agriculture and Miscellaneous sectors. At independence,
the industrial sector was the single largest consumer of
electricity at 71%.
 On the present day, the domestic and agricultural sectors
have come forward significantly. Agriculture now stands at
17% of total consumption.
 Compared to other developing nations, India’s electricity
production growth was stunted in the initial parts of the
second half of the 20th century. This growth rate has
considerably picked up since the 1990s.
 Power generation by coal fired power plants and other
non-conventional sources of energy is leading the way
over contributions from natural gas, oil, and hydro plants in

8. Concept of Energy Grid
 Energy grid is a collection of techniques and technologies
used for storage of large scale electrical energy within a
constructed electrical power grid. Intermittent production
from power plant located at different parts of a country
necessitates the requirement for such storage.
 When demand is well below the supply, the excess energy
produced is stored in the energy grids, and during times of
less production when demand is considerably higher than
the supply of energy at the moment, this stored energy is
let out from the grid.
 With the use of energy grids, power production need not
be affected by sudden fluctuations in demand and
consumption, while requirements on an urgent basis which
cannot be delayed or deferred can also be met using
power grids.
 Basically, a power grid is used as a damper to the huge
inertia of a power plant in case of fluctuations in energy.

9. Types of Energy Storage: Air
 Compression of air is a technique of storing
electricity. Using a closed chamber, the excess
electrical energy is used for compressing the air
at very high pressures, and the air is stored in
such a state till demand for power rises in the
future.
 When it eventually does, the high pressure air is
passed through turbogenerators and power is
generated.
 In certain cases, the air is compressed to such
temperatures and pressures that it is converted to
its liquid state.

10. Types of Energy Storage:
Batteries
 Battery storage of energy was more popular during
the days of DC power when modern 3-phase AC
power was not easily available. Isolated battery
storages were used by consumers to stroe energy.
 Battery systems have been used for stabilizing power
distribution networks, using large solid state
converters. They were principally used for two
purposes: To smoothen the power supplied by
intermittent and irregular means of power production
(viz solar and wind energy), and to provide electrical
power even during the times of the day when the
power producers were inactive.
 These hybrid systems, performing both generation
and storage, can either alleviate the pressure on the
grid when connecting renewable or be used to reach
self-sufficiency and work “off-the-grid”.

11. Types of Energy Storage:
Flywheel
 Flywheels store energy through the form of
mechanical inertia. Electric power is provided to an
electric motor, which in turn accelerates a heavy
rotating disc. The disc, at a high angular velocity,
obtains considerable rotational kinetic energy given
by
where I is the moment of inertia of the wheel and
omega is the angular velocity. When demand is high,
the motor acts as generator, and the direction of flow
of power is reversed.
 Friction must be kept at a minimum so that the energy
is not drained out through frictional heat. Complex
bearing technologies are designed for this technique.
 Flywheels are best suited for load-levelling
applications on railway power systems.

12. Types of Energy Storage: Thermal
and Hydrogen
 When direct methods of energy storage are too expensive,
existing hot water storage tanks are connected to power
sources. Other methods include using of molten salt in solar
power towers, and using of energy to convert water to ice,
which would in turn be used to cool buildings where air-
conditioning would otherwise be required. The ice can also be
used for cooling the intake to a gas turbine generator.
 Hydrogen is an evolving technology in the field of electrical
energy storage. The gas is produces, compressed or
liquefied, stored cryogenically at very low temperatures and
then converted to electrical energy. It can also be used as fuel
for portable or stationary power generation.
Hydrogen is produced by reforming natural gas with steam or
by electrolysing water into hydrogen and oxygen. The
efficiency of hydrogen storage though is considerably low at
20 % to 45%, which imposes economic restrictions on this

13. Rural Requirement of Energy
 As of 2017, 99.49% of Indian villages are said to
be electrified. But merely connecting the rural
areas to electricity networks would definitely not
suffice; it is equally important to ensure
uninterrupted round the clock supply and correct
usage of the electricity in the villages as well.
 This is where the role of the energy grid becomes
greatly important, in eradicating the problems of
intermittent and unreliable supply.
 Three major areas of requirement for electricity
can be identified from a rural perspective:
Agricultural Equipment, Social Development and
Advanced Connectivity.

14. Agricultural Equipment: Irrigation
 India has been primarily dependent on the season and on
neighbouring drainage near the agricultural areas for the
purpose of irrigation. Being in the tropics, we are blessed by
significant amount of rains around the year which is beneficial for
the crops grown in this country.
 Most parts of northern and southern India are also inundated by
perennial rivers which can be used as a source of non-saline
water for crops. In spite of these there is the requirement for
additional irrigation of fields for crops like paddy, jute or tea, and
this is mostly done through pumping sets.
 Traditionally, Indian farmers have been dependent on diesel
driven pump sets for irrigating their fields artificially. This is a
major cause of concern.
 Electrically driven pump sets are much more efficient and cost
effective than a diesel driven one. Research has shown that the
pumping achieved by a diesel pump in seven hours can be
achieved by an electrically driven pump in just three hours.
Considering this aspect, farmers who are still disconnected from
the national power grid are major sufferers in this respect.
 Better irrigation would not only result in better yields, but

15. Agricultural Equipment: Tools and
Implements
 Since the ancient days, use of mechanised
equipment was not popular in the Indian
agricultural sector.
 Till independence, use of tractors was very
limited in villages and people mostly relied on
animal and human power for tilling the land
and other purposes.
 Starting in 1961, tractor production has picked
up from 11000 annually, to a position where
every farmland must compulsorily have
access to these heavy equipments.
 For driving such machinery and for proper
maintenance, connectivity to the electrical

16. Social Development
 The villages are not only centres of agriculture but house a
big fraction of the country’s population as well. For overall
social development of the rural sector, electrical
connectivity is an absolute compulsion.
 The future for the country is in the hands of its young
generation, and the villages are home to a huge part of the
potential student community of the country. For progress in
education and for building of quality schools and colleges,
there is no alternative to electrical power.
 Even in households, there exist families which depend on
burning firewood for cooking purposes and lighting their
homes. Not only are these health and environmental
hazards, but they intrinsically pull down the level of
progress our villages might be capable of.
 Thus even apart from the economic considerations, the

17. Advanced Connectivity
 Since a major portion of the Indian landmass fall
within the rural areas, there is the tendency for these
villages to remain highly disconnected from the major
urban and commercial centres of the country.
 Both physical and electronic connectivity are heavily
dependent on electricity.
 Physical connectivity includes properly connected and
spread out network of highways, maintenance of local
thoroughfares, rail connectivity between regional
centres, etc.
 Electronic connectivity depends on cellular network
connections, internet facilities, banking and postal
services, and ease of transfer of information in
general.

18. Advanced Connectivity (contd.)
 The upcoming generation is one which is optimally
using the benefits of the advent of internet. Every
aspect of daily life is being influenced heavily by the
internet, and in order to compete with the outside
society the internet is proving a key to the world.
 Electrical power is a compulsory requirement
considering these aspects of rural life.

19. Conclusion
 The life and energy of India continues to be in her
villages. There can be no scope of doubt in the fact
that alleviation of the problems of the rural sector will
be a big step forward for the entire country in the right
direction. The problem of electrical connectivity
continues to be such a problem.
 Connecting every village to the national electricity grid
has now become a mandatory requirement of
progress. In today’s world, electricity is a necessity
and not at all a luxury. For utilizing the capacity and
possibilities stored within our villages to their
optimum, electricity has to be ensured to the rural
Indian population.

20. Conclusion (contd.)
 It is simply not sufficient to ensure production of
power in the country, but it also needs to be ensured
that the power is reaching every corner of the country.
This is where power grids can come to play an
important role.
 Not only are they ensuring distribution of power to the
farthest regions of civilization, but they also are
ensuring optimum delivery conditions, high efficiency
and delivery as per the needs of the consumer.
 Thus in perspective of the conditions and the
requirement of electrical connectivity in every village,
expansion of the energy grid is certainly a major way
of transforming rural India.

21. References
 https://archive.india.gov.in/citizen/graminbharat/graminbhar
at.phpc
 How Electricity Could Transform Farming in India –
Kanitha Kongrukgreatiyos
https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/how-electricity-
could-transform-farming/
 India Energy Portal
http://www.indiaenergyportal.org/subthemes_link.php?the
meid=15&text=agriculture
 Wikipedia
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_India
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_energy_storage