Presenter: Dr Leena Chandran-Wadia, Senior Fellow Joint work with Shruti Mahajan Deorah Sameer Nair and Anshuman Lath of Gram Oorja Pvt. Ltd.

1. Observer Research Foundation Mumbai
Ideas and Actionfor a Better India
Dr Leena Chandran-Wadia, Senior Fellow
Joint work with Shruti Mahajan Deorah
Sameer Nair and Anshuman Lath of Gram Oorja Pvt. Ltd.
Prospectsfor 100% ElectricityAccess
in Rural IndiausingRenewableEnergy
basedmini-gridsystems

2. • The off-grid community would like to be treated on
par with residential (urban) users, with access to
• On-demand electricity, beyond lighting
• Available 24x7 (with caveats of course!)
• At similar, subsidized, prices, NOT Rs 20-50 per kWh
• Residential and agricultural use is subsidized to varying
degrees, these users must be too
• ORF position: Mini-grids are infrastructure, they must be paid
for by government, entrepreneurs can help
• Other requirements
• Integrated solutions (cooking fuels, livelihoods)
• Energy efficient appliances
2
Requirementsfrom the off-gridcommunity
and mini-gridtechnologies
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

3. Electricity beyond Lighting - Mini-grids!
• Focus on scalable solutions
for 100% electrification of
homes (not villages/hamlets)
• Policy Issues
• Difficulties of financing
• Sociological challenges
• Solar PV the technology of
choice. Biomass best for
hybrid solutions
• Purely commercial models
unlikely to achieve goal of
100% electrification without
government participation
3
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

4. • 2011 census - India
• Over 350 million (77 million households) Indians have no access to
electricity & over 700 million are without clean cooking options!
• 2015 estimates: 240 million people
• Worldwide Data - World Energy Outlook 20131.3 billion with no
access to electricity, another billion have less than 4 hours of electricity
• Approximately 3 billion people cook and heat homes using open fires,
burning biomass (wood, animal dung, coal, crop waste)
• 4.3 million premature deaths annually are attributable to illnesses arising
out of household air pollution
• WEO 2016, special report on energy and air pollution, says 6.5 million
deaths
• Over 50% of deaths are among children below the age of 5!
• Distributed generation of electricity especially Solar Photovoltaic based
mini/micro-grids, have a huge role to play
4
100% EnergyAccess for India@75(2022)?
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

5. Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia
5
Challenge of 100% electrificationof homes
• Off-grid: Between 8,000 to 50,000 villages/ hamlets,
approximately 10 million people, are still too remote
• Solar PV based mini-grids are optimal. No truly viable
entrepreneurship model exists without capital subsidies
• Of the 240 million people without access to electricity,
some 230 million live in grid connected villages!
• Need a nuanced understanding of why this is so
• Also, vision and leadership to bring about an Energy
revolution similar to the Green revolution in the 1970s
• PM Modi’s call for 24x7 power for all by 2019
• Will need to coordinate efforts, facilitate permissions, monitor
implementations and ensure timely delivery

7. • Census 2011 – 77 million homes without access (33%)
• 45% homes in rural India, 54% in Bihar
• Rural Electrification Policy - A village is labeled ‘electrified’ if
all common properties and 10% of homes is connected
• 96.4% electrification - some 25,000 villages left out
• Count of ‘villages’ with un-electrified homes could be ~100,000
• Also, electrified does not mean ‘Energised’ –
• No norms for – how many days a year? how many hours a day?
• Less than 6 hours of electricity each day in many villages –
residents have to fall back on kerosene repeatedly
• Provision of electricity is a State subject
• SEB, State Renewable Energy Authority and DISCOMs need to
step up
• Governance issues, law and order problems etc.
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia
7
Un-electrifiedhomes in electrified villages

8. 8
Challenges of deployingmini-grids
ACCESS TO
CAPITAL
VILLAGE
COHERENCE
POLICY
ENVIRONMENT
REMOTE
OVERHEADS
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

9. 9
Donkeys carrying solar panel and equipment to a village in Ladakh (photo
courtesy LREDA)

10. 10
Assistanceto entrepreneurscan usherin an
Energy Revolution
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

11. LEARN
- Installing a corpus
- Capacity building
- Public awareness
- Learning &
Demonstration
- Readying the
corporates
SCALE
- Streamlined policy
- Urja Melas
- Set up in 1000’s of
villages
- Continue skill
development
DELIVER
- Go full steam
- Make grid
interactive
- Hybrid systems for
village clusters
1,000 villages
20,000 villages
1,00,000 villages
2015
2018
2022
Roadmap to 100% Electrification by 2022

12. 12
Policyrecommendations(2013)
• Prioritize the required funds for off-grid installations
• Ballpark costs for 10kWp installations in 50,000 villages is Rs 15,000
Crores - less than under-recovery on PDS kerosene during 2010-11
• Steer CSR funds into mini-grid deployments:
• corporates can also provide on-ground support and monitoring
• Simplify policy regime to encourage uptake in grid
connected villages
• Make benchmark costs closer to real costs, avoid tendering
• Simplify tariff structure, PPA, right of way issues etc.
• Launch massive capacity building programs to train
rural youth, also on potential livelihood options
• huge impact on rural economy
• Create a ‘War room’ for coordination among all
stakeholders to ensure speedy implementation
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

13. Understandingrequirements– Two examples
• Darewadi (Pune District) – Tribal hamlet (breakaway),
• 220 residents (39 homes) not counted separately in Census
• 9.6 kWp Solar PV based mini-grid system installed by Gram Oorja
Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd. In June 2012
• Upfront costs (Rs 30 lacs) including installation, measurement
and monitoring equipment, costs paid for by Bosch Solar
• High quality panels and inverter for long lasting installation
• Residents pay Rs 20/unit (average ~ Rs 150 per month), 4 times
higher than urban consumer – no payment default so far
• Manachapada (Thane Dt.)– http://manachapada.com
• Partially electrified village – poses many additional challenges
including theft, connectivity issues, and the difference in tariff
• Solar pumps for piped water to each home, also toilets
• Solar lighting to school and community centre
13
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

14. Darewadi,in the Sahyadris,- a 9.36 kWpSolar
PV mini-gridrunningfor 4 years
14
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

15. A village in transformation
15
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia
• 3 lights in each home
• 7 Televisions
• Flour grinder
• 2 Water pumps
• Computers
• (Photo Copy machine)

16. Usage and Tariffs
 Darewadi residents have individual
meters in every home. This ensures
• accountability
• discipline
• ease of load management
 On a monthly basis they pay
 Rs 90 for common usage, street lights
 Average bill is Rs 120-150,
 Rs 150-200 in homes with Televisions
 Up to Rs 400 during weddings etc.
 Present collection ~ Rs 5,500 /month
• They also paid Rs 1000 up front per
home (Rs 500 x 2) as one-time cost
16
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

17. 17
Example of monthly bill
(in Darewadi)
Minimal
Battery bank
dimensioned to
cover usage for just
one night including
street lights
Grid ready, safe
installation
Three separate
feeder lines for
households,
commercial loads
and street lights
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

18. Total consumptiontrendingup, steadily
18
Fortnightly
average
up by 47%
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

19. Best Practicesfrom the installation at
Darewadi– designedwithempathy
• Ensuring initial buy-in from community – critical for
standalone systems such as these
• Designing system with plenty of room for growth to meet
future aspirations (30% initial usage, now up to 50%)
• Devising a sustainable tariff based on actual usage – to fund
battery replacement in 4-5 years (~ Rs 2.5 lacs)
• Minimizing battery backup – using feeder line separation
• Meeting safety and quality standards (world-class) - grid-
ready installation
• Complete transfer of ownership – Vandev Gramodyog Nyas
• Training a local youth who is paid from the corpus to service
the system, manage feeder lines and collect payment 19
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

20. • Reliability
• Energy Service reliable mini-grid delivers its planned levels of
output to its customers
• Reliable mini-grid adheres to its operating schedule
throughout its operating life
• Financial Viability
• Revenue streams are balanced with operational expenses to
continue to provide reliable service
• Availability – as many hours a day as possible
• Local affordability – lowest cost to customer
• Support for income generation activities
• Service coverage for all
20
Mini-GridPerformanceIndicators
BerkeleyRuralEnergyGroup[BREG]
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

21. • Highlights all the additional difficulties in grid
connected villages
• Grid not energised most of the time
• Tapping occurs, whenever grid is energised
• Right of way issues, income mismatch, caste and family rivalry
• Policy environment and role of DISCOMs critical
• Need for Integrated solutions
• Piped water to individual homes
• Toilets in individual homes
• Solar lighting for schools – computers with good quality
content available to the kids
• Community centre with night lighting for sewing, basket
weaving and other livelihood related activity
21
Manachapada– Grid connectedvillage
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

22. • In solar power installations with storage (battery) -
costs are Rs 18-20/unit including battery replacement
(assuming no CAPEX)
 Without battery costs are ~ Rs 6.5-7/ Unit (higher than Grid)
 Villagers ARE ALREADY spending ~ Rs 120 -150/month
 kerosene and mobile charging (Rs 5 each time)
 In fact, their budget of Rs 90-150/ month is the basis
for all business models in mini-grids (Gram Power
charged as high as $10/month)
 An estimated 50 million people are BPL (below poverty
line), they need cheaper solutions
• Chhattisgarh experiment – Rs 5/month, a low flat rate
pricing ‘failed’, also in MP (Rs 15/ month)
• Mini-grid ran out of capacity due to overuse 22
Costs and Affordability
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

23. Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia
23
Other Mini-grids– Primary& Secondarydata
Manyplayersnotaimingtoprovide24x7access!
• Sun Edison in Meerwada, M.P, – 14kWp system – CSR spend
• On-demand, steep rise in usage in a year from 15% to 70%
• Husk Power Systems, Bihar– Gyanesh Pandey
• 2 lights + mobile charging for 6 hours at Rs 120-150
• Biomass – subject to fluctuations in availability
• Gram Power – Yashraj Khaitan
• Prepaid model, Smart Grid technology, $10 per month
• Anchor customers (Telecom, DISCOMs), AC/DC service
• Mera Gaon Power, Uttar Pradesh
• Single day installation, slung over trees, similar package as HPS
• LREDA Ladakh - Local politicians involved
• Best location for Solar PV, ambient temperature not too high
• CREDA, Chattisgarh – nearly 700 installations (DC grids),
• ‘Till the grid comes’ – only lighting, DC grids
• Dharnai in Bihar – Greenpeace, 100kWp also for Solar pumps
• WBREDA, OREDA, Desi Power and others reviewed in UC
Berkeley review article

24. • Darewadi could be electrified independent of
government (tribal hamlet, homogeneous)
• Manachapada requires government involvement
• Assurance regarding expansion/ interaction with grid
• PPA with DISCOMs, agreement on tariffs
• Chattisgarh model – government driven but with
improvements is the best approach, provided
• Usage-based tariff is introduced
• Attitude of ‘till the grid comes’, lighting only, is dropped
• DC grids may still have a role in the future, for now AC
supply is required for most livelihood options
• New (draft) mini-grid policy (June 2016) goes most of
the way to help bring sale, but not 100% 24
Scaling out mini-gridinstallations
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

25. WindEnergySystematManachapada
StreetLightsatDarewadi
25

26. DemoofsuperefficientappliancessetupatCSEbyLBL,USA
Demo at Clean Energy Ministerial in South Korea - 40W Solar module and 70Ah battery
will run: 1) Two brighter LED lights for 5hrs/ day; 2) 13W TV for over 3 hrs/ day;
3) 6W fan for 4 hrs/ day; 4) clock-radio for 5 hrs/ day and 5) mobile phone charger
26

27. Energy efficientAppliances
27
• India’s opportunity to design and
manufacture for 4 billion people
• Re-thinking appliances as well as business
models – Rs 300 vs. Rs 10 per day!
• Chotukool from Godrej, Superfan, etc.
• Global LEAP awards instituted in 2014 for
out-standing off-grid appliances
• Incandescent bulb to LED – factor of 10!
http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2013/06/article_0003.html

28. Source:http://www.emergealliance.org/Portals/_default/Knowledgebase/1/150225%20Stra
tegies%20in%20Light_The%20LED%20Show_BTP.pdf
28

29. Source:http://www.emergealliance.org/Portals/_default/Knowledgebase/1/150225%20Stra
tegies%20in%20Light_The%20LED%20Show_BTP.pdf
29

30. • Standards for DC powered buildings
• 380V for power distribution, 24V for interiors in the US
• 75 occupied interiors in the US and over 1000 installations in China!
• Bureau of Energy Efficiency of India says
• 70% of buildings that will exist in India in 2050 are yet to be built!
• IIT Madras has additional, innovative, ‘Brown out’ solution
• Grid supplies additional DC line (48V) that stays on during outage
• Energy efficient appliances
• Convergence of requirements of developing countries with climate
change concerns everywhere
• (Re-)Electrification may well figure in the list of ‘Greatest
Engineering Achievements of the 21st Century!
30
StandardizeDC: the revolutionis already
underway!
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

31. Wiringonsuspendedceilingsoftypicalofficebuildings.
EmergeAlliance–openindustryassociationforadoptionofsafe
DCpowerincommercialbuildings,datacenters&residential
31

32. 2-wiresnot3,lotsofcoppersaved(40tonsoreforonehome!)
wirescanbepastedonwalls,doesnothavetobeembedded!
32
http://flatwireready.com/products/lighting_products/low-voltagewire.html
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/the-home-
of-tomorrow-will-run-on-direct-current

33. 33THANK YOU

34. • 1. Electrification
• Battle/War of Currents – Edison vs. Tesla (DC vs. AC)
• 2. Automobile
• 3. Airplane
• 4. Water supply and distribution
• 5. Electronics
• 6. Radio and Television
• 7. Agricultural mechanization
• 8. Computers
• 9. Telephone
• 13. Internet
34
Greatestengineeringachievementsof the
20th century
Source: http://www.greatachievements.org/
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

35. • Ideally installation should be without batteries,
• hybrids with biomass, wind etc. to provide continuous power
• Franchisees can be of two types
• Solar power generation as well as distribution – larger operation,
can support value additions in livelihoods
• Will need guaranteed purchase of excess capacity
• Will need support for tariff differentials from State utility
• Distribution only – backed by supply from State utility
• Metering, billing, collection etc.
• Can create jobs but will be hard to deal with sociological challenges
• Concept of franchisee model is not new –
• MSEDCL and Torrent Power have tried it in the past
• Bhiwandi – successful
• Kanpur and Agra - unsuccessful
35
AssistedEntrepreneurship- Franchisees
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia

36. • 1MW system produces 1.4 million billable units of electricity
(300 sunny days) in ‘good’ locations
• Installation cost without battery – ~ Rs 8 crore
• 70-75% is the cost of solar panels, requires 2.5 acres of land
• At Rs 8 / Unit recovery of CAPEX is just over Rs 1.1 Crore/ year –
much too slow for most entrepreneurs – Andhra Pradesh
• Entrepreneurs are fulfilling government’s responsibility to
provide electricity - mitigate their challenges
• Review funding policy – extent and method of funding
• Make subsidies more in line with real costs and make disbursement
processes much simpler
• Guarantee PPA’s from DISCOMs (Feed in tariffs) for generation an
distribution franchisees
• DISCOMs need to provide guaranteed supply of power to distribution
franchisees
• Financial health of DISCOMs worrisome
Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia
36
Biggest challenge – FinancingMini-grids

37. Prospectsfor100%ElectricityAccessinIndia
37
Grid-connectedvillages– Policychallenges
• Policy still leaves smaller entrepreneurs out
• Several implementation and subsidy schemes exist,
each with its own shortcomings:
• Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) scheme of
RGGVY (Ministry of Power) has implementation loopholes
(managing 90% subsidy) and unsustainable tariff design
• No takers for many DDG tenders recently
• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) uses
impractical benchmark costs for subsidies - 30% in JNNSM I,
and 90% in Energy Access Scheme in Phase II
• MNRE and MoP must work together to provide clarity
on the issue of longer term connectivity with Grid

38. Biomass– CookingFuel
• Community biogas plant
based on cattle manure,
food or agro waste
• Can be used effectively also
in Urban context
• Slurry, after removing gas, is
a very good organic fertilizer
38