Abstract
South Asia accounts for around 31 % of the global population without access to electricity. While there is no denying the fact that the electrification rate is increasing, such a situation continues to exist despite several initiatives and policies to support electrification efforts by the respective country governments. The challenges to enhance electricity access are manifold including technical, financial, institutional and governance barriers. Based on an extensive literature review, this chapter attempts to highlight the rural electrification situation at the regional and country level in South Asia. It also performs a comparative analysis to exploit cross learning potential and suggest specific boosters that could serve as input for policy and technology review and assist future electrification efforts in the region. Here we have focused on renewable energy based mini-grids and stand-alone systems and also covered conventional grid extension. We also raise some pertinent issues and attempt to find their solutions. The household connection needs to be improved considerably through a targeted approach and innovative micro-lending model. At the same time the electricity supply also needs to be enhanced, such as through distributed power projects utilizing locally available renewable resources, to ensure that electricity supply to connected households in sustainable and supply constraints do not inhibit extending electrification to virgin areas or intensification of existing villages. Developing a regulatory mechanism to extend the tariff fixation for mini-grid projects and providing cross-subsidies to ensure long term sustainability of such projects is also highlighted. Finally, economic linkages, access to credit and institutional arrangements also need to be organised appropriately, especially for off-grid rural electrification to facilitate successful outcomes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Our paper Palit and Chaurey (2011) is an exception and this chapter refers to this work extensively.
- 2.
South AsiaRegion consists of eight countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- 3.
De-electrified village means a village which has been electrified earlier, however, it has become un-electrified at present as the distribution infrastructure has not been in working condition for a long time. However, in official records it continues to be shown as electrified. The de-electrified village category was accepted by the Government of India during the launch of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojanaand included for repeat electrification of such villages.
- 4.
Village electrification here is considered as percentage of villages where electricity grid or mini-grid exists. Household electrification on the other hand is defined as percentage households who have actually taken electricity connection.
- 5.
A village will be deemed to be electrified if: basic infrastructure such as distribution transformer and distribution lines are provided in the inhabited locality as well as the hamlet where it exists; Electricity is provided to public places like schools, panchayat office, health centers, dispensaries, community centers etc. and the number of households electrified should be at least 10 % of the total number of households in the village.
- 6.
The Electricity Act 2003 made the government (both state and central) obligated to supply electricity to rural areas including villages and hamlets. Section 6 of the act mandates the hitherto implied Universal Service Obligation by stating that the government shall endeavor to supply electricity to all areas including villages and hamlets. Section 5 further mandates the formulation of national policy on rural electrification focusing, especially, on management of local distribution networks through local institutions. The EA2003 in Section 4 also frees stand-alone generation and distribution networks from licensing requirements.
- 7.
The National Electricity Policy 2005 inter-alia states that wherever grid based electrification is not feasible, DDG (decentralized distributed generation) facilities (either conventional or non-conventional methods of electricity generation whichever is more suitable and economical) together with local distribution network would be provided so that every household gets access to electricity.
- 8.
The REP aims at providing minimum lifeline consumption of 1 kWh per household per day as a merit good by year 2012.
- 9.
Usually SHSwith less than 40 Wp is used for lighting purpose whereas SHS above 40 Wp can be used for operating other electrical appliances such as TV, motor, fan etc.
- 10.
The performance of the biomass gasifier projects implemented under VESP or RVE program in remote rural areas is found to be unsatisfactory especially due to technology management and product quality issues On the other hand, biomass gasifiers implemented by private companies in some parts of India for electricity supply to ‘not so remote’ areas are reported to be working satisfactorily.
- 11.
Usually, for small capacity gasifier systems running on only producer gas such as 10 or 20 kWe, diesel engines are modified (CI engine converted to SI engine) and coupled with the gasifier, as gas engines are not commercially available for smaller capacity range. Gas engines are used for 25 kWe capacity systems and above.
- 12.
Husk Power Systems, DESI Power and Sharan Renewables are some privately owned companies that have set up biomass gasifier-based power plants with capacity ranging from 30 to 100 kWe covering around 300 villages and hamlets across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. These gasifiers run on a variety of crop residues, such as rice husk, sugar cane toppings, corn cob, etc. and provide electricity services to villages on flat rate or metered basis.
- 13.
In many villages across India, especially in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, use of diesel gensets (called choti bijli) is common. These are usually owned by individuals and used to supply power to their own homes or for powering irrigation water pumps. Often an enterprising villager works out an arrangement to provide power either to a cluster of houses or for some economic activity. The electricity is priced as flat rate (ranging between INR 10 and INR 15 per kWh if converted to kWh basis) and so it is availed of only by those who can afford it or who cannot afford to do without it.
- 14.
With the launch of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), as one of the eight National Missions comprising India's National Action Plan on Climate Change, the solar technology programmes promoted by the MNRE has now all been integrated under the Mission. The Mission has twin objectives of contributing to India's long-term energy security and its ecologically sustainable growth, and aims to incentivize the installation of 22,000 MW of on and off-gridsolar power using both solar PV and Concentrating Solar Power technologies by 2022 as well as a large number of other solar applications such as solar lighting, heating, and water pumps. The first phase (up to 2013) is focusing on promoting off-gridsystems to serve populations without access to commercial energy and also capacity addition in grid-based systems for augmenting supply of clean energy. The Mission recognizes that off-gridsolar energy applications have tremendous potential in reaching out to people in rural and remote areas by providing lighting and basic energy services to them and envisages that by the end of phase 1 in 2013, it should have led to the setting up of cumulative capacity of 200 MW of off-gridpower in India. In the second phase, after taking into account the experience of the initial years, capacity will be aggressively ramped up to create conditions for up scaled and competitive solar energy penetration in the country.
- 15.
The access to electricity grids does not necessarily mean that there is reliable electricity supply to meet the needs of the rural people. In India and Bangladesh the Central Electricity Authority and Bangladesh Power Development Board statistics indicate that the peak power deficit was more than 10 and 27 % respectively during the year 2010. Similarly, Nepal Electricity Authority reports that the annual energy deficit was more than 20 % of the demand during 2008–2009 and load shedding period was up to 16 h a day in the rural areas. As priority is always provided to meet the urban and commercial demand, due to expectation of higher returns (as tariff is high in such areas), the rural areas are neglected and is impacted by frequent blackouts.
- 16.
OBA is a performance-based operating subsidy scheme that links payments to actual electricity output delivered to customers.
- 17.
According to the IEA (Energy for All-Financing access to the Poor 2011), ‘up to June 2011, only 15 CDM projects, 0.2 % of the total, have been designed to increase or improve energy access for households’.
References
Abeygunawardana, A. (2011). Experiences on off-grid programs in Sri Lanka. Presentation made at the Workshop on Off-grid Access System in South Asia, January 7, 2011. New Delhi.
ADB. (2007). Sri Lanka country assistance program evaluation power sector operations Evaluation Department, Asian Development Bank, Manila.
ADB. (2009). Powering the Poor. Projects to increase access to clean energy for all. Manila, Asian Development Bank. http://www.adb.org/documents/books/powering-the-poor/default.asp. last viewed 14 May 2010.
Bhandari, R., & Stadler, I. (2009). Electrification using solar photovoltaic systems in Nepal. Journal for Applied Energy, 88(2), 458–465.
Bhattacharyya, S. C. (2006). Energy access problem of the poor in India: Is rural electrification a remedy? Energy Policy, 34, 3387–3397.
Cecelski, E. (2000). Enabling equitable access to rural electrification: Current thinking and major activities in Energy, Poverty and Gender. Briefing paper prepared for Brainstorming Meeting on Asia Alternative Energy Policy and Project Development Support. The World Bank, Washington DC, 26–27 January.
Chaurey, A., Ranganathan, M., & Mohanty, P. (2004). Electricity access for geographically disadvantaged rural communities—technology and policy insights. Energy Policy, 32, 1693–1705.
Cust, J., Singh, A., & Neuhoff, K. (2007). Rural Electrification in India: Economic and institutional aspects of renewables’. EPRG 0730 and CWPE 0763.
DFID. (2002). Energy for the poor: Underpinning the millennium dev goals. London: Department for International Development.
Dubash, N. K.,& Bradley, R. (2005) pathways to rural electrification in India. In: Growing in the greenhouse: Protecting the climate by putting development first, World Resources Institute. Washington, DC, pp. 69–93.
ESAP. (2006). Mini grid rural electrification: Energy sector assistance program phase II 2007–2011. Government of Nepal: Alternative Energy Promotion Centre.
ESAP. (2012). Energy sector assistance program. Alternative energy promotion centre, Government of Nepal. http://www.aepc.gov.np. last viewed 14 June 2012.
ESMAP. (2002). Rural electrification and development in the Philippines: Measuring the social and economic benefits. Joint UNDP/World Bank Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) Report. The World Bank: Washington, DC.
Ghimire, D. P. (2011). Rural electrification—an experience from Nepal. Paper presented at the workshop on off-grid access system in south Asia. 06 January 2011, New Delhi.
Ghosh, D., Sagar, A., & Kishore, V. V. N. (2006). Scaling up biomass gasifier use: an application-specific approach. Energy Policy, 34, 1566–1582.
GOB. (2005). Government’s vision and policy. Power Division, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Government of Bangladesh, Dhaka. http://www.powerdivision.-gov.bd. last visited 30 December 2010.
GNESD. (2004). Institutional reforms and their impact in rural electrification: South and South East Asia. Denmark: Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development.
GNESD. (2007). Reaching the millennium development goals and beyond: Access to modern forms of energy as a prerequisite. Denmark: Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development.
GoSL. (2006). National energy policy and strategies of Sri Lanka; Ministry of power and energy, Government of Sri Lanka.
Gunaratne, L. (1994). Solar photovoltaic’s in Sri Lanka: a short history. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 2.
Gunaratne, L. (2002). Rural electrification in Sri Lanka. Colombo, Sri Lanka: LGA Consultants Pvt Ltd.
Hossain, A. K., & Badr, O. (2007). Prospects of renewable energy utilization for electricity generation in Bangladesh. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 11, 1617–1649.
IDCOL. (2012). Renewable energy projects. Infrastructure Development Company Limited, Dhaka. http://www.idcol.org/. last viewed 15 June 2012.
IEA. (2011). Key world energy statistics. Paris: International Energy Agency.
Jaisinghani, N. (2011). Islands of light—the experience of micro-grid power solutions. The Solar Quarterly, 3(3), 10–18.
Kemmler, A. (2007). Factors influencing household access to electricity in India. Energy for Sustainable Development, 11(4), 13–20.
Khan, S. I. (2003). Protecting the poor in the era of utility privatization. Energy for Sustainable Development, 7(2), 49–56.
Krishnaswamy, S. (2010). Shifting of goal posts—rural electrification in India: A progress report. New Delhi: Vasudha Foundation.
Kumar, A., Mohanty, P., Palit, D., & Chaurey, A. (2009). Approach for standardization of off-grid electrification projects. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13, 1946–1956.
Kumar, M. V. M., & Banerjee, R. (2010). Analysis of isolated power systems for village electrification. Energy for Sustainable Development, 14, 213–222.
Mainali, B., & Silveira, S. (2011). Financing off-grid rural electrification: Country case Nepal. Energy, 36, 2194–2201.
MNRE. (2012). Renewable energy at a glance. Akshay Urja. Ministry of new and renewable energy, Government of India, New Delhi, Vol. 5 Issue 5.
MNRE. (2010). Jawaharlal Nehru national solar mission—guidelines for off-grid and decentralized solar applications and rooftop and other small solar power plants. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.
Monroy, C. R., & Hernandez, A. S. S. (2005). Main issues concerning the financing and sustainability of electrification projects in rural areas: International survey results. Energy for Sustainable Development, 9(2), 17–25.
NDF. (2004). Rural electrification Nepal development forum, ministry of finance, foreign aid coordination office, Katmandu. http://www.ndf2004.gov.np/pdf/proceedings/rural.pdf. last viewed 24 April 2010.
NEA. (2009). A year in review 2008–09; Kathmandu: Nepal Electricity Authority.
NRECA. (2002). Economic and social impact evaluation study of the Bangladesh rural electrification program NRECA international Ltd. Bangladesh: Dhaka.
Nouni, M. R., Mullick, S. C., & Kandpal, T. C. (2006). Techno-economics of micro-hydro projects for decentralized power supply in India. Energy Policy, 34, 1161–1174.
Palit, D. (2003). Performance and impact of solar thermal and photovoltaic devices disseminated in north eastern region of India. In Shrestha, J. N., Bajracharya, T. R., Vaidya, B.,& Pradhan, S.(Eds.) Conference papers of International Conference on Renewable Energy for Rural Development (pp 81–84). Kathmandu: Tribhuvan University.
Palit, D., Malhotra, R., & Kumar, A. (2011). Sustainable model for financial viability of decentralized biomass gasifier based power projects. Energy Policy, 39, 4893–4901.
Palit, D., & Chaurey, A. (2011). Off-grid rural electrification experiences from South Asia: Status and best practices. Energy for Sustainable Development, 15, 266–276.
Palit, D.,& Sarangi, G. K. (2011). A comparative analysis of the solar energy programs for rural electrification: Experiences and lessons from South Asia. In Conference Proceedings of Third International Conference on Addressing Climate Change for Sustainable Development through Up-Scaling Renewable Energy Technologies, October 12–14, 2011, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Palit, D., Sovacool, B. K., Cooper, C., Clarke, S., Crafton, M., Eidsness, J., Johnson, J.,& Zoppo, D. (2012). Towards household energy security: The Village Energy Security Program in India. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy: National University of Singapore.
Purohit, P. (2009). CO2 emissions mitigation potential of solar home systems under clean development mechanism in India. Energy, 34, 1014–1023.
REB. (2012). Rural electrification program. rural electrification board, Dhaka. Retrieved from http://www.reb.gov.bd/at_glance.htm. last viewed 1 June 2012.
Reddy, B. S., & Srinivas, T. (2009). Energy use in Indian household sector—an actor oriented approach. Energy, 34, 992–1002.
Rejikumar, R. (2005). National electricity policy and plan: A critical examination. Economic and Political Weekly, 40(20), 2028–2031.
REP. (2008). Concept paper on community energy service provider. Renewable Energy Project, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu.
Shrank, S. (2008). Another look at renewables on India’s Sagar Island. Working Paper #77. Stanford Program on Energy and Sustainable Development.
Shrestha, R. M., Kumar, S., Sharma, S., & Todoc, M. J. (2004). Institutional reforms and electricity access lessons from Bangladesh and Thailand. Energy for Sustainable Development, 8(4), 41–53.
Shukla, S. K. (2010). Chhattisgarh’s experience in implementing and maintaining solar power plants in remote rural areas. Presentation made at the Solar Transitions Worksop. February 12’ 2010, Kolkata.
Shukla, S. K. (2011). Maintenance of solar power plants. Presentation made at the Workshop on Off-grid Access System in South Asia. January 6, 2011, New Delhi.
TERI. (2007a). Evaluation of franchise system in selected districts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Karnataka. The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi.
TERI. (2007b). Evaluation of franchisee system in selected districts of Assam, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi.
TERI. (2009a). Study on improved rural electricity services through renewable energy based distributed generation and supply—comprehensive review of experiences of distributed generation projects in India. New Delhi: The Energy and Resources Institute.
TERI. (2009b). Assessment of village energy security Program. Cosmile Update. The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi 4(3), 2–4.
TERI. (2010). Analysis of rural electrification strategy with special focus on the franchise system in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa. The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi.
Urmee, T., & Harries, D. (2009). A survey of solar PV program implementers in Asia and the Pacific regions. Energy for Sustainable Development, 13, 24–32.
Ulsrud, K., Winther, T., Palit, D., Rohracher, H., & Sandgren, J. (2011). The solar transitions research on solar mini-grids in India: Learning from local cases of innovative socio-technical systems. Energy for Sustainable Development, 15, 293–303.
World Bank. (2008). Designing sustainable off-grid rural electrification projects: Principles and practices. The Energy and Mining Sector Board Operational Guidance for World Bank Group Staff, The World Bank, Washington, DC.
World Bank. (2010). Empowering rural India: Expanding electricity access by mobilizing local resources. South Asia Energy Unit, The World Bank, New Delhi.
World Bank. (2011). India: Biomass for Sustainable Development: Lessons for Decentralized Energy Delivery. India Country Management Unit, The World Bank, New Delhi.
Wong, S. (2010). Overcoming obstacles against effective solar lighting interventions in South Asia. Energy Policy,. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2010.09.030.
Yadoo, A., & Cruickshank, H. (2010). The value of cooperatives in rural electrification. Energy Policy, 38, 2941–2947.
Yang, M., & Yu, X. (2004). China’s rural electricity market—a quantitative analysis. Energy Policy, 29(7), 961–977.
Zahnd, A., & Kimber, H. M. (2009). Benefits from a renewable energy village electrification system. Renewable Energy, 34, 362–368.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag London
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Palit, D., Chaurey, A. (2013). Off-Grid Rural Electrification Experiences from South Asia . In: Bhattacharyya, S. (eds) Rural Electrification Through Decentralised Off-grid Systems in Developing Countries. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4673-5_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4673-5_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-4672-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-4673-5
eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)