Life in many remote villages of
India comes to a standstill after the twilight. School students are unable to
read their books, the women struggle to do basic chores of family. Only aid to
do the necessary work comes from faint glow of kerosene lamps. The relief in
this situation has been provided by the entry of solar power in remote
villages. Off grid solar lanterns, small domestic PV systems, solar torches and
other similar products have come to the rescue of the people residing in these
villages. The lighting needs can be fulfilled by lanterns and torches and small
domestic PV systems can help in operating a lamp, fan and mobile charger. Provision
of such basic amenities helps the society at a larger level.
The affordability of these
devices depends at large on the economic status of the people living in these
remote areas. At such a stage, it becomes essential to have intervention from
Government to assist in accelerated penetration of the technology in deprived
areas. MNRE is extending support to different states under various schemes
based on off grid energy. These schemes assist in meeting the basic
requirements of areas which are not electrified or where limited power is being
used inefficiently.
The scheme viz. ‘localization of
solar energy through local assembly, sale and usage of one million solar study
lamps (CFL/LED)’ was announced in January, 2014. It provides financial support
of INR 14.81 Crores to empower population in under served communities of
Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. IIT Bombay is partnering with remote
rural organizations to provide solar study lamps for school children to enhance
their daily night studies, exams preparation, home work and other educational
programs. The selection process of districts will be based on parameters like;
number of households using Kerosene, illiteracy rate, number of schools and
students density in schools. The project will be implemented for a period of
eighteen months from 2013-15. This scheme will benefit the communities without
access to electricity and thus help in improving the quality of their lives.
A similar scheme has been
announced by MNRE under JNNSM. It extends financial subsidy for installation of
Solar Photovoltaic lights and small capacity systems through cooperation of
various banks. The scheme ‘Financial Support for extending subsidy- for
installation of 68,000 numbers of Solar Photovoltaic lights and small capacity
systems through NABARD/ RRB’s, Nationalized banks and Cooperative banks under
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)’ was announced on 28th
February, 2014. Estimated Central Financial Assistance for 68,000 installations
stands out at INR 149.81 Crores. In addition to this, central Government
subsidy will be given as per the rules specified in the released scheme
document. NABARD will be responsible for implementation and monitoring of the
project through Regional Rural Banks and Nationalized Banks during the duration
of one year. Recently, a sanction of INR 148 Crores has been approved by National
Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) for various states with high number of villages
detached from the grid. This financial assistance supports the installation of domestic
SPV power plants of 1kWp capacity under the scheme ‘Installation of 23,500 nos.
SPV power plants of 1kWp capacity each for Domestic household in Rajasthan,
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and other selected States’. The total project cost is INR 493 Crores. The
power plants are to be installed on the roof top of individual houses. The
duration of project is one year.
The main objective of the project
is to provide clean and better light to individual households in rural,
semi-urban and urban areas where the electricity supply is very unreliable and
unstable. Limited grid availability in remote areas of some states has paved
the way for introduction of clean energy solutions. These initiatives will help
in reducing the consumption of kerosene and will give an opportunity to improve
the results of children studying in schools. It will also help the women in
carrying out household chores in the evenings after the sun set. It will also
provide better light for cottage industries.
Other than domestic sector, there
are certain schemes supporting the agricultural sector also. One of the schemes
‘Installation of 17,500 nos. of SPV water Pumping System in Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Bihar and other selected states to meet the irrigation requirements’ has been
announced on 5th March, 2014 by MNRE. The financial support of INR
299.5 Crores is provided by NCEF in the project cost of INR 997.5 Crores. The
states need to contribute 15 percent of the project cost from state’s share.
SPV pumping systems can easily meet the irrigation requirements for land
holdings of small and marginal farmers in place of the large number of diesel
pump sets which are being deployed every year in the country. This project will
help in reduction of diesel consumption. It will obviate farmers from long
distance travels to procure and transport diesel. It will increase the cropping
intensity of the states. Duration of project is two years in which ministry
will provide 30 percent of the cost as subsidy. The renewable energy
development agency of the respective state will be responsible for the
implementation of this scheme. Complete technical specifications of the pump
set required to be installed under the scheme is given in the scheme document.
The demand of electricity in
India is decentralised as still there are far flung areas which are out of
grid’s connection and in some cases the distances being so long, the
introduction of transmission lines seems infeasible and unviable. Due to such
circumstances it becomes important to have decentralised supply of energy in
the country which becomes attainable only with the backing of Government
policies.
Infraline Energy Renewable Energy Research Team
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