Electrified household in MaligaonBushlight India

Lack of reliable, affordable energy in rural areas is a major factor inhibiting the development of local economies. In India today more than 100,000 villages exist without access to electricity. Of these many thousands are too remote for grid electricity to ever be a technically or economically feasible option. For these to be electrified, the only viable solution is standalone (distributed generation) power systems. In this context, renewable energy (RE) technologies offer remote communities the opportunity to generate their own energy without the prohibitive ongoing costs and access difficulties associated with fossil fuels. For such systems to be sustainable and effective in supporting local development, however, communities need to be active partners in the planning process and the supply of energy reliable, affordable and of appropriate capacity.

Through the ‘Bushlight India Project’, CAT Projects has worked with an integrated network of Indian community organisations and RE industry participants, as well as the Government of India, to collaboratively develop the ‘Bushlight India Model’, a widely replicable model for the electrification of remote villages using centralised solar PV energy systems. This is a comprehensively documented and resourced, structured and stage-wise set of processes covering everything from initial village selection, through to village energy planning, system design and financial modelling, post-installation training and the establishment of suitable system support and maintenance networks. The project also involves a demonstration phase wherein Bushlight India systems are being established in two remote villages.

Developed through extensive consultation with project partners and stakeholders, the Bushlight India Model is adapted from the successful Community Energy Planning Model originally developed and used by the Bushlight project in Australia which to date has been successfully applied to deliver reliable energy services to over 140 remote indigenous communities across central and northern Australia.

Through a number of demonstration systems up to 1000 residents of rural Indian villages will be provided with access to reliable 24 hour electricity, access to reliable maintenance services, and targeted capacity building and support to help operate and manage their renewable energy systems.

The Bushlight India Model distinguishes itself from existing models by offering communities with the resources, capacity and motivation, the opportunity to access electricity that is:

• Reliable: supply is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
• Equitable: each consumer is assured access to a fixed amount of energy every day;
• Of a known amount: residents determine their own ‘daily energy budget’ through the facilitated ‘energy budgeting’ process; and
• Of a known cost: tariff levels are set prior to energy budgeting.

Technically, this is achieved through the use of the Urja Bandhu, or ‘Energy Friend’. This is a small electrical metering device developed by the Bushlight India project and manufactured in India that makes available an individually programmable amount of electricity to each consumer every 24 hours with a small display to show the current level of ‘energy budget’ available.

The Bushlight India Model provides residents with the information needed to understand energy use in their households and communities and the costs and benefits of different supply options. It assists them to identify and prioritise the energy services they want and need and through the energy budgeting activity, to determine their actual daily allocation – their energy budget.

Having a known maximum daily system demand (the total of all ‘budgets’) means supply to all loads can be assured 24/7 while maintaining battery charge within design levels – ensuring the technical sustainability of the system. It also enables service fee levels to be matched to the known operation and maintenance costs over the life of the system. Any operational subsidies can also be accounted for within the financial modeling tools and appropriate financial planning done to ensure the financial sustainability of the system.

Click here to see a detailed description of the Bushlight India model for village energy service delivery.
Click here to see a case study of one of the demonstration system established in the village of Maligaon, in the state of Orissa.
Click here to see a case study of the demonstration system in the village of Rajatjubili-Annpur in the Sunderbans in the state of West Bengal.
Visit the Bushlight India image gallery here.

The Bushlight India Project is managed by CAT Projects and funded by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency through the Australian Government’s participation in the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. Key project partners are: Gram Vikas, a grassroots NGO from the state of Orissa; Tata BP Solar, one of India’s leading solar PV manufacturers and system suppliers; WWF-India; and WBREDA, the state nodal agency for the Central Indian Government Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in West Bengal.