STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS IN OFF-GRID AREAS OF INDIA

Energy Management

India has fifth largest power generation portfolio worldwide with power generation capacity of 329.20 GW (30 April 2017). Still, around 50% of India’s rural population has little or no access to grid-based electricity and relies on kerosene as its primary source of lighting. States with highest number of underserved population are Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. Promoting renewable energy (RE) in off grid areas will not only solve electricity problem but also reduce climate vulnerability, increase adaptive capacity towards climate change and lead to social equity. The aim of this paper is to propose strategies to promote RE solutions in off-grid areas and recommendations to make RE in off-grid areas financially feasible and socially sustainable. Government of India (GoI) should restructure the sanctioning of subsidies and authorize private organizations for expediting the process. An independent “Technical Standards Committee” should be formed for determining technical standards, certification and accreditation of the equipments. It should also maintain “Monitoring and Evaluation System” to ensure funds are being used for the intended purpose. GoI should encourage and allocate funds for local manufacturing of Solar Home Systems (SHS) products. Standards and tariff structures should be introduced for feeding electricity into the central grid in ‘Draft Grid Integration Policy’. Furthermore, Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) can play a key role in developing an instalment based financing scheme which reduces monthly cost of SHS to that of kerosene. Hence, efforts taken deliberately in addressing RE will help increase affordability and accessibility in off grid areas.

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