Micro-Grids able to supply electricity for all

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

powersectorWednesday, August 20, 2014: Resources and scope for development are vast in India where votes are bought through ‘development for all’ slogan. But in all the elections this promise remains unfulfilled as electricity has still not reached most of the rural parts in India. Out of 80,000 villages which have no power even to light a bulb, 19,000 are within Bihar alone.

Though population is growing rapidly in our country and so is the need for energy, we are still maintaining an expensive, centralised energy infrastructure which can hardly meet the demand. In the 11th Five-Year Plan, India added 52 GW to its electricity supply chain but a mere 12 GW electricity couldn’t be provided to this deprived rural population. Our electricity is still produced in central large-scale power plants and following that a huge amount of distribution and transmission losses also happen. Consequently remote villages never get access to this power.

One such village in Bihar’s Jehanabad district, Dharnai, has been suffering from absence of electricity and constant poverty since 1981 when the only bridge which connected this village with other parts of the country collapsed. In March a ray of hope was seen by Dharnai villagers as Greenpeace in collaboration with Centre for Environment and Energy Development and livelihood promotion organisation BASIX, installed a solar-powered micro-grid in the village to supply 24×7 electricity. Now the village is totally transformed, both economically and socially. Better light means better education, better safety for women and all-over socio-economic development.

- Advertisement -

The country has a huge resource of clean energy which can easily generate sustainable power. India is the world’s fifth largest wind power producer. As revealed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), India has special advantage due to its geographical location and it receives 5,000 trillion kWh of solar energy each year. Now this potential of our country and our clean energy sector can only be realised through building Dharnai-like grids more and more and decentralise the power generating systems.

An off-grid system, being an independent power source, uses local resources (solar or biomass) to generate power and this operation reduces distribution losses and infrastructure costs. A micro-grid can also be upgraded as per requirements. For the ’emerging India’, fulfilling the promise of ‘development for all, electricity for all’ is quite necessary for the entire development of the country, and it should get out of the boundary of the election manifesto.

- Advertisement -

Related Artcles

Exclusive

“More Chargers Provide Security And Confidence To Customers, Encouraging EV Adoption”

0
With an agenda to transform the EV industry, EarthtronEV has established 250+ charging stations on major highways across India. The company aims to interconnect...

5G RedCap To Transform IoT Module Shipments

0
Over 60% of IoT module shipments will originate from the Asian & Oceania region. Automotive sector is expected to be a significant driver. The...
XR Headset Quest 3, Meta

Global XR Headset Shipments See A Major Decline, Sony Rises

0
Sony grabbed a market share of 24% in 2023 up from 1% in 2022. Bulky form factor, and lag, hinder adoption by serious...

Buzz

Tenstorrent- RISC V cores

MosChip Collaborates With Tenstorrent For Advanced RISC-V Cores

0
Tenstorrent has selected Moschip due to their tape out expertise in design services. India’s MosChip Technologies has announced partnership with computing company Tenstorrent and to...

BYD Aims For 20% Increase In Yearly EV Sales

0
The company is targeting sales of 500,000 vehicles internationally this year, over twice the amount sold last year, and aims to increase that figure...

RRP Electronics To Invest ₹5000 Cr In OSAT and R&D In Maharashtra

0
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar is investing in this semiconductor facility. Such celebrated personalities investing in the sector could be a great asset to the...

Important Sectors

“More Chargers Provide Security And Confidence To Customers, Encouraging EV Adoption”

0
With an agenda to transform the EV industry, EarthtronEV has established 250+ charging stations on major highways across India. The company aims to interconnect...

BYD Aims For 20% Increase In Yearly EV Sales

0
The company is targeting sales of 500,000 vehicles internationally this year, over twice the amount sold last year, and aims to increase that figure...

RRP Electronics To Invest ₹5000 Cr In OSAT and R&D In Maharashtra

0
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar is investing in this semiconductor facility. Such celebrated personalities investing in the sector could be a great asset to the...

Subsidy Cuts Push E2W Makers Towards Budget Models

0
Electric two-wheeler manufacturers face reduced government subsidies and growing competition from established petrol vehicle brands in the upcoming fiscal year. These challenges compel them...

Nissan To Invest In Renault’s Ampere For EV Roadmap

0
The alliance aims to introduce both five-seater and seven-seater models for each brand in India. Japan's Nissan Motor has committed to investing in Renault's electric...

Manufacturing

JLR To Hire 250 Electrical Technicians For Future EVs

0
These new roles, part of a £15 billion investment, are in addition to 300 positions created last year by the British car maker. Jaguar Land...

Altmin India Partners With WMG To Advance Battery Tech

0
Altmin and WMG will collaborate to strengthen their global battery materials supply chain position by optimizing cathode materials and developing diverse cell designs across...

EVs To Cost Less Than Gas Vehicles by 2027, Says Gartner

0
Gartner predicts a faster decline in production costs compared to battery costs, which represent the most significant expense in an electric vehicle, accounting for...
MG

MG Motor To Set Up Battery Assembly Unit At Halol Facility

0
The company plans to investigate battery cell production in collaboration with external partners. Automaker MG Motor India is actively exploring the possibility of assembling and...

Servotech Boosts India’s EV Charging Infrastructure With Manufacturing Facility

0
The new facility is poised to start with an annual production capacity of 24,000 power modules and plan to scale up to 2.4 lakh...