By: Thomas Hillig

More than a billion people around the globe do not have access to electricity. In the vast majority, this is not because of a traditional lifestyle, so not by choice.

Generally, many developing countries have insufficient power generation infrastructure. Often only the major metropolitan areas are connected to the national grid and only urban inhabitants have a chance to access electricity. To include remote villages requires much more investment per connection. Building long transition lines to distant settlements can be extremely expensive.

In addition, many villages are scattered across large areas. Families live in huts or small houses and not in multi-story buildings like in urban regions. This means that also the costs of connecting several households within a village is much more expensive than in cities. Many poor countries do not dispose of the necessary financial means for extending their centralized power system to more decentral locations.

The solar power revolution has initiated an evolution that could overcome this unsatisfying situation. Solar allows for a more decentralized concept of power generation. Large solar power plants are also possible, but an attractive characteristic of solar power is that small generation units can be built in a relatively inexpensive way.

This gives hope for electrifying remote areas all over the world. No expensive grid extension projects are needed to reach remote areas. Decentralized power generation often does not require an infrastructure type of investment.

Solar-home systems (SHS): unconnected & completely autonomous electricity supply for individual households

SHS are micro-power plants with integrated energy storage that provide electricity to individual buildings or households. SHS typically provide DC power that can be used without any problems for lamps and mobile phone charging. For newly electrified households, these are typically the main power needs. The electricity from SHS is not fully comparable to AC power that we know in developed countries.

More sophisticated appliances like television, fridges or air conditioning typically require AC power. To overcome these limitations, SHS providers pursue two different solutions:

1. Development and provision of DC appliances
2. Conversion of DC power to AC power

DC solutions for television, refrigerators, or air conditioning are typically much more costly than standard AC appliances — comparing new to new. Already existing AC appliances cannot be used directly. Also, the new-to-new comparison is typically not very relevant in many developing countries as second-hand appliances play an important role.

Converting from DC to AC adds substantial extra costs and requires a certain size of the solar generator. Finally, some conversion losses need to be taken into consideration.

Certain voices in the international development community insist that developing countries merit the same power quality than western nations and that SHS would not be enough. These voices often pursue a different approach by favoring mini-grids.

Mini-grids: Miniature power plants, storage, & distribution on village-level

AC mini-grids resemble a miniature version of the power infrastructure that we know from western countries. Today, on the generation side, mostly solar power plants plus battery energy storage are used, often combined with diesel generators or biomass plants for securing the energy supply during bad weather periods or as a cheaper option during night time.

In comparison to standard grid infrastructure, mini-grids are much smaller: typical plant sizes are in the range of 10–35kWp solar and less than 100kWh battery energy storage for 150–400 connections. Another difference is the missing interconnection through transmission lines between different units. Mini-grids are typically isolated and completely autonomous. AC mini-grids provide electricity of high quality that can be used by private, commercial and small industrial off-takers. Well-designed mini-grids are considered to provide electricity of a quality that is comparable to sophisticated national grids.

The downside is that mini-grids require investments in a rather complex and stationary power generation and distribution infrastructure.

Innovation is driving the development of SHS & mini-grids: a new generation of smart meters

A new generation of relatively inexpensive smart meters that can be coupled with mobile money solutions allows for remotely controlling energy sales in an automated way. Pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) systems allow for setting up payment methods for decentral energy sales that imitate pre-paid mobile phone solutions. The end-customer must “top up” his energy account before consuming the electricity. This approach enables SHS- or mini-grid-operators to manage the payment behavior in an automated way and to optimize the money collection process. The approach avoids losses due to failure of payment. The downside is that the solar power output is determined at the moment of the investment when the technical parameters of the plant are specified. If the electricity from a system is not consumed it cannot be sold elsewhere. Forecasting future electricity needs is a key discipline — above all for mini-grid developers as mini-grids can hardly be removed after construction. SHS companies face more flexibility. In case of non-payment, it is relatively easy — at least from a technical point of view — to dismantle, remove and relocate SHSs.

Solar! Electricity for all? Leaving no one behind?

The business case is however not easy. Both SHS and mini-grid companies have to choose their customers carefully in order to come up with an economically viable business case. SHS providers choose the best customers on a country level or from certain regions in which they operate. Not everyone can afford solar energy. Minigrid developers make two choices: first, they choose a village, then they chose in a particular village the customers that can pay for electricity and that are easy to access. Often, within the village, they are less demanding than SHS providers.

As a certain willingness and ability to pay for solar power is required, both approaches have the tendency to address primarily the rural middle class. Subsides that are often incorporated in both approaches do not reach the poorest of the poor. It becomes obvious that development efforts must be undertaken beyond electrification.

By: Ashok Thanikonda 

In 2000, the Indian government introduced  industrial parks called Special Economic Zones (SEZs), with the objective of enhancing foreign investment, providing an internationally competitive export-processing environment, and boosting employment generating opportunities. As per mandate set by the Central Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), at least 51 percent of SEZ land should be demarcated as ‘processing area’, or core industrial area where manufacturing units are located.

India has 213 operating SEZs today, and considering the mandate, could potentially generate up to 1,080 megawatts (MW) of on-site solar power. This inference is based on nearly two years of field assessments, which have indicated that: a) of the core industrial areas, only 50 percent may comprise the actual factory area (the rest comprising factory infrastructure like roads, sewage systems, etc.); b) of the actual factory area, only 60 percent are already built up and functioning, and; c) of this built up areas, only 35 percent is suitable for on-site solar power.

Ascertaining how much more of this potential can be commercially exploited will need further assessments, but prima facie, the two important influencers are suitability of the roofs and additional regulatory compliances notified in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Act for SEZs situated on the coast.

At this juncture, it is important to remember that as in May 2018 India has only 1,211 MW of rooftop solar power installed across all its sectors, a mere 3 percent of its target of 40,000 MW by 2022. With their solar potential, SEZs could help in doubling the installed rooftop solar capacity.

Barriers

In general, rooftop solar installations by commercial and industrial consumers have not shown significant growth, despite their economic viability. The primary reason for this is the reluctance of utilities to let go of higher-paying commercial and industrial consumers, as revenue generated from them helps the utility subsidise low-income consumers. Therefore, utilities employ certain criteria to restrict the size of the rooftop solar projects under net-metering programs that require them to buy excess rooftop solar power. These restrictions may be a cap on the project size, or a limit that is equal to a percentage of the consumer’s connected load, or with respect to the local distribution transformer’s capacity.

Since SEZs host many businesses, a unique situation plays out with respect to on-site solar power. A few (typically large) companies in SEZs need more power than their rooftop solar plants can generate. On the other hand, many medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) in the SEZs can generate rooftop solar power that may exceed their requirements. These MSMEs are unable to fully exploit their rooftop solar potential because of their inability to invest, their relatively lower creditworthiness that poses a problem for private developers, or a cap on the project sizes under net-metering schemes.

Innovative models

If SEZs are to fully exploit their onsite solar potential, it has to be done without affecting the utilities’ revenue streams. Two possibilities to do this exist:

1. Electricity Regulatory Commissions (ERCs) can remove the capacity restrictions on net-metering programs for SEZs; and approve third party roof leasing models. For example, Orissa removed 1 MW cap for stakeholders to save transmission and distribution losses and increase rooftop solar percolation in the state. Maharashtra has also removed 1 MW cap for textile units.
2. ERCs can allow private developers to aggregate the rooftop solar power, and sell excess power to larger companies in the industrial park. Currently, such a solar project developer or industrial park developer has to apply to be a deemed distribution license for that area. Deemed distribution licensees must source 24×7 power, lay their own distribution infrastructure and serve all consumers at tariffs fixed by the relevant electricity regulatory commissions, under Section 43 of the Electricity Act 2003. These barriers prevent SEZ owners/private developers from exploring any aggregated rooftop solar projects.

Given the declining cost of solar power, ERCs could allow utilities to charge a facilitation cost on every unit of excess power sold in the above models, while keeping the landed cost affordable for consumers. The benefits of such mechanisms could be evaluated by piloting the initiative at one SEZ.

Overall potential of Industrial Agglomerations

Beyond SEZs, India is home to many industrial agglomerations that are set up under various Central and state schemes. Extending the analysis to the currently available data from MoCI, reveals a conservative potential of 13,307-15,247 MW across these agglomerations. This is equal to 33-38 percent of India’s rooftop solar target.

State-wise, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Telangana account for 85 percent of the on-site solar potential across all industrial agglomerations. Six of these eight states are on the coast, where additional CRZ compliances are required. Among the agglomerations industrial areas, corridor nodes, parks, estates, regions and SEZs across states, offer a collective solar potential of 87.1 percent. Unlocking this potential would also help create thousands of jobs and boost the nation’s industrial economy.

By: Steve Hanley

Fraunhofer ISE in Germany was one of the first to experiment with combining solar and farming on the same land. Its early research found doing so increases the productivity of the land significantly upto 60% or more in some cases.

Now researchers at the University of Arizona have confirmed the benefits of growing crops beneath the shade provided by solar panels — more electricity, higher yields, and less water used. That last part is of vital interest to farmers in Arizona where access to water for irrigation is crucial.

“Many of us want more renewable energy, but where do you put all of those panels? As solar installations grow, they tend to be out on the edges of cities, and this is historically where we have already been growing our food,” says Greg Barron-Gafford, an associate professor at the University of Arizona School of Geography and Development and lead author of a report published in Nature Sustainability.

“So which land use do you prefer — food or energy production? This challenge strikes right at the intersection of human-environment connections, and that is where geographers shine!” he says. “We started to ask, ‘Why not produce both in the same place?’”

The researchers set up three parcels of land for the experiment. One was used exclusively for growing crops, another for solar panels, and a third parcel that combined the two. Three crops were chosen — chiltepin peppers, jalapeno peppers, and cherry tomatoes.

According to Science Daily, the researchers continuously monitored incoming light levels, air temperature, and relative humidity. Both the traditional planting area and the agrivoltaic system received equal irrigation rates and were tested using two irrigation scenarios — daily irrigation and irrigation every second day.

A Win For Crops

“We found that many of our food crops do better in the shade of solar panels because they are spared from the direct sun,” says Baron-Gafford. “In fact, total chiltepin fruit production was three times greater under the PV panels in an agrivoltaic system, and tomato production was twice as great!” Jalapenos produced a similar amount of fruit in both the agrivoltaics system and the traditional plot, but did so with 65% less transpirational water loss.

“At the same time, we found that each irrigation event can support crop growth for days, not just hours, as in current agriculture practices. This finding suggests we could reduce our water use but still maintain levels of food production,” he added, noting that soil moisture remained approximately 15% higher in the agrivoltaics system than the control plot when irrigating every other day.

A Win For Solar

As solar panels heat up, their efficiency decreases. By cultivating crops underneath the PV panels, researchers were able to reduce the temperature of the panels.

“Those overheating solar panels are actually cooled down by the fact that the crops underneath are emitting water through their natural process of transpiration — just like misters on the patio of your favorite restaurant,” Barron-Gafford says. “All told, that is a win-win-win in terms of bettering our how we grow our food, utilize our precious water resources, and produce renewable energy.”

Based on the temperature-efficiency curves of these solar panels, the researchers calculate those cooler temperatures should increase electricity generation by about 3% over the summer months, averaging out to a 1% gain for the whole year, according to ArsTechnica.

Other Benefits

Barron-Gafford’s research has expanded to include several solar installations on Tucson Unified School District land. Moses Thompson, who splits his time between those public schools and the university, notes that engaging the public school students has its own benefits. “What draws me to this work is what happens to the K-12 learner when their involvement is consequential and the research lives in their community,” he says. “That shift in dynamics creates students who feel agency in addressing grand challenges such as climate change.”

The research also suggests cooler temperatures under solar panels could protect farm workers from too much exposure to the sun. “Climate change is already disrupting food production and farm worker health in Arizona,” said Gary Nabhan, an agroecologist at the University of Arizona’s Southwest Center and a co-author on the study. “The Southwestern U.S. sees a lot of heat stroke and heat-related death among our farm laborers. This could have a direct impact there, too.”

The Takeaway

Does this research mean all agriculture should be carried out beneath solar panels? Of course not. The researchers are working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to study how to expand agrivoltaics to other crops and other areas. It will be no panacea but it could have one very important benefit for farmers.

The income earned from leasing their land to solar energy companies could make the difference between continuing in the farming tradition or selling out. Farming communities are already under stress from climate change related factors — flooding, rising temperatures, and drought among them. A synergy between agriculture and solar generation could be the lifeline they need to preserve their livelihood.

By: Kajol

India is the fastest growing country in terms of demand for energy, as well as the third largest CO2 emitting country in the world. However, India has also placed climate change on high priority, committing to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 33-35 percent by 2030 from the 2005 levels as part of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), calling for ambitious focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy. This must encompass a top-down approach with conducive, innovative and progressive policies and financial models, and a bottom-up approach that calls for proactive end-user involvement and significant capacity-building across sectors. In 2018, India showed significant determination to meet these commitments through seven key policy decisions which are important steps in India’s clean energy transition.

1. Strengthening of the Perform, Achieve and Trade Program

A unique energy efficiency program for industries, Perform, Achieve, and Trade (PAT), completed its first cycle (including trading) in 2017. In March 2018, targets were notified for the fourth cycle. Under this cycle, 109 Designated Consumers (DC) have been notified from existing sectors and two new sectors – petrochemicals and hotels, with an overall Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) reduction target of 0.6998 million tonnes of oil equivalent – have been included. Cumulatively, a total of 1152 DCs, covering 13 sectors, are now mandated to implement energy efficiency projects to achieve the assigned targets. Despite several challenges, PAT has resulted in significant energy savings, and the journey so far has evolved and provided immense learning on how to develop robust process and stronger trading mechanisms.

2. Installing Smart Meters

In June 2018, Minister R.K. Singh announced that smart prepaid meters would replace all electricity meters in the next three years, starting April 2019. Following the announcement, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) completed the process of installation. Smart meters have also been deployed in pilot cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Mysore, and Chandigarh. This step is expected to revolutionise the power sector by reducing electricity theft, improving accuracy in metering, reducing aggregate technical and commercial losses, DISCOMs’ operational costs, and energy consumption.

3. Tracking Progress with the State Energy Efficiency Index

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and NITI Aayog, along with the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE) developed the State Energy Efficiency Index for all states in August 2018. The index examines state-level energy efficiency (EE) policies, adoption of EE interventions, and the resultant energy savings. It includes 63 qualitative, quantitative, and outcome-based indicators across five sectors—buildings, industry, municipalities, transport, and agriculture and the performance of distribution companies. This index can form a baseline for sustained tracking of progress in the sector and encourage states in a race to the top, to improve their performance against their peers.

4. Addressing Space Cooling through the India Cooling Action Plan

In September 2018, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released the draft India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), a global first, to address India’s growing cooling requirements across sectors, listing out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand. The document provides interventions and guidelines for commercial buildings to reduce the cooling demand. The aim of the action plan is to reduce cooling demand across all sectors by 20-25 percent by 2037-38. Despite some shortcomings, this is expected to help in reducing GHG emissions due to electricity consumption for cooling.

5. Labelling of Commercial Chillers

The Ministry of Power (MoP) also announced a major energy efficiency policy for large commercial chillers in September 2018. The announcement intends to provide star labelling for large commercial and industrial chillers. This program is expected to help in reducing approximately 0.5 million-tonnes of CO2, which is equivalent to planting 5000 billion trees. It is also expected to save more than 4 billion units of electricity, which is approximate the annual energy consumption of the state of Goa, in the year 2030 with CO2 emission reduction of 3.5 million tonnes to help India to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) commitment.

6. Introducing an Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Buildings

In December, MoP launched the Energy Conservation Code for Residential Buildings – the ECO Niwas Samhita 2018. The objective of the code was to boost EE in the residential sector by promoting design interventions in the construction of homes, apartments, and townships. It estimated a reduction of 100 million ton of CO2 emission and savings of 125 billion units of electricity per year by 2030. A similar effort for commercial buildings was made when ECBC (Commercial) was released in 2007. However, it’s implementation was not a success since it lacked adequate supply chains and technical expertise amongst builders, sustainable financial models, and consistent policy enforcement. The success of ECBC (Residential) depends on how well the learnings from ECBC (Commercial) have been taken.

7. Energy Conservation Guidelines for Industries

The objective of this document is to provide Energy Conservation (EC) guidelines to large industries that are covered as DCs under the PAT mechanism of the EC Act, 2001. It will be interesting to see how these guidelines will contribute to the larger goal of EC and efficiency improvement and hopefully it will build the capacity of non-achieving industries to achieve targets.

These schemes and directives show progressive development towards achieving India’s NDC commitments with three major programs aimed at reducing 104 million tonnes of CO2. According to the International Energy Agency, India has the potential to reduce 985 Mt CO2-eq by 2040, which is equivalent to the emissions of Australia and Canada combined.

While these policies and directives show us the destination, India now has the difficult task of completing the journey towards higher levels of EE. In the past, similar, though less ambitious, efforts have been undertaken, only to be left incomplete and inconclusive. To ensure that these seven schemes and directives do not suffer a similar fate, there is a need for strong mechanisms that ensure accountability, transparency, timely monitoring and evaluation, overcoming barriers, and corrective actions.

By: SAJENDRA MAN BAJRACHARYA

Nepal is rich in water, solar, wind and biomass resources, but the country is unable to utilise these resources in the absence of innovative technical knowledge and finance.

Given that solar is the second most abundant and preferred source of energy for Nepal after hydro, developing the solar PV industry is justifiable. As for the distributed solar home systems (SHSs) and solar micro-grids, Nepal has seen some development in those sub-sectors already, but their impact is limited. Distributed solar home systems took off in the last decade, but the model got limited to just powering a few bulbs in the rural households. Solar micro-grids turned out to be vastly expensive and unsustainable without at least 80 per cent of the total cost in grants. The only other model that can achieve large-scale solar PV development is utility-scale solar system, as in India today. However, as Nepal has significant transmission constraints, this solar system also becomes less feasible.

Proliferation of grid-connected solar PV solutions would mean that Nepal is able to attain a reliable, diversified energy system capable of providing power to even the remotest parts of the country. The government plans to achieve 99 per cent electrification rate by the year 2030, and it cannot achieve that by relying on hydro plants that take a minimum of five years to construct.

A grid-connected solar system mainly has two components: solar PV panels and an electronic device called an inverter. Apart from these components, there are other minor components, such as switches and fuses, which allow each of the two major components to be completely isolated when repairs are needed.

The system does not require any battery, making the cost of the system 60 per cent less compared to an ordinary solar-battery system. Electricity generated is directly utilised for load operation, and surplus energy is fed into the grid, which is eventually balanced through net metering and is paid back through the feed-in tariff (FIT) rate.

The technology holds tremendous potential at sites having day loads like hospitals, schools, colleges, hotels, industries/factories, offices, making them independent in energy use and thus lessening the burden on Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

There are many advantages to using a grid-connected solar system. This technology will give a boost to the total energy supply. Currently, we import almost half of the electricity from India, thereby implying major energy security risks. Large solar PV injection, therefore, has the power to minimise imports. Hydro, the major source of power for the country today, cannot be constructed immediately to offset imports. Supply diversification is another advantage. With climate change impacts getting more visible in the Himalayan region, relying on hydro alone is highly risky. Solar PV complements hydro generation, especially in the winter months when the rivers dry up.

Nepal suffers from a worsening trade balance due to high levels of power and fossil fuel imports. Nepal currently imports electricity of about Rs 20 billion, LPG gas of about Rs 30 billion and petroleum products of about Rs 100 billion annually. A stronger local energy generation, therefore, has the power to improve the trade balance significantly. In addition, the current national goal to make electricity the primary source of energy supports the need to develop solar PV industry in the country.

Nepal’s transmission network is outdated and is in no position to accommodate large power generation that the government plans to achieve in the next 10 years. On-site solar PV generation, therefore, has the capacity to not only reduce pressure on transmission and distribution but also reduce power losses that occur upon using the outdated infrastructure.

One major advantage is that there will be higher energy access for rural consumers. If big consumers consume less energy as a result of on-site solar PV, the rest of the country will have access to more power.

In Nepal, a grid-connected solar system is in its nascent phase. A few attempts have been made in this sector, such as a 1-MW system at Singha Durbar, 680 KW system at Sundharighat, 100 KW system at Kharipati, 65 KW at Nepal Telecom and a 1-KW test project at Pulchowk Engineering Campus. However, the technology is yet to gain momentum commercially. Hence, net metering and feed-in tariff (FIT) would be crucial policies. The government has already formulated these policies, but its unwillingness to implement them is causing delay in its commercialisation.

In India, in 2011, under the Jawaharlal Solar Mission policy (which is now renamed as National Solar Mission), the Indian government formulated policies to kick-start a grid-connected solar system. One important part was the feed-in tariff (FIT) rate. Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, offered IRs 15 per unit (kWh) for solar electricity. This policy attracted so many private investors in the sector that the government’s target to develop 22,000 MW from solar electricity by 2022 was met within 2017. They reformulated the target to 100,000 MW by 2022.

Feed-in tariff rate in Nepal is Rs 7.30 per unit (kWh). Economists say at this price, it is challenging for any private investor to invest in this sector. The government should come up with a policy similar to that of India to kick-start this sector in Nepal.

By: Daniel Bresette, Ben Somberg

We’ve seen a constant tension in the last two years: Congress has maintained funding for the Department of Energy’s investments in energy efficiency, but under the Trump administration, the Department has at times slowed research and development work and other efficiency programs. For instance, the GAO found in 2017 that the Department had failed to spend ARPA-E funds appropriated by Congress, and last year NRDC raised serious questions about how much, or little, the Department had actually spent in the 2018 fiscal year on energy efficiency and renewable energy research.

The latest wrinkle in the “will-they-won’t-they” spend the money drama emerged last week, when the administration, again proposing deep cuts in energy efficiency for the coming fiscal year, called for “$343 million for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, plus a proposal to use $353 million in prior year balances for a total of $696 million.” A detailed budget estimate for the Department, released by the White House on Monday, similarly said that $353 million “shall be derived from prior year unobligated balances previously appropriated.”

Unobligated balances? That’s a fancy term for funding that Congress authorizes that the administrative branch doesn’t spend. The administration is saying it wants to use such money for next year. Just how much unobligated funding currently exists is not clear.

Of course, the executive branch is generally legally required to use the funds appropriated by Congress – it’s not an optional thing. In September, to make the point extra clear, Congress even specified, when it passed the appropriations bill for the current year, that it was directing the Department to “fully execute the funds appropriated in a timely manner.”

Department of Energy officials, in several instances, have said they will carry out the will of Congress. Secretary Rick Perry, for example, told Congress that, “where you appropriate and where you authorize we will work to make you very proud that we manage it absolutely the most efficient way that it can be.”

The administration’s new proposal – and it’s stated reliance on not spending money Congress has directed it to spend – raises more questions about its commitment to following Congress’s direction.

By: Narasimhan Santhanam

One of EAI’s clients, a business with a rich experience in batteries, is in the process of starting a Li-ion battery manufacturing unit in India, primarily aimed at the electric vehicle battery sector.

The Indian, and global, electric vehicle sector is growing at a fast pace. Currently, there’s no business making Li-ion battery cells in India – companies only make battery packs which assemble imported battery cells.

Our client is keen on putting up a 100 MWh Li-ion battery cell making plant in South India to cater to the Indian and select overseas demand. Based on performance, the plant could be scaled to much higher capacities.

The overall investment in the project would be to the tune of $25 million (Rs 180 crores). Our client is keen on getting equity investments from outside to the tune of 75% – about Rs 130 crores.

Businesses and investors keen on investing in this fast growing opportunity of the future may kindly contact Narasimhan Santhanam (Director – EAI) by sending a brief email with your business profile and background to – narsi@eai.in .

Brief highlights of the project are provided below. More details about the project and promoters will be provided upon request and communication. Thank you!

Highlights of the proposed Li-ion battery cell making project

• Type of cell: Li-ion pouch cell
• Battery chemistry: NMC
• Initial plant capacity: 100 MWh per year (0.5 – 1 million cells at 5 cells/kWh)
• Total project cost estimate: $20-25 million

By: Ashok Thanikonda

In 2000, the Indian government introduced industrial parks called Special Economic Zones (SEZs), with the objective of enhancing foreign investment, providing an internationally competitive export-processing environment, and boosting employment generating opportunities. As per the mandate set by the Central Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), at least 51 percent of SEZ land should be demarcated as ‘processing area’, or core industrial area where manufacturing units are located.

India has 213 operating SEZs today, and considering the mandate, could potentially generate up to 1,080 megawatts (MW) of on-site solar power. This inference is based on nearly two years of field assessments, which have indicated that: a) of the core industrial areas, only 50 percent may comprise the actual factory area (the rest comprising factory infrastructure like roads, sewage systems, etc.); b) of the actual factory area, only 60 percent are already built up and functioning, and; c) of this built up areas, only 35 percent is suitable for on-site solar power.

Ascertaining how much more of this potential can be commercially exploited will need further assessments, but prima facie, the two important influencers are suitability of the roofs and additional regulatory compliances notified in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Act for SEZs situated on the coast.

At this juncture, it is important to remember that as on May 2018, India has only 1,211 MW of rooftop solar power installed across all its sectors, a mere 3 percent of its target of 40,000 MW by 2022. With their solar potential, SEZs could help in doubling the installed rooftop solar capacity.

Barriers
In general, rooftop solar installations by commercial and industrial consumers have not shown significant growth, despite their economic viability and potential savings in transmission and distribution losses faced by utilities. The primary reason for this is the reluctance of utilities to let go of higher-paying commercial and industrial consumers, as revenue generated from them helps the utility subsidize low-income consumers. Therefore, utilities employ certain criteria to restrict the size of the rooftop solar projects under net-metering programs that require them to buy excess rooftop solar power. These restrictions may be a cap on the project size, or a limit that is equal to a percentage of the consumer’s connected load, or with respect to the local distribution transformer’s capacity.

Since SEZs host many businesses, a unique situation plays out with respect to on-site solar power. A few (typically large) companies in SEZs need more power than their rooftop solar plants can generate. On the other hand, many medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) in the SEZs can generate rooftop solar power that may exceed their requirements. These MSMEs are unable to fully exploit their rooftop solar potential because of their inability to invest, their relatively lower creditworthiness that poses a problem for private developers, or a cap on the project sizes under net-metering schemes.

Innovative models
If SEZs are to fully exploit their onsite solar potential, it has to be done without affecting the utilities’ revenue streams. Two possibilities to do this exist:

1. Electricity Regulatory Commissions (ERCs) can remove the capacity restrictions on net-metering programs for SEZs; and approve third party roof leasing models. For example, Orissa removed the 1 MW cap for all stakeholders to save transmission and distribution losses and increase rooftop solar percolation in the state. Maharashtra has also removed the 1 MW cap for textile units.
2. ERCs can allow private developers to aggregate the rooftop solar power, and sell excess power to larger companies in the industrial park. Currently, such a solar project developer or industrial park developer has to apply to be a deemed distribution licensee for that area. Deemed distribution licensees must source 24×7 power, lay their own distribution infrastructure and serve all consumers at tariffs fixed by the relevant electricity regulatory commissions, under Section 43 of the Electricity Act 2003. These barriers prevent SEZ owners/private developers from exploring any aggregated rooftop solar projects.

Given the declining cost of solar power, ERCs could allow utilities to charge a facilitation cost on every unit of excess power sold in the above models, while keeping the landed cost affordable for consumers. The benefits of such mechanisms could be evaluated by piloting the initiative at one SEZ. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which handles bid management and subsidy disbursal to private rooftop solar projects under the SRISTI Scheme, could take the lead on this.

Overall potential of Industrial Agglomerations
Beyond SEZs, India is home to many industrial agglomerations that are set up under various Central and state schemes. Extending the analysis to the currently available data from MoCI, reveals a conservative potential of 13,307-15,247 MW across these agglomerations. This is equal to 33-38 percent of India’s rooftop solar target.

State-wise, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Telangana account for 85 percent of the on-site solar potential across all industrial agglomerations. Six of these eight states are on the coast, where additional CRZ compliances are required. Among the agglomerations industrial areas, corridor nodes, parks, estates, regions and SEZs across states, offer a collective solar potential of 87.1 percent. Unlocking this potential would also help create thousands of jobs and boost the nation’s industrial economy.

Whenever you use less of something that means that you are trying to conserve it. So if you use a bicycle instead of a motor vehicle, it means that you are trying to conserve fuel (among many other reasons why you would prefer to use bicycle over a motor vehicle). If you switch off lights when they are not needed, then you are conserving energy.

When you increase the temperature at which you operate your air conditioner from say, 24 degrees to 25 degrees, you are conserving energy. You also conserve energy when you switch off your DTH boxes and TVs when they are not in use. Energy Conservation is all about using energy only when it is required and using it as much as needed for the job and not wasting any amount of it. It requires a conscious effort from the user of energy to make sure that there is no wastage on a regular basis. It requires a lot of behavioural change and needs effort.

Energy efficiency in contrast means using lesser energy to do the same job. When you buy a car that gives more mileage, you use less fuel to travel the same distance. When you buy a 5 star rated air conditioner instead of a 3 or 2 star rated air conditioner, it means that for the same usage and in same conditions, you use less electricity (for the same temperature at which you operate them). If you use a 5 star rated air conditioner at higher temperature, you double the effect and combine energy efficiency with energy conservation.

Energy efficiency has more impact on your personal finances. An efficient appliance may cost more than an inefficient appliance. Although the additional capital cost may get recovered in form of electricity savings. Energy efficiency may not require physical effort but requires change in people’s buying patterns. It requires knowledge of various products and their efficiencies. If people start buying more of efficient products, manufacturers will start
producing more of them.

Conclusion
Both energy efficiency and energy conservation have the same goal: to save energy and the same impact: saves money. Both can individually save energy but when coupled together can save double the amount of energy and money. It depends on your choices as to which one you like to do. A good mix of the two can ensure high savings with low investments and efforts.

By: Peter Lehner

Tata Consultancy Services, one of India’s biggest IT firms, recently built a five-million-square-foot campus for 24,000 employees outside the southern city of Chennai. Its competitor, Infosys, is adding 10 million square feet of custom-built office space. Several major universities, including the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, have recently opened new campuses in the relative backwaters of Patna, Bihar–and the government plans to build nearly 400 more new colleges, from the ground up, over the next five years.  Fourteen skyscrapers are under construction in India, and real estate developers, thanks to a recent vote in Parliament favoring the entry of foreign retailers, are now predicting a rise in demand for commercial retail space.

These new office buildings, malls, and universities are just the cusp of India’s building boom. An estimated two-thirds of the commercial and high-rise residential structures that will be standing in India in 2030 have yet to be built. That puts India at a critical juncture as it seeks new ways to power its growing economy, and resolve its existing, chronic energy shortages. Buildings already consume 30 percent of India’s energy. These new buildings and their tenants, with their lights, air conditioners, refrigerators, water heaters, washing machines and entertainment systems–could continue to suck the life out of India’s feeble energy grid. Or they could dramatically reduce energy waste and become part of India’s most promising solution for closing its energy gap–efficiency.

The widespread blackouts of July 2012, which left 680 million people—more than twice the population of the United States—without power, revealed the severity of the country’s energy crisis. The Indian government is looking for answers everywhere, planning hundreds of new coal-fired power plants, hydroelectric dams, and expanding solar power and other renewable energy sources. But the cheapest, cleanest, and fastest way for India to bring power to people who need it is energy efficiency. According to McKinsey & Company, India can save $42 billion every year just by reducing energy waste in buildings.

At the recent U.S.-India Energy Partnership Summit in Washington, D.C., I discussed opportunities to drive energy efficiency in India with efficiency experts, business leaders and government officials from both nations. NRDC has been working on energy efficiency for decades in the United States, and more recently on the ground with local partners in China, India, and Latin America.

Energy efficiency isn’t just about cost savings. It helps reduce energy waste, which means more people can get energy when they need it—which translates to less food wasted from spoilage, more productivity in offices and factories, trains able to run on time. Energy efficiency eliminates the need for new power plant construction, cuts global warming pollution, and in India, dramatically reduces air pollution, since many large buildings use backup generators that run on dirty diesel fuel. It also saves money for consumers and businesses. In the United States, efficiency standards for appliances will cut electricity use by 14 percent and save consumers more than a trillion dollars in energy costs by 2035. California’s latest building energy codes will knock out the need for 6 new power plants, while saving tenants and building owners billions of dollars in energy costs over the next 30 years.

We’ve had great success in helping cities design smart policies to break down market barriers to energy efficient building retrofits. In New York, NRDC helped craft the city’s breakthrough Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, which requires large privately owned buildings—which comprise nearly half the city’s square footage—to measure and report their energy use every year, just as they would property tax. It helps owners get financing for energy-saving measures and makes government buildings become more efficient. The plan will save New York City $700 million each year in energy costs, cut carbon pollution by 5 percent, and create about 17,000 jobs. We’re working to design similar programs in ten other cities.

But even more economical than retrofitting existing buildings is to make them more efficient in the first place, incorporating the most energy efficient windows, lighting, and air-conditioning systems at the design stage, before the building goes up. India has a tremendous, not-to-be-missed opportunity to lock in energy savings for the next few decades, right now. Today, Indian buildings account for about 30 percent of energy consumption, compared to 40 percent in the United States–but the vast majority of Indian building stock isn’t on the ground yet. India’s building-occupied area will skyrocket from 8 billion square meters in 2005 to 41 billion square meters in 2030, presenting an enormous opportunity to implement efficiency measures and trim waste.

India already has a voluntary energy conservation building code, and several state governments plan to make these building energy standards mandatory for new commercial construction in the next two years. NRDC is working with state governments, including that of Andhra Pradesh, home of the high-tech hub Hyderabad, where I visited in 2011, to share best practices on achieving compliance, including educating builders as well as building authorities, and developing a multi-stage rollout process for the standards. 

We’re also working with business leaders in India to make the business case for efficiency. After all, reducing waste is smart business. Last month, during NRDC’s President Frances Beinecke’s visit to India, we released a landmark case study, together with our partner, the Administrative Staff College of India, on the Godrej Bhavan building in Mumbai. This is an iconic building that houses the top management of Godrej and Boyce, a leading Indian industrial corporation. In 2010, the building underwent a $100,000 retrofit, a relatively small investment that has already proved its worth. Our analysis showed that in just two years, the building’s electricity costs have fallen nearly 30 percent. Godrej is on track to recoup the cost of investment in less than 5 years.

Demonstrating the profitability of energy-efficiency measures is one key to driving change in the private sector, anywhere in the world. And smart government policies, on all levels, as we’ve found at home and abroad, can also help promote efficiency and reduce energy waste.

Energy efficiency is one of the world’s largest energy resources, and we are only just beginning to tap its potential. India has a tremendous opportunity to turn its building boom into an energy boom, simply by building in energy-efficient features and capturing the value of energy savings in its buildings.