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Proceedings of the Practitioners Training Workshop
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OASYS SOUTH ASIA Workshop
January 2, 2014
Proceedings of the
Practitioners Training Workshop
Venue: Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar
Organised by TERI, New Delhi
Proceedings of the Practitioners Training Workshop
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Produced by
The Energy and Resources Institute
New Delhi
Published on 15th August 2014
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Acknowledgement
The activities reported in this report are funded by an EPSRC/ DfID research grant
(EP/G063826/2) from the RCUK Energy Programme. The Energy Programme is a RCUK cross-
council initiative led by EPSRC and contributed to by ESRC, NERC, BBSRC and STFC.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the
views of the institutions they are affiliated to or the funding agencies.
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Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................................III
DISCLAIMER ...............................................................................................................................................III
1.0 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................... 1
2.0 OBJECTIVE OF THE WORKSHOP ...................................................................................................... 1
2.1 Speakers .................................................................................................................................................. 1
2.2 Participants ............................................................................................................................................. 1
3.0 SUMMARY OF SESSIONS ..................................................................................................................... 2
3.1 Inaugural Session .................................................................................................................................. 2
3.2 Session I: Renewable Energy Access and Livelihood Intervention ..................................................... 4
3.3 Session II: Implementation of Livelihood Programs – Provisioning of Energy as an Enabler ......... 6
3.4 Session III: Renewable Energy Mini Grid Implementation ................................................................. 8
3.5 Session IV: Panel Discussion on ‘Scaling up of Clean Energy interventions for Livelihood
Generation’ ................................................................................................................................................... 8
ANNEXURE I: PROGRAM SCHEDULE .................................................................................................. 12
ANNEXURE II: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS .............................................................................................. 13
ANNEXURE-III: PRESENTATIONS ......................................................................................................... 15
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1.0 Background
Off-grid electricity access systems are on the rise in developing countries, particularly in the
South and Southeast Asian region. Apart from the capacity to provide reliable, affordable and
sustainable electricity access to remote villages as well as semi-urban areas with little or no
access to centralized grid electricity, they also have the potential ability to support local
development, create local employment, and contribute to climate change mitigation. Despite
growing popularity, commercial viability, operational issues, social issues, local governance
issues, and institutional challenges remain the primary concerns for the sustainability of any
decentralized energy system. Developing a techno-economically viable and replicable business
model for every region is perhaps the first step in implementation of a successful off-grid access
system.
As part of the research project on Off-grid Electricity Access System in South Asia (OASYS), a
Regional Practitioners Workshop was organized on January 2, 2014 at Xavier Institute of
Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), Odisha, India. This workshop brought together a myriad of
stakeholders from India, consisting of off-grid energy sector researchers and professionals,
bilateral and multilateral organizations, government officials, consultants, and development
practitioners from NGO and CBOs.
2.0 Objective of the workshop
The workshop brought together practitioners, livelihood specialists, renewable energy programme
implementers, government agencies, and other like-minded institutions. All participants shared
their experiences and perspectives on current challenges with the vision to identify possible
solutions for different barriers, so that affordable and reliable access to modern forms of energy
using locally available renewable energy resources is ensured.
2.1 Speakers
Officials from multilateral organizations, academia, NGOs, consultants, and other think-tanks
highlighted some of the key concerns in the field of governance, regulatory aspects, the
institutional model, livelihood aspects, and the sustainability of off-grid electrification sector and
debated about resolving challenges that lie ahead. Annexure 1 presents the programme schedule
and list of speakers.
2.2 Participants
The participants consisted of NGOs, consultants, representatives of grass-root organisations,
scholars, representatives from various think tanks, and several other stakeholders. A large number
of NGO participants from Odisha and other parts of India gathered together to debate and
deliberate over the identified theme, discuss case studies and suggest ways to mainstream a
regulatory regime for augmenting livelihood through renewable energy in rural areas. The
complete list of participants is provided in Annexure II.
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3.0 Summary of Sessions
The workshop comprised of four sessions including the inaugural session, two presentation
sessions and a panel discussion. The following sections highlight the synopsis of each session.
3.1 Inaugural Session
The workshop started with a welcome address by Dr. Arabinda Mishra, Dean, TERI University.
He advocated the importance of such a workshop, where discussions about crucial issues can take
place, and the need to build consensus on the appropriate regulatory framework and instruments
for such a sensitive sector can be deliberated among experts. He remarked that electricity
regulators in the region have dealt with the off-grid sector in a cautious manner so far. There is an
existing potential in the off-grid sector to drive the developing economies in the sustainable
development trajectory.
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his introductory note was followed by a thematic presentation by the principal investigator of the
project, Dr Subhes C Bhattacharyya, De Montfort University. The presentation outlined an
overview of the project and set the theme for the rest of the workshop. The presentation delved
into the aims and objectives of the project, achievements made so far, and proposed future
activities and timelines for execution of such activities. Then the role of energy access in
livelihood generation for rural electrification was summarized. He explained that if energy is
supplied adequately, issues surrounding water, biodiversity, health, and agriculture can also be
addressed. When energy is combined with water, the potential for providing safe drinking water
can be addressed, hydropower can be generated, and water pollution sources such as acidification
of local water bodies may also decrease. When energy is combined to produce bio-energy,
degraded lands may be able to revive crop production. Additionally, when health and energy are
merged, health care facilities have a higher potential for better infrastructure, such as integrating
refrigerators for vaccine and medication storage; it also increases knowledge about the adverse
effects of fuel use and outdoor air pollution. Additionally, if energy is used in the proper way,
agricultural productivity can improve and raise the potential of bio-energy. Dr. Bhattacharyya
stated the problems with the scale of access of electricity worldwide. He expressed that there is a
need to electrify 65 million people per year, and provide improved cooking solution to 130
million per year if we were to meet the millennium goals by 2030, whereas only 20 million were
electrified and 7 million were benefited from improved cooking in the year 2009. Moreover, the
cost challenges are a pivotal problem, as between 30-50 USD is needed per year to meet these
goals, whereas only 9 million USD was invested in 2009. Studying the energy demand pattern of
the poor can hypothesise linkages with livelihood generation dynamics, as the poor have a high
dependence on traditional energies and modern energy is competing to displace them. Also, for
the poor to switch over to the modern energy use, regular monetary transactions are required.
Dr. Bhattacharyya voiced some enabling solutions - by joining efforts from three different
perspectives – sustainable development, climate change, and poverty alleviation, this can be
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facilitated. In order for such steps to be expedited, access to finance, training and knowledge is
needed in addition to active community participation and support. He concluded that with
integrating energy access and livelihood generation combined with propagating market linkages
could reach millions of people without such access.
3.2 Session I: Renewable Energy Access and Livelihood Intervention
This session consisted of two presentations which are summarised below.
3.2.1 Clean Energy Intervention for Livelihood Generation: TERI’s experience in Odisha,
TERI (Mr. Rahul K Sharma)
Mr. K Rahul Shrama described TERI’s role in Odisha and the NFA project. Some of the overall
objectives of the project include the understanding of energy and the way it becomes a focal point
for development activities in an area and to integrate energy interventions with existing
initiatives; and how these findings and challenges can help aid the off-grid component of
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) projects in the future. He also explained
some specific objectives, which included the following; 1) To use clean energy as a facilitator for
livelihood generation in rural areas; 2) Implement systems in four Indian States and to ensure
their technological, financial and institutional sustainability even after the project is officially
completed on TERI’s end; 3) In order to achieve the above, create customised technology
packages, and frameworks for demand assessment, livelihoods assessment, socio-economic
indicators and baselines, capacity building and innovative business models and institutions; 4) To
assess/compare performance of the above, across technological configurations, climatic zones,
institutional and business models; and 5) Test technologies for smart renewable energy
applications in the lab.
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He described the Solar Multi Utility (SMU) as a centrally located clean energy system that is
used to power a variety of appliances such as grinders/mixers, water purifiers, information and
communication technologies such as laptops and mobile phones, fruit pulp-extracting machines,
and so on. TERI has installed SMUs in Assam, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Self Help Groups,
Farmers Associations and Individuals from surrounding villages access this SMU and utilize its
services for a nominal fee. He explained that while renewable energy systems can enable
enhancement of livelihood generation activities in rural areas, it should be noted that in such
remote locations with infrequent access to service and maintenance, it is important to design
systems which are reliable and have a relatively trouble-free operational life. Frequent system
down-time and high costs of maintenance and repairs often lead to a reduction of interest among
rural communities in operating a system. Therefore, efficient, reliable and flexible solar PV
systems need to be designed that enable the separation of the day/night loads and critical/non-
critical loads by offering two connections from the same PV source. This increases the efficiency
as day load energy requirements are directly transferred from the PV to the inverter and AC
loads. Thus, this is a more energy efficient system with intelligent load management that reduces
peak demand and thus the optimum battery size, leading to reduced replacement costs. By
monitoring PV performance, useful long term data on performance and thus a need based design
can be implemented. Mr. Sharma showcased how these features have been included in the design
of SMUs by TERI.
Beyond technology, it is vital to have contributions from the community for the capital
expenditure involved, which may even include the contribution of labour, a dedicated bank
account for revenue collection, and a long term plan for savings for battery replacements in the
future. Moreover, creating institutional linkages with other similar developmental projects and
increasing the potential for local capacities to manage the entire system helps sell products as
well as aid in management, and thus the sustainability of such projects. He cited a few examples
of SMU in specific villages in Odisha and some DC micro-grid in villages in Uttar Pradesh.
When dealing with livelihood generation, training and capacity building of operators,
entrepreneurs, SMU operators, user, self-help groups and all other stakeholders forms a key part.
It is vital to impart skills on operations of machinery, maintaining and managing small faults and
repairs, recordkeeping and revenue collection, customer relations and entrepreneurship, use of
appliances and production processes, marketing and branding. In addition to specific target
groups being briefed about the entire process, technical manuals and posters are also developed
for both the SMUs and SMGs.
Additionally, a solar DC Micro was also mentioned and TERI has implemented DC micro grids
in 34 sites in Uttar Pradesh. These micro grids are mainly used for individual households for
lighting and mobile charging facilities and have rechargeable batteries. In these projects, TERI
has created linkages between Regional Rural Banks and DC micro grid entrepreneurs. While 55%
of the capital cost of the DC micro grid is supported through a grant, the remaining 45% is
contributed by the entrepreneur, either as equity or debt. The debt has been secured from these
Regional Rural Banks. As most rural banks are unwilling to provide loans for such new
technologies, an important achievement of this project was the process by which these banks
were convinced of the benefits of DC micro grids and the resulting revenue streams for the
entrepreneur.
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3.2.2 Convergences between energy provisioning and livelihood enhancement, SAMBANDH
(Dr. Bibhu Kalyan Mohanty)
SAMBANDH is an NGO and a grassroots partner with TERI for projects set up in Odisha. This
platform is an entrepreneurial model of electricity service delivery that integrates a range of
applications to provide for various end uses of electricity by a rural consumer and is designed so
as to benefit both the service provider as well as the consumer. Dr. Mohanty described the
process by which energy provisioning can enhance local livelihoods. This can be done via
mapping of livelihoods and their market linkages to energy needs; identification of livelihood
options for intervention; identifying clean energy options in consultation with technology team;
developing business models for implementation and sustainability; and finally the reporting of the
intervention’s baseline impact assessment. Local solar entrepreneurs are trained to manage and
operate the platform. SAMBANDH’s perspective envisions sustainable village communities by
providing increased incomes for local families and reducing family expenses by increasing
agricultural yield, channelling better trading methods for non-farm products, channelling rural
sales, increasing quality of food and nutrition, increasing better health and providing locally
generated and managed renewable energy. He stressed upon health - the critical need for
necessary vaccines and medicine storage, and the need for clean drinking water.
Dr. Mohanty expressed that market linkages are pivotal for livelihood generation. The market can
be unpredictable and volatile at times; vast research on the local market is necessary. An
emphasis on upgrading these services by financing the system through a Grameen bank or Micro-
financing agencies is necessary. In addition to being non-profitable, rural sales are always a
challenge and a channel for trading needs to be implemented. Dr. Mohanty discussed the
importance and significance of the information centre that opened for the purpose of training,
which can be facilitated by the National Rural Health Mission. The after sale services is the key
for the sustainability and success of the mini-grid.
3.3 Session II: Implementation of Livelihood Programs – Provisioning of
Energy as an Enabler
Chaired by Dr. Arabinda Mishra, TERI
This session consisted of two presentations, the first one describing a government livelihood
programme and the other one showing the experience of an implementation agency.
3.3.1 Govt. Livelihood Program Implementation Agencies (OTELP)
Odisha Tribal Empowerment & Livelihoods Program (OTELP) aims to improve the quality of
life of the poor tribal households in remote areas through livelihood support and food security in
the poorest state of India. They help promote a more efficient, equitable, self-managed and
sustainable exploitation of the natural resources at their disposal and through local enterprise.
They described the different and common features of the tribal regions in India. Apart from
varying terrain, rest conditions such as poor infrastructure and facilities, dependency on raw
stream water, and unhygienic cooking and cleaning conditions remain common. They described
new technologies that they hope to implement in the future. For example, a spring based, 24-hour
water supply for sanitation where water from the mouth of the perennial spring attached to
suitable filtration arrangements would lead some of the water to storage tanks through a network
of pipes, can help villagers to have better access to clean drinking water and more hygienic
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sanitation. So far, more than 14,000 households in 354 villages have been covered under spring-
based projects, and over 21,000 households in almost 500 villages have been covered under the
water supply and sanitation projects. These kinds of projects ensure a 24-hour supply of safe
drinking water and will reduce the incidence of water borne diseases and thus decrease
expenditure on health issues. This will also create additional irrigation potential. Moreover, the
privacy, social dignity and self-esteem of women can be ensured. This project hopes to cover
more than 1000 villages by the end of 2016.
The second example of livelihood enhancement is that of Diversion Based Irrigation through
buried pipes, where tap water from perennial streams can be transported into distribution
chambers. The current area under this irrigation is more than 300 ha. The next example discussed
was that of Flexi Bio Gas Chambers where bio gas generated from humans, animals and kitchen
waste, and garbage can be used as fertilizers. This may lead to a reduction in the use of manure,
and is less costly and produces biogas much quicker than other methods. Next, Micro Hydro
Electricity Project (MHEP) was discussed; a power conversion system where absorbing power in
the form of head and flow of water can deliver power in the form of electricity or mechanical
shaft power. This system uses small amounts of water from diverted streams into turbines and can
thus generate electricity on a small-scale. Improved Cook Stoves are another example of
livelihood enhancement, where there is a 70% reduction in consumption of firewood and
resulting smoke quantity. This also ensures improved hygiene in the kitchen as well as better
environmental conditions to cook and eat. Next, the Xylem’s treadle pump was presented. Xylem
Inc. is a leading provider of fluid technology and equipment solutions globally and operating
across 150 countries. Its main features include a portable wheel mounted, foot operated and self
priming machinery which has the capacity to lift water from streams, ponds and wells and into
sprinkler or direct taps for use. Lastly, the Hydraulic ram pump or ‘Hydram’ was discussed,
which is a motor-less device that uses the force of falling water as a pulley system uphill and
discharges into a chamber with an outlet. They hope to help the current rural electrification status,
as well as the villages they choose. They specified that these technologies are site specific,
depending on the availability of the natural resources in the region. So if market linkages and
micro-finance can be arranged they can be replicated easily.
3.3.2 Practical Action: Implementation Agency
Practical Action aims to increase energy access of local communities in under-privileged areas by
providing clean and efficient technologies for addressing the entire energy needs. They described
the Total Energy Access (TEA) concept; it recognises the total needs of a community and
identifies the gap and delivers the requirements in order to fill this gap. They have identified two
villages in the Kandhamal district to implement this concept in collaboration with OTELP. They
want to introduce simple technologies and technical, managerial, and financial methods, to meet
the domestic energy needs of all the households in the area by enabling them to overcome
poverty. They have built the capacity of the Odisha Energy team through training & exposure to
pico/micro hydro and biogas units in Sri Lanka. Practical Action in coordination with OTELP has
also helped develop the feasibility & detailed project reports with technical support for
commissioning of projects.
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3.4 Session III: Renewable Energy Mini Grid Implementation
3.4.1 Cluster approach to designing renewable energy mini-grids: A case study from
Dhenkanal, Odisha. TERI (Debajit Palit/ K Rahul Sharma)
TERI representatives discussed some current strategies of project implementation and associated
barriers. TERI stressed that there is an immediate need to identify common drivers to promote
such projects, even if local specifications differ from site to site. Additionally, the present project
implementation technique depends on output of the power plant, whereas it should be based on
the outcome of the projects. The project should determine that local community requirements are
fulfilled. The current method of project implementation is technology driven, i.e., the technology
is selected before the site is selected. However, TERI argued that this methodology has some
limitations, as project design should not be technology driven, but specific to field sites.
During this session, Mr. Sharma presented three models that are being implemented in the state of
Odisha: 1) Community managed system in Dhenkanal, 2) Village scale distributed power system
in collaboration with district administration and local distribution company in Kandhamal, and 3)
Privately operated systems in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The focus of the presentation was
the first project in Dhenkanal, which has been commissioned in February 2014. While
implementing such projects, it is essential to research about the areas resources, demands, and
livelihoods. During the initial assessment, it was established that while this remote forest area has
potential for Biomass energy and small hydro projects, it was decided to explore the solar PV
scenario further. There are demands for productive loads in the households, for agricultural
purposes, for health centres, and even potential business opportunities in the area. The Dhenkanal
region of interest includes 5 villages that are in a close vicinity of each other. There were two
scenarios that were explored where one dealt with a centralised power plant with distribution
lines to the different areas, and one where each village would receive its own system. After
careful design and cost analysis, it was decided that it was best to go ahead with the de-
centralised system, as the cost of the centralised system at Rajanga village was substantially more
than the first case.
The end goal is to efficiently use the limited funds available in order to make the maximum
positive impact. This system targets to achieve maximum technical, operational and financial
sustainability. Although, achieving financial sustainability is much more difficult and requires
much a deeper analysis of the system.
TERI also discussed other drawbacks of the current scenario. For example, there is no analysis of
the power requirement of the area and the power generation capacity. Solar power technology is a
modular technology, and clustering may not always be a viable option. Presently, the amount of
kWh power to be provided to the household is pre-defined. However, it is observed that this
requirement varies from house to house. Hence, the consideration should be more on the presence
of electricity that should be provided for a unit area. Currently the focus is on energy, however,
the focus should be more on energy services, efficiency of the system, and quantum of light
available according to the size of the room.
3.5 Session IV: Panel Discussion on ‘Scaling up of Clean Energy
interventions for Livelihood Generation’
Moderated by Prof Dr. Subhes Bhattacharyya, De Montfort University
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Many pressing questions from the day were brought up for detailed discussion during the panel
discussion. The diversity in themes of the presentations, and the in-depth discussions that
followed brought to light several key points which will help the project in its subsequent
activities. Many of the panellists and discussants brought up the following key points:
Many participants agreed that the community should be involved at a very early stage
when any such project is to be implemented. This will help design the project in a
better way and ensure that the individual village requirements and needs are
addressed,
There is a definite need for standardization; it helps the design and implementation of
the project. For example, a set standard for the amount warranty of the battery should
be decided. On the other hand, some flexibility has to be practiced in cases that
involve the power requirement of the household and customised per user,
There is a need to decide if the priority is energy or the livelihood, or both,
Bangladesh’s mini-grid system is found to be quite interesting and should be
examined more closely. This, in combination with competitive bidding mechanism,
could be more interesting to look at for the future,
A central issue is that of balancing regulatory supervision with the task of promoting
innovation,
Integrating off-grid projects with the main grid that should not be ignored as an
option. Unfortunately, the target villages may not be in the radius of this grid’s
capacity,
Preparation of an integrated energy policy planning and regional co-operation for
energy security and sustainable development is vital for a more sustainable off-grid
sector.
The project will take forward the key learning and take-away points of discussion and try to
incorporate it in future project action plans. The workshop concluded with Dr. Bhattacharyya
thanking all the participants of the workshop for their active participation and wished to receive
support and cooperation from all stakeholders for the success of the OASYS project. Dr.
Bhattacharya summarized the panel discussion and thanked all the participants and speakers for
their valuable contribution to the day’s discussions.
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Annexure I: Program Schedule
0930 – 1000 hrs Registration and Tea
1000 – 1010 hrs Welcome Address
Dr Arabinda Mishra, TERI
1010 – 1020 hrs Introduction of the Participants
1020 – 1040 hrs Keynote Address
Energy access and its role in livelihood generation
Dr. Subhes Bhattacharyya, De Montfort University
1040 – 1120 hrs Session I : Renewable Energy Access and Livelihood Intervention:
Presentations
1. Clean Energy Intervention for Livelihood Generation: TERI’s experience in
Odisha, TERI (Mr. Rahul K Sharma)
2. Convergences between energy provisioning and livelihood enhancement,
SAMBANDH (Dr. Bibhu Kalyan Mohanty)
1120 – 1300 hrs Session II: Implementation of Livelihood Programmes – Provisioning of
Energy as an Enabler
Presentations
1. Govt. Livelihood Program Implementation Agencies (OTELP)
2. Practical Action
Chaired by : Dr. Arabinda Mishra, TERI
1300 – 1400 hrs Lunch
1400 – 1500 hrs Session III: Renewable Energy Mini Grid Implementation:
Presentations
1. Cluster approach to designing renewable energy mini-grids: A case study
from Dhenkanal, Odisha. TERI (K Rahul Sharma/Debajit Palit)
Open Discussion:
Feedback and suggestions
1500 – 1600 hrs Session IV: Panel Discussion on ‘Scaling Up of Clean Energy interventions
for Livelihood Generation’
Panelists
Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM)
OREDA
Practical Action
Moderated by: Dr. Subhes Bhattacharyya, De Montfort University
1600 – 1630 hrs Vote of Thanks
Joy Daniel Pradhan, TERI
1630 – 1700 hrs Tea and wrap up
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Annexure II: List of Participants
Sl.
No.
First Name Last Name Organization Email
1. Mr. Ajay Mohanty Seva Bharti [email protected]
2. Mr. Sagar Pattanaik Seva Bharti [email protected]
3. Mr. Dipti Ranjan Gantayat OTELP [email protected]
4. Mr.Mahesh
Kumar
Dash Self [email protected]
5. Mr. Ramani Ranjan RRA Network
Malkanguri, Odisha
6. Ms. Smita Rakesh Sambodhi Research
& Communication
7. Mr. Jarnail Singh The Climate Group [email protected]
8. Mr. Sechindra V. TERI University [email protected]
9. Mr. Gautam Aryabhusan Practical Action [email protected]
10. Mr. Sanjit Kumar Behera Practical Action [email protected]
11. Mr. Krishnapada Sasmal RID [email protected]
12. Mr. Ganesh Parida CYSD [email protected]
13. Mr. Bikash Nayak Dharitri [email protected]
14. Mr. Sanjaya K. Sahoo Rashtriya News
Express
15. Mr. Nachiketa Das IRADA [email protected]
16. Mr. Sanjib Sarangi IGS [email protected]
17. Ms. Mamata Nayak NIGAM [email protected]
18. Ms. Madhusmita Das NIGAM [email protected]
19. Mr. P. K. Das Media [email protected]
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20. Ms. Anjalee Pradhan ADARSA [email protected]
21. Mr. Prashanta K. Swain TERI [email protected]
22. Mr. Prafulla K. Mahana CYSD [email protected]
23. Ms. Subasini Jena The Political &
Business Daily
24. Mr. Radhanath Sahu Capital News [email protected]
25. Mr. D. Binod Chandra Jana Kalyan
Pratisthan
-
26. Mr. J. P. Mahapatra Vibrant Odisha [email protected]
27. Mr. Bibhu Kalyan Mohanty Sambandh [email protected]
28. Mr. Arun K. Pradhan YCDA [email protected]
29. Mr. Debajit Palit TERI [email protected]
30. Mr. Akshya Mohpatra LAVS [email protected]
31. Mr. Joy Daniel Pradhan TERI [email protected]
32. Mr. S. B. Rath Hiranchal [email protected]
33. Mr. Raj Sampad - [email protected]
34. Mr. R. C. Behra Samarpan [email protected]
35. Mr. Nirupam Banerjee Orissa POST [email protected]
36. Er. Amit Jena CESU [email protected]
37. Mr. Bibbas Das Gramya Swavogya
Abhijan
-
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OASYS South Asia project
The Off-grid Access Systems for South Asia (or OASYS South Asia) is a research project funded
by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of UK and the Department for
International Development, UK. This research is investigating off-grid electrification in South
Asia from a multi-dimensional perspective, considering techno-economic, governance, socio-
political and environmental dimensions. A consortium of universities and research institutes led
by De Montfort University (originally by University of Dundee until end of August 2012) is
carrying out this research. The partner teams include Edinburgh Napier University, University of
Manchester, the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and TERI University (India).
The project has carried out a detailed review of status of off-grid electrification in the region and
around the world. It has also considered the financial challenges, participatory models and
governance issues. Based on these, an edited book titled “Rural Electrification through
Decentralised Off-grid Systems in Developing Countries” was published in 2013 (Springer-
Verlag, UK). As opposed to individual systems for off-grid electrification, such as solar home
systems, the research under this project is focusing on enabling income generating activities
through electrification and accordingly, investing decentralised mini-grids as a solution. Various
local level solutions for the region have been looked into, including husk-based power, micro-
hydro, solar PV-based mini-grids and hybrid systems. The project is also carrying out
demonstration projects using alternative business models (community-based, private led and local
government led) and technologies to develop a better understanding of the challenges. It is also
looking at replication and scale-up challenges and options and will provide policy
recommendations based on the research.
More details about the project and its outputs can be obtained from
www.oasyssouthasia.dmu.ac.uk or by contacting the principal investigator Prof. Subhes
Bhattacharyya ([email protected]).
OASYS South Asia Project
Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development,
De Montfort University,
The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
Tel: 44(0) 116 257 7975