Transition to Renewable Energies Through Mini-grids - Discussion

Overview

The following article provides information on the discussion and answer session of the presentation on Transition to Renewable Energies through Mini-grids at the Micro Perspectives for Decentralized Energy Supply Conference – 2013. Micro Perspectives for Decentralized Energy Supply Conference – 2013.

Providing Access to Clean, Reliable and Affordable Power to the Poor in Bihar (India) through Solar Micro grid Networks.

1. The allowed consumption is 15 watts per household, is it possible to increase the demand?

• It is allowed to increase it to 30 Watts.

2. How did you identify the village? How can you assess the residents willingness to adopt solar mini grids? What is the cost per unit of electricity?

• In this context, village means a town that does not have electricity. We can assist such villages by providing access to electricity, which costs 55 Rupee per kilowatt hour (kWh). The payback period of this project is around 3 years.

3. How do you manage the various stakeholders of the systems?

• The systems are owned by the company itself. With the help of NGOs, companies can build, operate and transfer.

4. Is it possible for the community to manage the systems?

• At the moment it is not because they need the authority. It is our intention to give them that in the near future.

5. Are you paying the NGOs involved?

• We do not pay the NGOs, but part of the fees collected by them are shared.

6. How do you see the rule of the private sector?

• At present the government is doing the projects, but in future the private sector should be more involved.

7. In the process of distribution, how do you manage the waste of energy?

• No energy is wasted as it is decentralized.

8. What do you see as the key requirement towards transitioning to renewable energy?

• The main requirements are regulation and policy.

9. Do micro energy systems work better?

• Yes, because there are fewer losses in the case of smaller populations.

Interconnected Mini-grids for Rural Energy Transition - A Case Study of Nepal

1. What do you regard to be the key requirement to transition to renewable energy?

• Regulation and policy.

2. If the use of individual renewable energy systems is reliable, why has the use not expanded?

• To date in Nepal only small projects have been undertaken and are set to expand later.

3. Who owns the assets?

• The community.

4. In the new project, which will take place in Nepal, will the new villages be electrified by new installations or will old mini-grids be connected together?

• No new installations will be made. Rather, we will try to connect all the systems together. The 6 new projects are near to each other which will balance the power in the grid.

5. Do you use smart management?

• We do not use that at the moment, but we may do so in the future.

6. Do the micro energy systems work better?

• Yes, because the houses are separated, thus the voltage would drop if we were not using micro energy systems.

7. What is the most pressing question you look forward to answering?

• What are the technical impacts of the new project!
  

Geographic analysis of isolated diesel mini-grids for the implementation of renewable energies – A case study of Tanzania

1. Why do you do the analysis although it is owned by the government?

• Because the situation is not the same in all countries.

2. Is there hybrid mini-grid?

• Yes, they are privately owned (not from TANESCO).

3. What does the generation cost include?

• Capital investment, operation and maintenance cost.

4. Are there are any diesel subsidies in Tanzania?

• Yes, around 6%.

5. What is the efficiency of the used diesel mini-grid generators?

• We do not have any details on that as yet.

6. What is the size of the diesel generators in use?

• 250kW, for 100000 people, and there are some mega watts.

7. What do you regard to be the key requirement for transitioning to renewable energy?

• Regulation and policy.

8. What is the most recent question you look forward to answer?

• Whether the output of the study can be used by micro energy companies.

9. What happens to the data from the mini-grids?

• It can be used by any company that wants to undertake projects in Tanzania, and then they can contact TANESCO.

Further Information

• Tanzania Energy Situation