Debajit Palit

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I have more than 20 years of experience working in the field of clean energy access, rural electrification policy and regulation, distributed generation, solar photovoltaic and biomass gasification. I joined The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi (www.teriin.org) in the year 1998 and since then has handled more than 30 projects as Principal Investigator/Team Leader in the field of clean energy technology, resource assessment
Address: Noida, India

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Ensuring energy security : challenges in power transmission –

One of the key starting points for the new Indian government is to critically analyse its perform... more One of the key starting points for the new Indian government is to critically analyse its performance and achievements vis-à-vis the development of energy infrastructure in the country. Energy shortages in India have increased from about 7% in 2003/04 to nearly 12% in 2008/09, after nearly Rs 200 000 crores have been allotted to the power sector in the annual plans covered in this period. Not surprising, given that we have added a mere 6000–7000 MW a year in this period against the required capacity addition of 18 000–20 000 MW per year! The Hon’ble Minister for Power, Mr Sushilkumar Shinde, recently stated that under its rural electrification programme, the Ministry has brought electricity to over 61 000 villages against targeted 1.18 lakh villages. We have struggled with the definition of rural electrification for decades moving from defining electrification as the presence of an electricity pole at a certain distance from a village to a small percentage of households in a village...

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Energy for Sustainable Development Off-grid rural electrification experiences from South Asia: Status and best practices

South Asia accounts for 42% of the global population without access to electricity. Such a situat... more South Asia accounts for 42% of the global population without access to electricity. Such a situation continues to exist despite several initiatives and policies to support electrification efforts by the respective country governments. The challenges to enhance electricity access are manifold including technical, financial, institutional and governance barriers. This paper makes a modest attempt, based on extensive literature review, to highlight the rural electrification situation at the regional and country level in South Asia. The paper also does a comparative analysis to exploit cross learning potential and suggest specific boosters that could serve as input for policy evaluation, review and improvements to assist future electrification efforts in the region. We focussed on renewable energy based mini-grids and stand-alone systems and also covered conventional grid extension. The paper raised some pertinent issues and attempted to find solutions to these issues. The household connection needs to be improved considerably through a targeted approach and innovative micro-lending model. At the same time the electricity supply also needs to be enhanced, such as through distributed power projects utilizing locally available renewable resources, to ensure that connected households continue to receive electricity and that supply constraints do not inhibit extending electrification to new areas. Developing a regulatory mechanism to extend the tariff fixation for mini-grid projects and providing cross-subsidies to ensure long term sustainability of such projects are highlighted. Finally, economic linkages, access to credit and institutional arrangements also need to be organized appropriately, especially for off-grid RE to facilitate successful outcomes.

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Exploring Factors that Enhance and restrict Women’s Empowerment through Electrification (EFEWEE)

How may electricity make a difference? Study Objective  Overall goal is to provide policy recomm... more How may electricity make a difference? Study Objective  Overall goal is to provide policy recommendations on what it would take to enhance women's empowerment;  Not only interested in measuring outcomes & impact of electricity but how and why this happens;  Focus on conditions & attempt to explain why electricity produces a given set of gendered effects.

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Adoption of cleaner cookstoves: barriers and way forward

W ith 2.6 billion people globally relying on solid biomass fuel such as fuelwood, charcoal, anima... more W ith 2.6 billion people globally relying on solid biomass fuel such as fuelwood, charcoal, animal dung, shrubs, and agricultural residue for cooking, lack of cleaner fuels for cooking continues to be a critical issue (Pachauri et al, 2013). A vast majority of these people live in rural areas of South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Although the Sustainable Energy for All initiative covers electricity and cooking energy access, there is little analysis of options or strategies for accelerating a transition to cleaner combusting cooking fuels or devices (Pachauri et al., 2013; World Bank, 2011). Many researchers argue that without new policies and strategies, the number of people relying on solid fuels for cooking will increase by the year 2030. The implications of these household cooking practices include severe health impacts, gender inequities, and local and global environmental change (Foell et al., 2011). In India, the decrease in the consumption of solid fuels between the census o...

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Solar PV for Enhancing Electricity Access in Kenya: What Policies are Required?

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Off-grid access to electricity innovation challenge

According to the IEA World Energy Outlook 2015 population – did not have access to electricity in... more According to the IEA World Energy Outlook 2015 population – did not have access to electricity in 2013. On average, these families spend between 1 and 2 USD/week just for lighting in Africa without access to electricity 10.5 bn/year on candles and kerosene for lamps. In other regions, isolated communities, for example on islands or in remote areas, are not connected to a large electricity grid and rely on often ageing diesel powered generators.

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Meeting Future Energy Needs in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment, 2019

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Pathways to electricity for all: What makes village-scale solar power successful?

Energy Research & Social Science

Adoption of cleaner cookstoves: barriers and way forward

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1) Mini-grids for rural electrification of developing countries: Analysis and case studies from South Asia

Cluster Approach for Effective Decentralization in Off-grid Energy Project: A Case Study from Dhenkenal District, Odisha

TERI is undertaking a project to set up solar powered decentralised power projects in a cluster o... more TERI is undertaking a project to set up solar powered decentralised power projects in a cluster of five villages and hamlets in Dhenkenal district of Odisha. These villages are inside the reserve forest, and therefore owing to regulations, grid extension is not possible. This study aims to conduct a techno-economic comparative analysis between the option being explored for the cluster of villages i.e. distributed power plants in each village and alternative options, where a centralised power plant installed in one village provides electricity supply to all other locations through distribution lines running between the villages/hamlets. While clustering has its own advantage of economies of scale and scope, it is imperative to assess the benefits-both from technical design and investment perspective as well as operation and maintenance costs and also ease of managing the project institutionally. This study attempted to focus on all the technical design and investment required to draw out a comparative analysis, while also focusing on the institutional aspects for trouble free operation and management of such power plants.

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Lighting up Cambodia - The Solar Way

ABSTRACT Cambodia is a tropical South East Asian country located in the lower Mekong region. Year... more ABSTRACT Cambodia is a tropical South East Asian country located in the lower Mekong region. Years of conflict in the country resulted in irreversible damage, devastation, and degradation of its developmental capacities. Incidentally, the country with a population of approximately 14 million, finds itself classified as LDC (Least Developed Country). During the last few years, it is gearing up to the challenge of reconstruction, sustained economic development and importantly, integration with the global community. A priority goal of the Royal Government of Cambodia is its commitment to reduce poverty throughout the Kingdom. The underlying strategy to accomplish this objective is the development of sustainable and affordable energy supplies for all its constituents. The Working Group on Solar Lanterns, led by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) under the E4All (Energy for All) Partnership programme of ADB (Asian Development Bank) recently conducted a scoping study in Cambodia to understand the existing electrification and lighting scenario especially off-grid lighting in the country. The wholesome purpose is also to identify the solar based off-grid lighting opportunities, which has the potential for scaling up within Cambodia and the South East Asian region. This article is based on the results of the scoping study.

Enabling Policies for Advancing Sustainability of Electricity Access Programs

Economic Modeling, Analysis, and Policy for Sustainability, 2000

As 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity globally, the challenge of ensuring universal el... more As 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity globally, the challenge of ensuring universal electricity access in accordance with the Sustainable Energy for All initiative remains herculean. This chapter maps policy linkages, identifies the gaps in policies and recommends options for developing the enabling environment. The chapter suggests that the policy environment governing electricity access at present is weak and that improvements are required to deliver a sustainable outcome. Although grid extension remains the preferred mode of electrification in many countries, it is not the least-cost option in remote areas where decentralized off-grid solutions may be required. Successful promotion of off-grid solutions would require a clear regulatory environment, a non-discriminatory support mechanism for various stages of a project, financing options, policy co-ordination and linkage with other economic activities for rural development. The chapter concludes that capacity remains weak and non-transparent policy lobbying can distort the development of an enabling environment.

Energizing rural India using micro grids: The case of solar DC micro-grids in Uttar Pradesh State, India

Traditionally AC mini-grids have been implemented to provide electricity services in many un-elec... more Traditionally AC mini-grids have been implemented to provide electricity services in many un-electrified habitations in India, which are not covered through the main grid. However, with the advancement of LED technology and lowering cost of PV panels, the DC microgrids seem to be coming up in a significant way to enhance energy access. Many initiatives, both in private and public sector, are now taking DC micro-grid route to provide energy for basic lighting and mobile charging. This paper attempts to examine nuances of solar DC micro-grid development in India with special focus in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The paper, drawing from literature reviews, interview with key stakeholders and field survey to selected sites, shares the experiences of the solar DC micro-grid programmes for rural electrification.

Distributed Generation and Smart Mini-grid

ABSTRACT Distributed Generation, mini-grid and smart grid – these expressions have suddenly becom... more ABSTRACT Distributed Generation, mini-grid and smart grid – these expressions have suddenly become the buzzwords in the electricity sector. Whereas the distributed generation (DG) and mini-grid concept has been prevalent in India for quite some time especially in the context of remote village electrification (RVE), the smart grid or more specifically smart mini-grid has started getting attention for the last one year. DG also started to get prominence after the launch of the Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) scheme under the RGGVY (Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana) of the Ministry of Power during January 2009. The DDG scheme aims to electrify remote villages in the country where extension of grid electricity is economically daunting. With these terms gaining significance in the electricity sector, this article attempts to discuss these expressions, their interrelation, significance and relevance, and suggests way forward to derive benefits through synergy of all the three concepts.

Potential of gasifier systems in small and micro enterprises of Northeast India for optimal energy utilization and biomass resource conservation

ABSTRACT The SMiEs (Small and Micro Enterprises) in the northeastern region of India consume subs... more ABSTRACT The SMiEs (Small and Micro Enterprises) in the northeastern region of India consume substantial quantities of biomass for meeting their thermal energy requirement. Recently TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) carried out an extensive survey of selected SMiE clusters in order to study the process, to assess the present energy use pattern and to assess potential of gasifier thermal applications. The study findings presented in this papers reveal that the present operating thermal efficiencies are quite low (5-15%) indicating substantial fuel conservation potential in these SMiEs and in many cases induction of gasifier systems can go a long way not only in conserving fuel but also improving the process and the working environment.

The Solar Energy Centre - An Approach to Village Scale Power Supply

Biomass Gasifier Systems for Thermal Applications in Rural Areas

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Regulating Off-grid Electricity Delivery

Economic and Political Weekly, Mar 4, 2015

Towards self-sustaining solar economies in Orissa, India

Urjaa Samadhan is a collaborative project that commenced in April 2014, and aspires to contribute... more Urjaa Samadhan is a collaborative project that commenced in April 2014, and aspires to contribute to the resilience of rural offgrid renewable energy ecosystems in Orissa, India. This paper aims to summarise the delivery rather than research aspects. Broadly speaking, Urjaa Samadhan aims to empower communities in Orissa to take control and ownership of renewables infrastructure by leveraging the latent potential of local and regional technical and supply chain capacity. It seeks to do this by facilitating engagement between end-users on the one hand, and relevant 'providers'parts and service suppliers and NGO'son the other. Specifically, our project seeks to pilot a unified messaging platform service with a web-map interface designed to achieve a step change in end-userprovider engagement in the fledgling off-grid renewables sphere in Orissa. The Urjaa Samadhan Gateway will be designed to facilitate user requests and supplier provision for parts and services, and will accommodate technologyspecific system faults and failures for the full range of solar PV technologies currently installed in South and NorthEast Orissa. The Gateway will be pilotted in Koraput and Mayurbhanj districts in conjunction with a credit scheme and a technical training programme for local parts and service providers. Pending a successful pilot, the potential exists to tailor the gateway for other renewable technologies, and expand functionality beyond the notification of simple technology failure towards financial-, user rated product and service quality-, and waste collection information. Our hope is that Urjaa Samadhan contributes to increasing transparency and reducing information asymmetries and transaction costs that are currently preventing the development of functional rural renewables markets.

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