Rural electrification: Optimising the choice between decentralised renewable energy sources and grid extension

Mahapatra, Sadhan and Dasappa, S (2012) Rural electrification: Optimising the choice between decentralised renewable energy sources and grid extension. In: ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, 16 (2). pp. 146-154.

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Abstract

The study presents an analysis aimed at choosing between off-grid solar photovoltaic, biomass gasifier based power generation and conventional grid extension for remote village electrification. The model provides a relation between renewable energy systems and the economical distance limit (EDL) from the existing grid point, based on life cycle cost (LCC) analysis, where the LCC of energy for renewable energy systems and grid extension will match. The LCC of energy feed to the village is arrived at by considering grid availability and operating hours of the renewable energy systems. The EDL for the biomass gasifier system of 25 kW capacities is 10.5 km with 6 h of daily operation and grid availability. However, the EDL for a similar 25 kW capacity photovoltaic system is 35 km for the same number of hours of operation and grid availability. The analysis shows that for villages having low load demand situated far away from the existing grid line, biomass gasification based systems are more cost competitive than photovoltaic systems or even compared to grid extension. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Publisher:	ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to Elsevier
Keywords:	Rural electrification;Solar photovoltaic system; Biomass gasification system;Grid extension;Life cycle cost analysis; Economical distance limit
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Sustainable Technologies (formerly ASTRA)
Date Deposited:	30 Jul 2012 05:01
Last Modified:	30 Jul 2012 05:01
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/44863

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