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• Effective utilisation of available renewable resources in rural region of Bihar for sustainable rural electrification. • Design of optimal model of on-grid as well as off-grid hybrid configuration of active distribution network (ADN) on integration of PV/biomass resources. • A comparative assessment for effective performance and management of produced energy of both on-grid as well as off-grid active distribution network has been done. • A proper investigation and assessment of proposed active distribution network on several techno-economic attributes has been performed. • Analysis of feasibility and pertinency of active distribution network for selected rural region on environmental concerns has been also done. • Impact of various dependent variable assessment on cost of energy and total net present cost for the practicality of proposed active distribution network has been done. Majority of rural areas in India have already been electrified, yet the disparity between demand and supply is considerably higher and broadened due to which nation's rapid financial growth as well as rising standards of living in both the urban as well as rural areas. Hence, the utilisation of renewable resources is rising steadily for the mitigation of such energy crisis. It has become necessity to use a hybrid sustainable energy system by exploiting the strengths of each source in combination with one another to minimise the dependence on the congested power grid. For the efficient use of readily available renewable energy and sustainable rural electrification, this study proposes an effective Active Distribution Network (ADN). A comprehensive techno-economic analysis has been performed on the design of an ADN system that includes the exploitation of solar and biomass energy as sources of power for sustainable rural electrification. In the proposed work, performance assessment elements such as output responses, component costs, feasibility and sensitivity of the project, emissions, inflation rate, and changing the pricing of integrant have been taken into consideration and analysed. Results shows the improvement in rural electrical system while lowering system energy costs along with consideration of environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to model a hybrid energy system for rural India. In this analysis a hybrid renewable system consists of solar-wind-hydrokinetic-bioenergy is proposed. Overall analysis including Optimization and sensitive analysis are evaluated by HOMER software. Optimized results are evaluated considering total net present cost, cost of energy, annual electric generation, renewable fraction and CO 2 emission. The analysis is done in order to increase efficiency of the system with comparatively less cost. From this exercise it is found that, combinations of more varieties of different renewable energy system are better to fulfill futuristic demand. Futuristic demand is calculated by logistic growth model. The value of COEs ($) and total generations (kWh/yr) are 0.3563 and 133045; 0.247 and 170948; 0.242 and 179018; 0.241 and 179303 for the year (2012–2021), (2022–2031), (2032–2041) and (2042–2051) respectively. However some other combinations may produce more power, although in such cases, in order to storage excess power COE will increase. As compared to the year (2012–2021) to (2042–2051) the optimized COE of electricity is minimized, keeping Annual cost nearly constant and amount of electric generation is increased without much effect on environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass based hybrid energy system is utilized for the electrification of villages, especially in developing countries like India. Hybrid Energy System (HES) components, feasibility study, and cost analysis are presented in this paper for a remote area Kakkavayal, a forest region in Kerala, India. A water stream at 25 m height has been identified at Kakkavayal by the Forest Department of Kerala. The village has been marked to study hourly measured meteorological and load data for a period of time. The performance of the proposed hybrid system is determined on hourly basis and optimum configuration, which can meet the energy demand with minimum cost using the hybrid system design tool HOMER. Parametric analysis indicates that with 2 kW solar PV, 15 kW pico-hydel, and 5 kW biomass gasifier generator together with five numbers of 12 V, 200 Ah of battery storage to meet the primary load demand of 56 kWh/d and 17 kWh/d (scaled annual average) of deferrable load. From the simulation, the cost of energy is found to be Rs 7.274 (US$ 0.164) per kWhr. The cost of energy of the proposed HES is also compared with the diesel-based HES. It is found that economically, the proposed HES is a very good alternative for present pico-hydel/diesel system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The off grid electrification by utilizing Integrated Renewable Energy System (IRES) is proposed to satisfy the electrical and cooking needs of the seven-uneletrified villages in the Almora district of Uttarakhand state, India. Four different scenarios are considered during modeling and optimization of IRES to ensure reliability parameters such as energy index ratio (EIR) and expected energy not supplied (EENS). The optimum system reliability, total system cost and cost of energy (COE) have also been worked out by introducing the customer interruption cost (CIC). The four different renewable energy scenarios have been compared for the considered study area using the LINGO software version 10. The fourth renewable energy scenario accounting 44.99% micro hydropower (MHP), 30.07% biomass, 5.19% biogas and 4.16% solar energy along with the additional resources of wind (1.27%) and energy plantation (12.33%) has been found to be the best among the different options considered. Furthermore, the optimal reliability for the fourth IRES system has been found to be 0.95 EIR at the optimized cost of Rs 19.44 lacs with estimated COE of Rs 3.36per kWh. The COE obtained using LINGO software and HOMER software has also been compared and briefly discussed for all the four scenarios. In order to verify feasibility and cost of system for different biomass fuel prices, a sensitivity analysis has also been carried out and it has been found that the fourth scenario is more sustainable than the other considered options. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A decentralized power generation plant fuelled by straight jatropha oil was implemented in 2006 in Ranidhera, Chhattisgarh, India. The goal of this study was to assess the environmental sustainability of that electrification project in order to provide a scientific basis for policy decisions on electrifying remote villages. A full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted on jatropha-based rural electrification and then compared with other electrification approaches such as photovoltaic (PV), grid connection and a diesel-fuelled power generator. In summary, the jatropha-based electrification in Ranidhera reduces greenhouse gas emissions over the full life cycle by a factor of 7 compared to a diesel generator or grid connection. The environmental performance is only slightly improved, mainly due to the high air pollution from pre-heating the jatropha seeds. With additional measures oil extraction and overall efficiency could be further improved. However, environmental benefits can only be achieved if jatropha is cultivated on marginal land and land use competition can be excluded. Under these conditions, jatropha-based electricity generation might be a useful alternative to other renewable electrification options, as the technology is very sturdy and can be maintained even in remote and highly under-developed regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Several families in India live in remote places with no access to grid-connected power supply due to their remoteness. The study area chosen from the Indian state of Odisha does not have an electrical power supply due to its distant location. As a result, this study analyzed the electrification process using Renewable Energy (RE) resources available in the locality. However, these RE resources are limited by their dependency on weather conditions and time. So, a robust battery storage system is needed for a continuous power supply. Hence, the Nickel Iron (Ni-Fe), Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) and Lead Acid (LA) battery technologies have been analyzed to identify a battery technology that is both technologically and economically viable. Using the available RE resources in the study area, such as photovoltaic and biomass energy resources, as well as the various battery technologies, three configurations have been modelled, such as Photovoltaic Panels (PVP)/Biomass Generator(BIOMG)/BATTERY(Ni-Fe), PV/BIOMG/BATTERY(Li-Ion) and PVP/BMG/BATTERY(LA). These three configurations have been examined using nine prominent metaheuristic algorithms, in which the PVP/BIOMG/BATTERY(Ni-Fe) configuration provided the optimal Life Cycle Cost value of 367,586 USD. Among the all metaheuristic algorithms, the dynamic differential annealed optimization algorithm was given the best Life Cycle Cost values for all of the three configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: About 72 million households in rural India do not have access to electricity and rely primarily on traditional biofuels. This research investigates how rural electrification could be achieved in India using different energy sources and what the effects for climate change mitigation could be. We use the Regional Energy Model (REM) to develop scenarios for rural electrification for the period 2005–2030 and to assess the effects on greenhouse gas emissions, primary energy use and costs. We compare the business-as-usual scenario (BAU) with different electrification scenarios based on electricity from renewable energy, diesel and the grid. Our results indicate that diesel systems tend to have the highest CO2 emissions, followed by grid systems. Rural electrification with primarily renewable energy-based end-uses could save up to 99% of total CO2 emissions and 35% of primary energy use in 2030 compared to BAU. Our research indicates that electrification with decentralised diesel systems is likely to be the most expensive option. Rural electrification with renewable energy tends to be the most cost-effective option when end-uses are predominantly based on renewable energy, but turns out to be more costly than grid extensions when electric end-use devices are predominantly used. This research therefore elaborates whether renewable energy is a viable option for rural electrification and climate change mitigation in rural India and gives policy recommendations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]