RURAL ELECTRIFICATION IN INDIAA MICROGRID APPROACH

Prateek Prasun, 3rd Yr,EnE, MIT Kislay Kishore,3rd Yr, EnE, MIT Arpit Agrawal,3rd Yr,EnE,MIT

I TRODUCTIO In an energy deficient country like India, the priority of supplying energy is given to the cities-the nodes of the economic development, while the ironic part is that Indias almost 70% population still lives in the villages. The electrification of villages is still a distant dream due to heavy costs incurred in installation of networks for transmission and distribution and huge power losses. Also the villages electrified till now have an erratic supply of electricity. The main idea presented in this paper emphasizes on the development of microgrids-a direct consequence of distributed generation approach, to improve the energy scenario in villages. However in light of the increasing focus on eco-friendly approach to almost everything, power generation shall be no exception. The focus of the generation will essentially be on use of renewable resources for power generation. Besides being a sustainable solution to the energy needs in rural areas, the clean way of generation will be welcomed by local communities and government. The need of independent units has been recognized here to accommodate distributed energy resources and renewable energy technologies on large scale. Different issues related to the deployment of renewable energy resources and possible enabling technologies are discussed here.

ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UP OF INDIA

As seen from the figure, the administration of India has been well divided into many sub-divisions, catering even to the most remote areas. The idea is to use this administrative system to provide sufficient electricity supply to the rural areas. The villages are the units often getting the minimum and erratic supply of energy, so this paper intends to provide some suggestions at this level.

A state in India is divided into districts, which in turn are divided into blocks-tehsils or taluks. Karnataka, for example has 175 taluks, each comprising a number of villages. The paper uses the microgrid approach to unite the villages at the taluk level to make them self sufficient.

MICROGRID- a component of Distributed Generation Trends emerging in the power system suggest that the highly centralized paradigm that has dominated power systems for the last century may eventually be replaced, or at least diluted, by an alternative. The concept of the Microgrid supersedes all the advantages of a single generator. Moreover, it includes all the advantages of the networking at mini scale. Since different types of resources are interconnected, diversity in fuel and loading conditions can be achieved. The components of the Microgrid complement with each other thus reduce the dependence on the main grid. Easily inferred, the Microgrid concept involves small T&D network. This small self-sufficient system would allow maximum extraction of the renewable power by coordinating control between the various renewable resources based power generation. This approach allows for local control of distributed generation thereby reducing or eliminating the need for central distribution. During disturbances, the generation and corresponding loads can separate from the distribution system to isolate the microgrids load from the disturbance (and thereby maintaining high level of service) without harming the transmission grids integrity. While the original concept of microgrids encompasses a wider network of infrastructure, the paper

here uses just the basic idea to deal with the electricity problem of the villages, using the naturally available resources, and trying to be as simplistic and minimal as possible, but at the same time, fulfilling the basic demands of energy. Distributed generation, for the moment loosely defined as smallscale electricity generation, is a fairly new concept in the economics literature about electricity markets, but the idea behind it is not new at all. In the early days of electricity generation, distributed generation was the rule, not the exception. The first power plants only supplied electricity to customers in the close neighbourhood of the generation plant. The first grids were DC based, and therefore, the supply voltage was limited, as was the distance that could be used between generator and consumer. Balancing demand and supply was partially done using local storage, i.e. batteries, which could be directly coupled to the DC grid. Along with small-scale generation, local storage is also returning to the scene. HYBRID SYSTEM Though fairly large in quantity, the availability of renewable resources is not uniform. It depends on the climate and geographical location. The importance of a hybrid system is evident as a solution of this problem

which advocates use of multiple renewable resources for power generation. This approach ensures smoother supply of energy. India, a tropical country, also has a strong agricultural base. Capitalizing on these two strengths, the hybrid approach here involves combining bio-gas and solar energy for power generation. The availability of solar energy for a large part of the year and the large amounts of agricultural wastes makes the combined use of solar energy and energy fron biomass a viable option. Apart from improving the reliability of the system, this approach would mean greater peak load capacity. Technically as well as economically the hybrid generation is more viable than relying upon one particular technology. Various energy forms have been integrated to form a hybrid system like the solar-wind system, winddiesel system, etc. In case of a microgrid approach where the power generation is comparatively low, the integration of solar energy and that from wind would compliment each other quite well.

payback period is over the energy can be utilized profitably. The key features of the idea are: Ensuring continuous and quality supply of electricity to each household for at least 18 hours a day. Installation of electricity generation units by the procedure of heat exchange from salts absorbing solar energy to the water tanks to generate steam and thus electricity. These salts are easily available through the fertilizers and have the capacity to store heat for atleast 7-8 hours, thereby ensuring electricity supply in cloudy weather and/or some duration of night.

SOLAR ENERGY Though being the primary energy source, solar energy is not utilized to its potential. Cost proves to be the major deterrent factor in its exploitation. But with the proper government support once the

The molten salts stored in the two tanks pictured here amidst the rows of troughs at power plant will allow solar energy to produce electricity even at night.

Installation of stand alone street and community lighting systems making use of PV cells and LED units to optimize energy usage.

sewage, water waste from agro industry, slaughter waste etc.

Stand alone street light.

Large parts of wasteland if available can be used for solar furnace construction but only if the option commercially viable.

BIOMASS E ERGY Villages being the agrarian nodes, there is plenty of raw material for generation of energy from biomass. The basic infrastructure of course constitutes floating dome biogas plants. These plants would be integrated into the hybrid system to provide continuous supply of energy for commercial purposes like agriculture, hospitals, schools and other institutions. The raw materials for the biogas plants will be locally available saving the transportation costs. The raw materials for the production of biogas are: cow dung, poultry droppings, night soil and

This would incorporate introduction of newer yet cheaper technologies like gassy fires which would complement the conventional sources of energy like diesel. Once the technology is improved the irrigation pumps can be upgraded to use bio diesels. According to the CII- Godrej GBC Publication, June 2004, the potential of biomass energy in India is 16,000MW (excluding cogeneration), and the installed capacity is 630MW. So, theres still a lot of scope of exploitation of biomass energy for the general usage in rural areas. Globally, India is in the fourth position in generating power through biomass and with a huge potential, is poised to become a world leader in utilization of biomass.

Stirling Engine The middle-temperature Stirling engine transforms thermal energy into mechanical work and this 0 already at temperatures of 150 C.

Sunpulse can pump water from up to 60 m depth.

The Stirling engine provided with 50 kWh of heat energy generates electricity of about 1 kWhe for about 10 hours. The mechanical work generated by the Stirling engine can also be used for corn milling, to pump water or for cooling. It becomes an integral part of the hybrid system, and sharing the load, supplementing the solar energy setup. Sunpulse is a low-temperature Stirling Engine to pump water. It is powered by unconcentrated solar radiation and thus works independent of the Hot-oil storage tank. The system pumps about 4 cbm/h water from 10m depth. Part of the pumping system is a hydraulic ram which in combination with
Sunpulse

Economic Implementation: The technologies mentioned in the paper can be manufactured for the most part locally. Of course, efficient government help and proper co-ordination among the villages and taluks would be a necessity to make this a distinct possibility. This fosters local economic development and acquisition of technical knowledge; as a consequence the dependence from abroad is diminished. The cooperative possesses the installation and is responsible for maintenance and funding the venture. Jobs are created in the region, the buying power of the local community is increased and a low-cost energy supply provided. The cooperative structure could be enlarged by further economic activities such as food production and distribution, so that a decentralized and independent development based on self-help is supported. CO CLUSIO The above mentioned ideas would make the development of villages an integral part of the development plans of the country. They suggest an innovative method to address the current electricity shortage problems in the rural areas. The renewable energy Support local economies to make health, prosperity and education

attainable in all regions And, at the same time, preserve ethnic and ecological values Top employ profits generated for making the mission independent and sustainable.

techniques play an important role in the sustainable development. We hope, that by this paper, a viable path to electrification and the resultant modernization of villages

Advantages:
Reduce the dependence on fossil energies Slow down the exploitation of limited resources, deforestation, etc. Provide help for self-help to people in need of clean water, energy and food.

can be embarked upon.

References1) Infrastructure for Sustainable Development using Renewable Energy Technologies in India. (S. A. Khaparde,
Senior Member, IEEE)

Micropower- by David www.leonardo-energy.org.

2)

Chapman,

3) Microgrids and Distributed Generation Robert H. Lasseter, Fellow, IEEE.

4) Microgrids: An emerging paradigm for meeting building electricity and heat requirements efficiently and with appropriate energy quality- Chris Marnay & Ryan
Firestone

5) Wikipedia & different internet data references.