Microhybrid Electricity System for Energy Access, Livelihoods, and Empowerment

Ensuring reliable and affordable access to modern energy services, especially for the poorer and deprived section of the population, is a basic requisite for sustainable development. Given that a majority of the energy-deprived population lives in rural regions of developing countries, an effective rural electrification is critical for bridging the rural-urban divide. Building on energy access intervention, implementing productive energy services can influence the next stages of development through livelihood activities, microenterprises, lifestyle energy services, value-added activities, survival irrigation, and so on. Social benefits of access to healthcare, education, and longer productive hours have an equally important impact on sustainable development. In India, for example, 240 million people lack electricity access. While grid extension in India is on the rise through various government programs, specific rural problems of low energy demand, poor rural economy, inaccessible terrain, and low purchasing power can render grid extension expensive and inefficient. Microgrid electricity systems, especially with hybrid renewable energy resources, can be a good alternative for addressing above-mentioned challenges. India enjoys high solar intensity, and the predominantly agrarian rural society has enough biomass resources, abundant cattle dung, forest foliage, and agricultural waste. A solar-biomass hybrid electricity system can solve the problem of intermittency of solar. Such a hybrid electricity system is being implemented in a remote Indian unelectrified village for electricity access, livelihoods, and economic empowerment. In this paper, we report the technoeconomic feasibility and sustainability analysis of this hybrid system. The system consists of 30-kW solar photo voltaic (PV) and 20-kW biomass gasifier modules. Energy demand and resource availability are estimated with inputs from extensive stakeholder discussions and field surveys, and they account for daily and seasonal variations in both supply and end uses and availability and productive hours. The expected temporal electricity demand is estimated for households, community, irrigation, and commercial needs. The technoeconomic feasibility is assessed using hybrid optimization model for electric renewable energy (HOMER). Furthermore, opportunities for the development of productive uses and their expansion through a sustainable business model are explored