Supported by
Contents Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………… i 1.0
Introduction................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1
Defining Sustainable Energy Services ........................................................................... 1
2.0
Objective of the report ............................................................................................................. 1
3.0
Methodology Adopted ............................................................................................................. 2
4.0
Influence of national and international policy scenario ................................................... 3
5.0
Findings and analysis ............................................................................................................... 5 5.1
Summary of the business models.................................................................................. 6
5.2
Key factors determining the choice of technology for different models ................. 7
5.3
Key features of the end user finance ............................................................................. 8
5.4
Nature of institutional linkages ................................................................................... 10
6.0
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 11
7.0
Some key Recommendations ................................................................................................ 12
8.0
7.1
Recommendations on funding and end user finance................................................ 12
7.2
Recommendations on subsidy ...................................................................................... 13
7.3
Recommendations for facilitating incubation ............................................................ 14
Areas for further research ...................................................................................................... 14
ANNEXES: Annexure 1: The Case Studies: In details Annexure II: Questionnaire
List of Acronyms:
BEE
Bureau of Energy Efficiency
BPL
Below Poverty Line
BOVS
Baharbari Odyugic Vikas Swavalambi Shakari Samiti
CBOs
Community Based Organizations
CDM
Clean Development Mechanism
CFL
Compact Fluorescent Lamp
DESI Power
Decentralized Energy Systems India Private Ltd
FCI
Food Corporation of India
GHG
Greenhouse Gas
HPS
Husk Power Systems
IISc
Indian Institute of Science
IREDA
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited
IRPPs
Independent Rural Power Producers
JNNSM
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
KCC
Kisan Card Customers
MDGs
Millennium Development Goals
MFI
Micro Finance Institutions
MNRE
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
NABARD
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
NAPCC
National Action Plan on Climate Change
NEP
National Electricity Policy
NGO
Non-government organizations
PLF
Plant Load factor
PV
Photovoltaic
REEEP
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership
RHA
Rice Husk Ash
RGGVY
Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
R&D
Research and Development
RE
Renewable Energy
REC
Renewable Energy Certificates
REEEP
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership
SHL
Solar home lighting
SEE
Sustainable Energy Enterprise
UNDP
United Nations Development Programme
UNFCCC
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Executive Summary Access to energy plays a critical role in poverty reduction and also in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by improving the quality of life of poor people across the world. With energy–related activities being the main contributor to global emissions of harmful gases, energy is closely linked to climate change. As climate change issues go on affecting the livelihood patterns especially of the poor, the issue of adaptation and mitigation are becoming an integral part of the poverty reduction strategy. The demand for energy service is increasing with the understanding that it has the potential for diversification of income and also for value addition of the existing livelihood practices. It is evident from the analysis that there is an emerging market for reliable off-grid energy services for rural poor and providing energy services have multiple benefits. The wide range of ‘energy services’ – cooking, lighting, water pumping etc have a major impact in facilitating sustainable livelihoods, improving health and education and in significantly reducing poverty1. Poor people are already spending money on energy, but it is not necessarily on the cheapest or the cleanest energy products and services. The market potential for clean, affordable energy especially for the poor is gradually and steadily expanding. Increasing demand for clean and cheap energy services provides a scope to further the cause of low carbon development to reduce energy poverty and also to achieve MDGs. The sustainable energy enterprises (SEE) analyzed as a part of the study are not just providing energy services to the poor rural customers but are also contributing to the lowcarbon economic growth. Some of the SEEs have reached impressive scale and are contributing to low carbon growth, wellbeing, creating local jobs and also providing a wide range of environmental benefits. The growth and development of the business models in India are dependent on different and complex national and international factors. The two most important climate-focused instruments that are influencing the growth of renewable technologies in India are National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and the access to carbon funds from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Electricity Act 2003, National Electricity Policy (NEP) 2005 and Eleventh Five Year Plan: 2007-2011 are just some of the key government policies that have recently facilitated promotion and expansion of renewable energy. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) has been instrumental in promoting solar as a renewable source of energy in the country. For over a decade, the Remote Village Electrification program of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been instrumental in electrification through renewable energy sources of un-electrified remote census villages and remote un-electrified hamlets of electrified census villages where grid connectivity is either not feasible or not cost effective. Around 3,330 un-electrified census villages and 830 un1
Energy for Poor: Consultation Document (2002) DFID
i
electrified hamlets of electrified villages have so far been provided with basic electricity facilities. MNRE had also launched the Village Energy Security Program (VESP) with the objective of providing energy security in villages by meeting total energy needs for cooking, electricity and motive power through various forms of biomass material based on available biomass conversion technologies and other renewable energy technologies, where necessary. .
Main findings of the study: The present study looks at four models of sustainable energy enterprise (SEE) presently in operation in India. The SEE surveyed covered commercial enterprise, not-for-profits and rural regional banks. A strong social orientation and a mission to bring energy to poor households has been one common and underlined feature that binds all these organizations together. While SELCO is a private enterprise that promotes and sells solar home lighting systems, solar lanterns and other sustainable energy products, Aryavart Gramin Bank is a regional rural bank based in Uttar Pradesh which provides loans to its credit worthy customers to buy solar products from Tata–BP Solar at a slightly lower than the usual market price. Other two models (DESI Power and HUSK Power) are focused on providing access clean energy services primarily focusing on productive load using the available local biomass as fuel. Access to end use finance is a key challenge for sustainable energy enterprise. Mainstream finance options are not generally available for small-scale energy services. A suitable end-user model is an important decision that is highly influenced by local context, business model and the nature of energy services provided. SELCO model is a classic case where the energy enterprise enters into a partnership with the financial institution to promote and sell sustainable energy products. Aryavart Gramin Bank is a model which is a one-stop-shop model where sustainable energy products and finance are provided under one roof. In this case the financial institution is supplying energy products with an energy partner. DESI Power and HUSK Power follows umbrella model where the energy enterprise has partnered with a range of institutions. DESI Power follows a model where the energy enterprise enters into a partnership with a network of organizations ranging from financial institutions, small and medium-scale industries needing access to reliable affordable energy and village level institutions like cooperatives. Husk Power on the other hand has developed a very unique and evolving partnership with the local rice mill owners to ensure a sustainable supply of biomass for generation of electricity. It is worthwhile to note that the relationship between the energy enterprise and the biomass supplier goes well beyond financial transactions.
ii
Review of the existing cases reveals that carbon finance has recently opened up new opportunities to add to the finance mix. In order to ensure an additional source of funding apart from grants and government support, many of the business ventures are looking into the option of accessing the carbon finance market in collaboration with international agencies. SELCO and Aryavart Gramin Bank have signed contracts for voluntary carbon trade while DESI Power has registered their project under the regulatory Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Husk Power is also in the process of finding suitable opportunities to enter the carbon market. Summary of the main findings are as follows:
A strong social orientation and a mission to bring energy to poor households has been an underlined feature.
All the models provide direct benefits to the poor households by providing energy services.
Entrepreneurs have a combination of market and non-market mechanisms (Ashden Award, Development Market Place Award) to have access to finance.
International Awards often gives the business models a level of recognition and credibility which often helps the entrepreneurs to access additional funds.
Institutional linkage plays a very important role in these business models. Lack of suitable and sufficient funding acts as a deterrent for research & development.
The business models contribute to reduction of green house gas emissions. All the business models have generated employment opportunities. Efforts are on by all the project developers to tap the carbon finance.
Some of the key recommendations: Recommendations regarding funding
There is a need for developing a well designed smart subsidy which does not have market-distorting effect.
There is a need to promote access to customized end user finance based on the particular business model.
A minimum percentage of the finance portfolio of the regional rural bank and commercial banks should be allocated for renewable energy.
Need for balancing the high transaction cost for accessing the funds from carbon market through innovative funding mechanism.
Need to facilitate incubation for transferring innovative ideas to implementable good business plans.
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1.0
INTRODUCTION With energy-related activities being the main contributor to global emission of harmful gases, energy is closely linked to climate change. Increasing demand for clean and cheap energy services provides a scope to further the cause of low carbon development to reduce energy poverty and also to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As there is an increased realization that access to energy can improve the livelihood of the poor, the demand for energy is growing. Poor people are already spending money on energy, but it is not necessarily on the cheapest or the cleanest energy products and services. The market potential for clean, affordable energy especially for the poor is gradually and steadily expanding. New and innovative business opportunities are emerging rapidly in different parts of the country to meet the increasing energy demand in the rural areas. There is also increased interest by private players and social entrepreneurs to provide a range of energy services to the poor through a mix of renewable energy options which includes solar, wind, hydropower, biofuels, biomass (such as wood used as fuel) or biogas including a few hybrid technological options. With the increasing demand for energy services coupled with increasing number of sustainable energy enterprise, the policy brief captures some of the key features of the sustainable energy enterprise already in operation and also highlights some key suggestions for national government and for financial institutions / private sector to facilitate upscaling of the operation.
1.1
Defining Sustainable Energy Services Before getting into the details of the study, it is important to define a sustainable energy enterprise (SEE). For the present assignment, we define sustainable energy enterprise as one of the following: an organization which is selling products that allow customers to generate sustainable energy or to save energy; one that is generating sustainable energy locally and selling it to customers (or to an electricity grid); or an enterprise which is itself powered by local sustainable energy. “Sustainable energy” is defined as energy that brings environmental, social and economic benefits – it includes energy from solar, micro-hydro, biogas, energyefficient cooking stoves, and other renewable technologies.
2.0
OBJECTIVE OF THE REPORT The purpose of this report is to analyze some of the models of sustainable energy enterprises, which have been in operation and are even evolving with the changing market situation in different parts of the country. This report provides an analysis of the core business model of each of the enterprise, review of the nature of institutional
1
linkages, provision of end use finance, access to carbon market, advantages of the model chosen and challenges they have overcome in successfully establishing themselves as a sustainable energy enterprise.
3.0
METHODOLOGY ADOPTED Available secondary literature was reviewed to determine the existing models of clean energy based enterprise within the country. Apart from reviewing the materials available in the internet, efforts have been made to take a close look at the institution/ organization’s websites. A search was also undertaken to determine suitable models awarded by the Development Market Place and Ashden Awards. A group of four cases were selected for in depth study. Field visits were undertaken for understanding the DESI Power and Husk Power projects while detailed telephonic interviews were undertaken for SELCO and Aryavart Gramin Bank. The cases that have been shortlisted have been based broadly on the following selection criteria:
Nature of energy service provided Type of technologies used for providing energy services Nature of the business model Years of operation of the project Size of the end user base Location of the project Institutional linkages available
A structured questionnaire was also shared with the organizations to inform them the information that was being requested. The questionnaire is attached as Annexure 2. The present study has analyzed the different aspects of the existing business models developed by the energy enterprise. It assessed the energy service portfolio, organizational strategy, current market, internal capacity, key players within the supply chain, and resilience of fuel supply chain. It assessed the current customer base and also noted the mechanism for developing and collection of tariffs. An assessment has also been made on the key advantages and disadvantages of the different models reviewed based on uniform indicators. The advantages and disadvantages of the different end-user finance partnership models have been analyzed. Detailed note on the case studies analyzed is enclosed as annexure 1.
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4.0
INFLUENCE SCENARIO
OF
NATIONAL
AND
INTERNATIONAL
POLICY
The growth and development of sustainable renewable energy based business models focusing on poor population in India is primarily dependent on different and complex factors. This section looks at the policy scenario of both national and international, which has helped in promoting enterprise. Indian government has been one of the first developing countries to explore the potential of renewable energy in late1970s. India’s move in this direction started with the formation of Commission for Additional Sources of Energy in 1981. Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources was established in 1991 to promote renewable energy while the same Ministry was renamed as Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in 2006. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) primarily supports promotion and implementation of renewable technologies through policy actions, capacity building and encouraging implementation of key projects. MNRE is also the key agency to facilitate policy making, planning and developing financial incentives, technology research and development, intellectual property rights, and human resource development. Solar, wind, biomass and small hydro are the major RE sources in India. As per the current estimates, India has over 17 GW of installed renewable power generating capacity. Wind remains the largest commercially exploited RE source in India while it is followed by small hydro. The two most important climate-focused instruments that are influencing the growth of renewable technologies in India are National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and the access to carbon funds from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). NAPCC includes eight focused missions one of which is dedicated towards promotion of solar energy. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) is a part of the NAPCC and the mission aims at drastically increasing the installed PV through attractive feed-in tariffs and a clear application and administrative process. Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol has also been one of the key facilitators for promotion and development of renewable energy projects in India. As of September 2010, there are over 500 registered CDM projects in India and these are demonstrated by renewable energy based projects. For over a decade, the Remote Village Electrification program of MNRE has been instrumental in electrification through renewable energy sources of un-electrified remote census villages and remote un-electrified hamlets of electrified census villages where grid connectivity is either not feasible or not cost effective. Around 3,330 un-electrified census villages and 830 un-electrified hamlets of electrified villages have so far been provided with basic electricity facilities. Most of the projects implemented under this program have used SPV mini-grids to electrify villages.
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MNRE had also launched the Village Energy Security Program (VESP) with the objective of providing energy security in villages by meeting total energy needs for cooking, electricity and motive power through various forms of biomass material based on available biomass conversion technologies and other renewable energy technologies, where necessary. Review of the existing cases reveals that carbon finance has recently opened up new opportunities to add to the finance mix. In order to ensure an additional source of funding apart from grants and government support, many of the business ventures are looking into the option of accessing the carbon finance market in collaboration with international agencies, either through the regulatory regime or the voluntary markets. SELCO and Aryavart Gramin Bank have signed contracts for voluntary carbon trade while DESI power has registered their project under the regulatory Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Husk Power is also in the process of finding suitable opportunities to enter the carbon market. Some of the key policies which have supported promotion and expansion of renewable energy in India are as follows:
Eleventh Five Year Plan: 2007-2011 At the end of 10th Five Year Plan, renewable energy capacity in India was 13.2 GW. The 11th Five Year (2007-2012) plan envisages addition of renewable energy capacity by 14 GW. The Planning Commission has constituted a New and Renewable Energy Working Group to develop plans for renewable energy during the Eleventh and the prospective Twelfth and Thirteenth five year Plans. Based on the Working Group’s proposals, the Eleventh Plan established the goal that 10% of power generation capacity shall be from renewable sources by 2012. As per the 11th Plan projections, the dominance of wind energy within overall renewable energy mix is expected to continue. While the current efforts to harness renewable energy are targeted to meet State specific objectives, future RE capacity addition will be constrained due to lack of appropriate measures to enable inter-State RE transactions. REC mechanism has been widely acknowledged as a potential tool to achieve inter-State RE transactions. Some states are in the process of developing Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs) which has the potential for development of a tradable Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) program.
Electricity Act 2003 Electricity Act 2003 has been one of the key benchmarks towards liberalizing the power market in India. The act has not only encouraged competition but has also facilitated in brining investments and setting up of the value chain. The Act made
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specific provisions of introducing national policies on standalone non-conventional energy systems in rural areas and electrification with local distribution to rural areas. The act mandates each State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) to establish requirements for the minimum purchase of renewable power and also allows penalties for non-compliance. The ‘open access’ provision allows licensed renewable energy power generators access to transmission lines and distribution systems. The Act also gives private investors access to all power operations and therefore state governments have been trying to encourage private sector participation in rural electrification projects.
National Electricity Policy 2005 National Electricity Policy 2005 (NEP) focuses on the need for increasing the share of electricity from non-conventional sources and allows the SERCs to establish a preferential tariff for electricity generated from non-renewable sources to make it more cost-competitive. The need for increasing the share of electricity from nonconventional sources has been highlighted in the NEP. It also allows the SERCs to establish a preferential tariff for electricity generated from renewable sources to enable them to be cost-competitive.
Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana 2005 Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) is one of the flagship projects of Ministry of Power (MoP) implemented through Rural Electrification Corporation for promotion of rural electrification in India. The program provides a 90% capital subsidy with the remainder of funds provided as a loan through the Rural Electrification Corporation. It is worthwhile to mention that RGGVY’s objective is to ensure provision of electricity irrespective of its generation source. Therefore promotion of renewable energy is not the main focus of the program. But the program promotes Decentralized distribution generation (DDG) and supply of electricity to villages through conventional and renewable sources. As on September 30, 2010, the RGGVY program has been able to cater to 84,618 villages covering over 12 million BPL households.
5.0
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS The present study looked at four models of sustainable energy enterprise (SEE) presently in operation in India. The SEE surveyed covers commercial enterprises, and rural regional bank catering to promotion of energy services in rural areas. A strong social orientation and a mission to bring energy to poor households has been one common and underlined feature that binds all these organizations together. While SELCO is a private enterprise that promotes and sells solar home lighting
5
systems, solar lanterns and other sustainable energy products, Aryavart Gramin Bank is a regional rural bank based in Uttar Pradesh which provides loans to its credit worthy customers to buy solar products from TATA–BP at a slightly lower than the usual market price. Two of the models (DESI Power and HUSK Power) are focused on providing access to clean energy services primarily focusing on productive load using the available local biomass as fuel.
5.1
Summary of the business models The key features of the business models analyzed are mentioned below: SELCO is a private sector company dedicated towards providing access to solar home lighting facilities to rural and urban people from lower income backgrounds. The uniqueness of the model is that it does not reduce the capital cost of the products but focuses on developing financial products that matches the cash-flow of the clients. Door-step servicing and door-step financing are two of the distinct features of the SELCO business model. Strong innovative product portfolio (customizing products based on the consumer’s needs), flexible financial packages and regional energy service centre based for dedicated after sale services are some of the distinct feature of SELCO’s business strategy. Aryavart Gramin Bank is a Rural Regional Bank (RRB) based in Uttar Pradesh which promotes and encourages the use of solar home lighting system to its customers. The Gramin Bank has developed an institutional linkage with the technology provider (TATA-BP) to provide energy services in the form of solar home lighting system (SHS) and solar heaters. The uniqueness of the business model is that it is driven by the regional rural bank where the bank takes the entire initiative to promote and establish linkage between the renewable energy technology provider and its customers. The bank in its own capacity negotiates with the technology provider to reduce the cost of the product because of the economics of scale and thus transfers the credit to the customers. HUSK Power is a private sector company focused in providing electricity based on biomass to meet the needs of rural poor who do not have access or have insufficient access to grid connection. The company uses rice husk as fuel to generate electricity. The key element of the model is that it is a demand driven, location specific, pay and use model. The uniqueness lies in the selection of the project location, developing a dedicated team of people to run the power plant and also to ensure sustainable supply of biomass from the region. The token installation change collected from the consumers not just takes care of the off-grid installation but also ensures compliance.
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Decentralised Energy Systems India Private Ltd. (Desi Power) is a renewable energy based power company. Desi Power is focused on providing renewable energy based electricity and energy services in rural areas in a partnership based model. Desi Power uses biomass based gasifiers to provide energy services. Desi Power’s key strength lies on effective and evolving feed stock supply chain management coupled with efficient load management. According to DESI Power’s concept of ‘EMPOWER Partnerships for rural development’, power and energy availability along with simultaneous investment in micro-enterprises can lead to local value addition, promotion of agro-processing industries, and increased agricultural productivity. These micro-industries and the power plant generate regular jobs and additional farm income which in turn increases purchasing power for electricity and energy services. Thus the model just not takes care of the supply side but it also focuses on the demand side of the load management.
5.2
Key factors determining the choice of technology for different models There were different factors leading to the choice of technology for the cases examined. In case of SELCO it was the dream and vision of its founder (Dr. Harish Hande) to promote solar technology to address the issue of energy poverty and enlighten the lives of poor. Dr. Hande’s firm belief on the potential of solar energy as the potential source for providing rural energy services has been a key feature for the technology selection. For Aryavart Gramin Bank (AGB), the institution was in search of a suitable and a reliable technical partner who could promote the clean energy products to its customer and can also provide the necessary after sales service. TATA-BP Solar manufactures products that match the international standards, gives warranty on the PV modules for ten years and is also registered to ISO9001 (Quality Management Systems) and ISO14001 (Environmental Management Systems) company. The wide network of dealers that TATA-BP Solar has is unmatched in the operation districts of UP and the company also provides a large chain of dealers and sub-dealers to address the issue of after sale service. TATA-BP Solar matched all the above stated criteria that AGB was looking for. Thus TATA-BP Solar became the obvious choice for becoming the technical partner for Aryavart Gramin Bank. As far as Husk Power Systems is concerned, choice of location, existing demand for electricity and energy services, potential of the people to pay for electricity, access to biomass in the form of rice husk and its potential to be converted to electricity
7
through is based on well proven biomass gasification technology were some of the key triggers for technology selection. In case of DESI power, the entire project was focused towards rural development and providing energy services was the means to reach the overall goal. The primary focus of DESI power was to generate employment opportunities at the local level by promoting access to clean energy. Access to diverse sources of locally available biomass, increasing demand for electricity and energy services in the rural areas and the potentials for the local people to pay for electricity and energy services were some of the key factors for technology selection.
5.3
Key features of the end user finance Access to end use finance is a key challenge for sustainable energy enterprise. Mainstream finance options are not generally available for small-scale energy services. End use finance can be defined as money borrowed by these consumers to pay for energy products and services. Different business models have evolved for providing finance to end-users/ customers based on the needs of the customers. A suitable end-user model is an important decision that is highly influenced by local context, business model and the nature of energy services provided. The section below highlights some of the key means to facilitate the end use finance. SELCO model is a classic case where the energy enterprise enters into a partnership with the financial institution to promote and sell sustainable energy products. SELCO assists the potential customers not only to get themselves interested in the energy services being offered but also makes necessary means to ensure access to credit from commercial financial institutions. In this model, the energy enterprise takes the responsibility of selection of customers, customizing the product based on the customer’s needs, installation, service and maintenance of the product while the financial institution is responsible for providing credit to the end user and monitoring the repayment process. The main advantage of this model is that both the partners are able to focus on their core competencies. The other advantage is that both the agencies can have access to each other client base. For example the financial institution can have access to a larger market and respond to client demand for energy loans and cross-sell other financial products. Similarly, the energy enterprises are in a position to offer end–use finance without investing in an in-house finance division and can have access to the financial institution’s clients. SELCO linkage with financial institutions like SEWA provides them the access to large pool of potential customers. The main challenge for the model is that it is based on the good partnership to make sure that both organizations deliver their responsibility effectively and efficiently.
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Absence of commitment from any one of the partners can lead to a steady fall in the customer base. Therefore ensuring quality of the products and providing after sales services have been two key features to ensure a sustained client base. Aryavart Gramin Bank is a model which may be termed as a one-stop-shop model where sustainable energy products and finance are provided under one roof. In this case the financial institution is supplying energy products with an energy partner. The financial institution takes the responsibility of selection of customers, making arrangement for ordering of the energy product, delivery and installation of the same. It is also responsible for providing credit to the end user and monitoring the repayment process. The after sale service and the grievance rederessal system for the products is managed by skilled technicians selected by the bank and then trained by TATA-BP Solar. The advantage of this model is that it has the ability to control financial terms, select credit worthy customers and can avoid many challenges associated with developing and managing complex partnerships. The challenge for the project is that it has to invest significant financial and human resource in ensuring the after sale service. The model followed by DESI power and Husk power are quite similar to each other. The difference primarily lies in scale of operation and also on the number of institutions involved. The model may be termed as an umbrella model where the energy enterprise has partnered with a range of institutions. DESI power follows a model where the energy enterprise enters into a partnership with a network of organizations ranging from financial institutions, small and medium scale industries needing access to reliable affordable energy and village level institutions like cooperative. Husk power on the other hand has developed a very unique and evolving partnership with the local rice mill owners to ensure a sustainable supply of biomass for generation of electricity. It is worthwhile to note that the relationship between the energy enterprise and the biomass supplier goes well beyond financial transactions. The main advantage of the umbrella model is that the enterprise can involve multiple local level institutions within one single partnership. The model also has the potentials of reducing the cost of the energy services by reaching the economies of scale by increasing the user base. DESI power model involves and even promotes setting up of local level institutions which promotes the use of energy services and thus it does not just promotes energy services but also increase the user base for the use of the energy services. The potential problem for the umbrella model is that often the sheer size of the number of partners often acts as challenge for effective co-ordination. Clear division of responsibility is very essential within the network without which it often becomes a challenge to remove overlapping of activities by different organizations.
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5.4
Nature of institutional linkages Institutional linkages play a key role in each of these business models and in a way determines the business model. For SELCO model, the linkage is both for technology support and for end-user finance. SELCO has developed partnerships with a wide range of institutions ranging from community based, technical, financial, not-for –profit to integrate collective skills for identifying new customer segments, for identification of new energy related problems, for developing projects, and to provide innovative solutions to poorly tapped or untapped markets. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank, Nandigadda Seva Sahakarj Bank, Pragati Grameena Bank, Syndicate Bank are some of the financial institutions with which SELCO has developed a linkage to provide end-user finance. For Husk Power, institutional linkage plays a very key role in a business project to ensure sustainable supply of biomass. For success of biomass based power plants, sufficient and low cost regular availability of biomass is a must. Therefore the promoters have evolved strong relationship with the rice husk suppliers, which is not limited to just buyer-seller relation. HPS have done insurance of family members of rice husk suppliers, provide technician free of cost for maintenance of dehusking machines and have a contract agreement of regular purchase at fixed price which is subject to revision annually. Husk Power System provides informal support to the rice husk suppliers in times of emergency and financial crisis. It was evident from interaction with some of the rice mill owners that their dependence goes well beyond financial transactions. Aryavart Gramin Bank has TATA-BP as a technical partner to provide solar products to its customers. The technology provider (TATA-BP) to provide energy services in the form of solar home lighting system (SHS), for solar water heaters and also for larger PV power systems for businesses. It has also developed a pool of business facilitators within the project location who takes care of the after sales service and looks after the loan recovery. A team of business facilitators are selected by the bank staff and are then trained by the local TATA BP dealer. Each facilitator is paid a monthly fee to keep a check on at least 100 SHS, with the incentive of a larger bonus at the end of the year if all the systems are working well. In the case of DESI Power, the scale of institutional linkage is more developed and complex. One of the key differences from the HUSK power model is that it is based on a diverse supply of biomass to meet up the energy needs. Village level institutions like cooperatives, self help groups form an important group of the consumers waiting for energy services.
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6.0
CONCLUSION Energy plays a crucial and critical role in under pinning the efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and improving the lives of poor people. With energy-related activities being the main contributor to global climate change, energy is closely linked to climate change. Most of the poor people in our country are still dependent on traditional biomass like fuelwood for their need for energy. As Climate change issues go on affecting the livelihood patterns especially of the poor, the issue of adaptation and mitigation are becoming an integral part of the poverty reduction strategy. It is now often argued that addressing the energy poverty is the key prerequisite for addressing the MDGs. The demand for energy service is increasing with the understanding that it has the potential for diversification of income and also for value addition of the existing livelihood practices. It is evident from the analysis that there is an emerging market for reliable off-grid energy services for rural poor and providing energy services have multiple benefits. The SEE surveyed covered commercial enterprise and rural regional banks. The key findings from the assessment are as follows:
Irrespective of the business model, a strong social orientation and a mission to bring energy to poor households has been one common and underlined feature that binds all these organizations together.
All the models reviewed looks at increasing the productive load and not just domestic connection. All the cases reviewed have created employment opportunities within the project area.
The SEE clearly highlights that they have the potential of providing reliable low carbon based clean energy to the economically marginalized sector of the society.
The business models have developed and evolved based on the energy demands of the local community, technology selected and also on the nature of value chain developed for sustainable supply of biomass.
Innovative and evolving institutional linkages are one of the key features for all the business models reviewed. While SELCO is a classic example of a model linking SEE and a financial institution, Aryavart Gramin Bank is a model which may be termed as a one-stop-shop model where sustainable energy products and finance are provided under one roof. HUSK and DESI power are examples of an umbrella model where the energy enterprise has partnered with a range of institutions to provide technical support, ensure supply of biomass and address issues relating to backstopping support.
National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and the access to carbon funds from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) are two of the most
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important national and international climate-focused instruments that are influencing the growth of renewable technologies in India. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) has provided a boost to the solar energy sector and also has the potentials of promoting solar energy to the rural and energy starved areas.
A combination of market and non-market mechanisms is used to access funds. Access to funds from Ashden Awards, Development Market Place and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) have facilitated in adding value to the project. Most importantly such awards have created credibility of the institution and have provided a wider recognition.
Efforts are on by most of the enterprises to tap the finances available from the carbon market. While SELCO and Aryavart Gramin Bank have developed linkages with the voluntary carbon market, DESI power project has already been validated and successfully registered in the UNFCCC / CDM procedures.
Lack of suitable and sufficient funding opportunities acts as a deterrent for innovation, research and development. However, SELCO is the only business enterprise which has developed its own innovation laboratory for research and development through its own fund.
7.0
SOME KEY RECOMMENDATIONS MNRE being the nodal Ministry could address some of the key recommendations. The key recommendations are as follows:
7.1
Recommendations on funding and end user finance Need to make it mandatory for financial institutions to ensure that a percentage of their lending portfolio caters to promotion of renewable energy for rural areas There is an urgent need to make it mandatory and to ensure that all the commercial and rural banks fix a part of their available loan portfolio for promoting renewable energy products and services primarily in rural areas. Access to finance is one of the key challenges for promotion of renewable energy based products and services. A mandatory clause would allow the banks to increase their loan portfolio in the clean energy sector in rural areas and it will also encourage social entrepreneurs and project developers.
Need for an innovative enterprise funding There is a mix of different organization / institutions (for-profit and non-profit) who are involved in promoting and providing access to rural energy services in different parts 12
of the country. It is clear from the assessment of the models that the social entrepreneurs have been able to provide and promote clean energy to the poor and marginalized community. These social entrepreneurs have not only created the opportunity for low carbon energy option but have also generated local employment opportunities. But there are significant barriers for the organizations to have access to funding. While the not-for-profits have access to grants from international communities and foundations, it is difficult for other for-profit institutions irrespective of the level of their social commitment. Therefore, there is a need for innovative mechanisms for funding by MNRE or IREDA to ensure that there are sufficient incentives for the social entrepreneurs to enter the market of providing energy services to the poor.
High transaction cost for accessing the funds from carbon market Carbon finance through Clean Development Mechanism and Voluntary Market has opened up the potential for accessing additional revenue for the project developer. The high transaction cost and the absence of clear incentives for delivery of benefits other than greenhouse gas emission reductions are some of the key challenges that most of the small and medium scale entrepreneurs face. A core fund may be set aside by MNRE to facilitate the social entrepreneurs as a support for the transaction cost for getting the project enrolled for carbon market. The earnings from the carbon market may be later used to repay the support money provided by MNRE.
Access to customized end user finance based on the particular business model End user finance is one of the key areas which are evolving and different business models are experimenting with the same. Loans, subsidies, financial mix through carbon market, service charges from the energy services provided are some of the key means currently applied. Effective government policies can address the issue of end use finance. A revolving fund may be created by MNRE / IREDA and the project developers may access the fund to encourage and promote end-user finance based on suitable guidelines.
7.2
Recommendations on subsidy Need for well designed smart subsidy which does not have marketdistorting effect Well-designed smart subsidies which do not have a significant market-distorting effect can enhance the end user affordability of the poor and can assist the customers to have access to these technologies. But poorly designed government
13
subsidies for low carbon technologies can seriously undermine the growth potential for commercial enterprise.
7.3
Recommendations for facilitating incubation Support incubation for transferring innovative ideas to implementable good business plans It is important to note that there is a need to promote incubation of innovative ideas through proper support. Often an innovator fails to get the necessary support to develop a good business plan. MNRE can provide a platform for supporting the innovators by linking them with the bright students for leading business institutes like IIMs. Their existing business ideas can be fine tuned and developed based on the support from MNRE.
8.0
AREAS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH It is worthwhile to mention that the present study offers only a snapshot of the SEE landscape based on low carbon technology and a much detailed and in-dept study is required to review the opportunities for investment and support. It is clear from the cases that there is a steady demand for energy services in different parts of the country. The study has highlighted some of the area which needs an understanding in greater details. In depth analysis of the government policies facilitating promotion and expansion of renewable energy sector in India. Need to analyze in greater details the challenges for financing renewable energy based projects in general and the deeper analysis of carbon financing support to minimize trade-offs between climate emissions and achieving poverty reduction in particular. Need to undertake a detailed barrier study to understand the key obstacles for growth and promotion of renewable energy based enterprise. Need to develop a regulatory mechanism to ensure value for money for the customers of the off-grid energy services. Although this was not a part of the study but it was clear from the field visits that access to low carbon technology has not only helped to reduce climate vulnerability but has also contributed to autonomous adaptive capacities. However, it is also important to review how access to low carbon energy has facilitated and promoted the adaptive capacity of the poor.
14
Annexure 1
The Case Studies: In details As a part of the study, four business models were reviewed, spread across the country. This section highlights the key aspects of the business model of each of the case studies.
1.
HUSK POWER HUSK Power is a Private Sector Company focused in providing electricity using biomass as fuel to meet the needs of rural poor who do not have access or have insufficient access to grid connection. The Company uses rice husk as biomass to generate electricity. It is a demand driven, location specific, pay and use model. The uniqueness lies in the selection of the project location, developing a dedicated team of people to run the power plant and also to ensure sustainable supply of biomass from the region. The token installation charge collected from the consumers not just takes care of the off-grid installation but also ensures compliance. Key feature in distribution network is the low cost infrastructure. Bamboos are used as poles for distribution of electricity and are placed at the distance of 15 feet each for wiring. Cost of these bamboo based poles is
25/pole and is locally available. To avoid
electrocution during monsoon, dual insulated cable is used for power supply instead of open wires. Moreover, grid connection from the HPS covers only the cost of wiring on main route. Customers, who are off route, have to take extension on their own or pay extra amount for it. With these two measures, HPS has minimized the investment in distribution of power to the bare minimum.
Technology selection “Husk Power Systems” (HPS) model is based on a proven biomass gasification technology of standard fixed bed, down draft type, which is suitable for rice husk based power generation of a capacity range below 200 KW. Choice of project location, existing demand for electricity and energy services, potential of the people to pay for electricity, access to biomass in the form of rice husk and its potential to be converted to electricity is based on well proven biomass gasification technology. For any business model to be successful and replicable, selection of project location becomes one of the most important factor. Selection of project location plays a significantly important role especially when the location provides benefit of first mover advantage. HPS is built upon a “demand driven approach” i.e. they only take up those villages where people are willing to take up the power connection. Infrastructure for power plant essentially has a cement floor, a small hand pump, bamboo walls and “asbestos corrugated sheets” to house the engine and alternator. Land, on which this infrastructure is built up, is usually taken on lease from the local
15
panchayat or from individual farmer. In addition to this, a structure made from bamboo and grass based roof is constructed besides the power plant shed. This area serves as the store-house for 3-4 days of biomass stock (rice husk). Before commissioning of power plant, a team from husk power system survey’s each household and quantifies the potential demand in watt-hours. As a thumb rule, this exercise can be undertaken only when at least 250 households in a village agree to take the connection. The system produces enough electricity to cater to the needs of 300 to 500 households for almost 8 to 10 hours a day. Access to biomass in the form of rice husk and its potential to be converted to electricity based on well proven biomass gasification technology, were some of the main factors determining technology selection.
Biomass Cooler Cleaner
Gasifier Gas
Ash
Ash
Dust
Engine
Power
Condensate
Figure 1: Process diagram of feedstock to electricity generation
Size and scale of customer base: Husk Power Systems, started its operations from “Tamkuha” village which is geographically located in West Champaran district of Bihar. Due to the large basin of Gandak River, this section of land has remained un-electrified as state electricity board of Bihar has not been able to stretch grid lines to this area. From market perspective there was an open space for an entrepreneur to bridge the gap between the growing demand for electricity services and the inability of the state governments to provide power to the area. At present HPS is providing electricity to 25,000 households covering 250 villages.
Service charge collection mechanism HPS provides domestic connection to households every evening. The electricity is also available for commercial activities within the village. To keep things simple and uncomplicated, HPS owns and manages the decentralized power generating units. However for the day-to-day management, every power plant has one operator and one husk loader. The operator carries out the routine maintenance. The operators are trained by HPS in Patna, Bihar, for two months and then sent for on the job training in one of the operational plants. In addition, two more people are associated
16
with these plants - one of them handles husk buying and ensures a regular supply of raw material, and the other one is an electrician for the cluster of villages. The service charge is also collected by the operators involved for running the power plant. A differential pricing method is adopted by the promoters to calculate the electricity charges. Accordingly, every household has to pay a fixed monthly charge of CFL of 15 watts, whereas shops pay a per month charge of
45 per
80/CFL. For
households seeking connection to operate fan and television etc. charges are calculated on similar wattage basis. Table 1: Differential pricing based on the consumer needs S. No
Items
Costing
1
Initial cost for connection
100
2
Domestic consumption
45 per CFL
3
Commercial consumption
80 per CFL
4
For additional consumption (to
Based on the
operate fan and television)
consumption of Watts.
Nature of the institutional linkages: linkage with the rice husk owners Institutional linkages for supply chain management play a very key role in a business project to ensure sustainable supply of biomass. For success of biomass based power plants, sufficient and low cost regular availability of biomass is a must. Therefore, the promoters have evolved strong relationship with the rice husk suppliers, which is not limited to just buyer-seller relation. HPS have done insurance of family members of rice husk suppliers, provide technician free of cost for maintenance of dehusking machines and have a contract agreement of regular purchase at fixed price which is subject to revision annually. HPS provides informal support to the rice husk suppliers in times of emergency and financial crisis. It was evident from interaction with some of the rice mill owners that their dependence is not just relating to money but it goes well beyond that. Average daily requirement of rice husk is 3 quintals. With the buyback agreement which HPS has evolved with the rice de-huskers in the proximity, cost of rice husk is biomass feedstock per month is about
60/quintal. Therefore cost of
5,500. In order to make the supply chain
management more viable, the husk is transported through tractors which cover about 7-8 plants in one cluster. The job of transportation is handled by a cluster manager in each cluster. The system has been put up in way a that there is purchasing at the micro level, however, promoters are also working towards signing contract for bulk supply from bigger organizations like Food Corporation of India (FCI).
17
Use of by products In order to have maximum utilization of raw material, even the only by-product of the process, the charred husk, too is put to good use. The semi-burnt husk is converted into ash-balls and is a wonderful fuel source for household cooking, or manure, or even as RHA (Rice Husk Ash) for use in the cement industry. With the commercial use of by-products, this power plant on stand-alone basis also ensures high returns for the promoters.
Infrastructure and other associated costs The approximate cost for entire power plant is around
10 lakh. Expenditure in
infrastructure for power plant shed and storage space is just five percent of total investment. HSP has received subsidy from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for construction of the power plant. As mentioned earlier, a differential pricing method is adopted by the promoters to calculate the electricity charges. Accordingly, every household has to pay a fixed monthly charge of 15 watts, whereas shops pay a per month charge of
45 per CFL of
80/CFL. For households
seeking connection to operate fan and television etc. charges are calculated on similar wattage basis. Each household also pays
100 as a one time installation
charge. The service charge collection is undertaken by the power plant operators. In last 3 years of operations it has been observed that during winters the fee collected from users is about
15,000/month and collection from other subsidiary income
generation activities is
7,000. This leaves a net surplus of
9,000 per month. In the
summer months demand from household is normally double resulting in revenues of about
30,000 from evening operations and another
15,000 from operation during
the day. After deducting the increased operating expenses net saving of
20,000 per
month is achieved for the summer months. In short, last three years of operations have on an average, led to the collection of
40,000 per month as user fee,
whereas the expenses are to the tune of about
20-25,000 per month, making the
project financially sustainable.
Co-funding opportunities HSP is currently looking at the opportunities to have access to co-funding from the carbon finance market.
Key advantages and Challenges The key feature of the project is that it is a demand driven model based on minimum investment using proven technology. The low maintenance cost makes it easy to operate and technical problems can be sorted out at the local level. The selection of the project location, coupled with the poor and insufficient access to grid ensures that
18
there will be a growing need for sustainable and reliable supply of electricity for days to come.
Some of the key challenges for the project are as follows:
The entire business model is dependent on a single source of fuel. The potential threat for price rise in rice husk with other competitive users like paper mills, brick kilns are always present. Access to sustainable supply of grid power will reduce the demand for renewable energy.
2.
ARYAVART GRAMIN BANK ARYAVART GRAMIN BANK is a Rural Regional Bank (RRB) based in six districts of Uttar Pradesh which promotes and encourages the use of solar home lighting system to its customers. The Gramin Bank has developed an institutional linkage with the technology provider (TATA-BP Solar) to provide energy services in the form of solar home lighting system (SHS) and solar heaters. The bank provides solar loans only to its own customers, who have already established a track record of reliable credit repayment. The uniqueness of the business model is that it is driven by the regional rural bank were the bank takes the initiative to establish linkage between the technology provider and its customers.
Size and scale of the customer /beneficiaries It is worthwhile to note that the bank provides solar loan only to its own “Kisan Card Customers” (KCC), who have already established a track record of reliable credit repayment. The KCC of Aryavart bank is currently more than 300,000 customers. There are around 31,000 customers who have already purchased solar products. Solar loans are also offered to women’s self-help groups. For example, a group of three of four women may apply for a loan for a SHS so that they can develop a handicraft business. The present target for the bank is to extend its customer base to 9,000 customers from the existing card holders within the present financial year of 2010-11. The bank generally organizes “credit camps” in different villages. The objective of organizing these camps is primarily to bring key people from bank and solar industry demonstrates the SHS and explains how it works. While the key professional from the solar industry shares the technology, the representative from the bank shares the details of the funding mechanism. The people willing to buy the products sign in and the bank places the order accordingly. Such activities are undertaken through out the operational districts of the bank.
19
Technology selection Aryavart Gramin Bank has developed institutional linkage with the technology provider (TATA-BP Solar) to provide energy services in the form of solar home lighting system (SHS), for solar water heaters and also for larger PV power systems for businesses. The business model is more like that of a one-stop-shop model where sustainable energy products and finance are provided under one roof. In this case the financial institution is supplying energy products with an energy partner. In this model, the financial institution takes the responsibility of selection of customers, making arrangement for ordering of the energy product, delivery and installation of the same. It is also responsible for providing credit to the end user and monitoring the repayment process. The after sales service and the grievance rederessal system for the products are managed by skilled technicians selected by the bank and then trained by TATA-BP. TATA-BP is the key technological partner in this model. TATA-BP Solar manufactures all products that match the international standards and it also provides an extended warranty period of 10 years. As far as the technology selection is concerned, the bank had to depend on the energy products developed by the company. The product which would have relevance and an importance among the bank’s customers were selected. Therefore in a way, the technology selection was a combination of the products developed by the technical partner coupled with the demand of the products within the bank’s clients. In absence of any formal subsidy, the bank negotiates with the company to reduce the cost of its products by assuring a large rural client base. The bank negotiated with the company to reduce the cost of the above-mentioned SHS to compensate for the non availability of subsidy. Since the bank had projected a demand of the SHS in large quantity, the company agreed to reduce the price from
15,000 to
13,000. However, there is an addition of
520
as Value Added Tax (VAT) for all the products. The benefit is then transferred to the consumers.
Product portfolio The bank identified TATA-BP Solar’s Venus SHS model, available in two models as a cost effective option for the villagers. These models are:
Venus Model 1: includes 35 Wp of PV with two fluorescent lights and a socket Venus Model 2: includes 70 Wp with four lights and a socket.
These systems cost
15,000 and
30,000 respectively, including installation and
one year of service. The Aryavart Gramin Bank negotiated a bulk supply deal with Tata BP Solar, so that it could make available a Venus I system for
13,520 and the
20
Venus II system for 27,040. The most popular is the smaller system based on a 35 Wp PV module which can run two lights and a small appliance.
Institutional mechanism for technological support and after sales service TATA-BP is the technical partner for Aryavart Gramin Bank for providing solar products. Some of the key reasons for having TATA-BP Solar as the key technical partner are as follows: TATA-BP Solar manufactures all products that match the international standards. It is registered to ISO9001 (Quality Management Systems) and ISO14001 (Environmental Management Systems). TATA-BP Solar gives warranty on the PV modules for ten years. The batteries generally last for about four to five years. Installation of the same is primarily undertaken by qualified mechanics of local dealers of TATA-BP Solar or by the business facilitators trained by the bank. The cost for installation of the machine is generally inbuilt with the cost of the product.
Therefore TATA-BP Solar had been the technical partner for Aryavart
Gramin Bank. It is worthwhile to mention that in order to ensure proper maintenance of the SHS and also to generate employment to rural areas, part-time ‘business facilitators’ are trained by TATA-BP and its dealers. Each facilitator is paid a monthly fee to keep a check on at least 100 SHS, with the incentive of a larger bonus at the end of the year if all the systems are working well. Roughly each facilitator is paid around
100 per
solar set per year. Generally around 100 sets remain under the responsibility of each business facilitator.
Service Charge collection mechanism When the necessary systems are installed, the bank credits the dealer’s account with the total cost of the product. The dealer arranges for this to be transferred to the main TATA-BP Solar account, and then collects commission for the number of systems installed. Both the Aryavart Gramin Bank and TATA-BP Solar keep detailed records of all installations. It is worthwhile to mention that the bank primarily provides credit only to its customers and therefore makes sure that the customer has to come to bank for some purpose rather than bank officials chasing them for repayment of the loan. However, the business facilitator generally makes one round of visit to all the customers in a particular village at least once a month.
Arrangement for end-user finance The finance package offered by the bank for the purchase of 35 Wp system requires a down-payment of
2,520 by the customer and the bank provides a loan of
11,000 at 12% p.a. interest, which is repaid with a monthly installment of
245 over
21
five years. The EMI of the customer is cheaper than
280/month needed earlier for
the purchase of eight litres of kerosene purchased by an average household beyond the public distribution system ration shops. In totality, each SHS saves about 100 litres/year of kerosene, thus systems installed to date reduce emissions of about 1,900 tonnes/year of carbon dioxide. Table 2: Solar Home Lightning System economics Project cost
:
13,520/
Amount of finance
:
11,000/
Down payment
:
2,520/
Equal monthly instalments:
245/ (in 60 EMIs)
A villager presently uses SHS for 2 hours for cooking up till dinner time, which requires consumption of minimum 8 liters of kerosene per month costing approx. (as per market price of
280/-
35/ per liter). Thus the borrower does not face
any extra burden of the cost, instead he saves
35/- per month.
The Aryavart Gramin Bank is convinced of the benefits of SHS and is confident that loans will be repaid, because it has set the standards for systems quality and maintenance, and is lending to its own customers with an established credit history.
Access to co-funding from international carbon market The vision shown by the bank management has now taken this SHS financing scheme to a different level of sustenance by collaborating with a US based company (MicroEnergyCredits) to trade carbon credits generated from this unique financing model. The bank has already received credits for 500 solar home lighting systems and has also applied for credits for another 23,000 sets. It is estimated that almost 30 lakh will be generated for a period of five years at the present scale of operations. The bank endeavors to utilize this money in strengthening after-sales services, training, development and promotional activities.
3.
DESI POWER Decentralized Energy Systems India Private Ltd. (Desi Power) is a renewable energy power company. Desi Power is focused on providing renewable energy based electricity and energy services in rural areas in a partnership based model. According to DESI Power’s concept of ‘EMPOWER Partnerships for rural development’, power and energy availability and simultaneous investment in micro-enterprises led to local value addition, agro-processing industries, and increased agricultural productivity. These micro-industries and the power plant generate regular jobs and additional farm income which in turn increases purchasing power for electricity, energy services, 22
drinking water, health services and education. Desi Power uses biomass based gasifier to provide energy services. Desi Power’s key strength lies on effective and evolving feed stock supply chain management coupled with efficient load management.
Size and scale of the customer /beneficiaries The primary objective of the program is to empower villagers comprehensively through creation of non-agricultural jobs. The EMPOWER partnership plants, business units are promoted jointly by DESI Power village co-operatives and entrepreneurs and creates at least 25-30 direct and perhaps 50-60 indirect jobs in each village. Customer base for DESI power primarily consists of micro-level institutions presently operating within the project location. In Baharbari village, it provides domestic electricity to 250 households. In the Zero Mile area near Araria district the project caters to around 15 micro-enterprises.
Nature of the business model DESI power’s primary focus is towards rural development and providing energy services was the means to reach the overall goal. The primary focus of DESI power was to generate employment opportunities at the local level by promoting access to clean energy. Its business model is to supply electricity and energy services to two distinct decentralised electricity markets:
through Independent Rural Power Producers (IRPPs) to villages and semiurban areas.
as captive power plants to small-scale industries which depend upon diesel generators (due to unreliable grid supply) including mobile phone towers.
In case of the first model, DESI Power takes on the role of providing reliable and affordable supply of electricity in a mode that ensures the development of the village. The role of the local partners is to establish local industry, micro businesses and agro-forestry for value addition and employment generation for the villagers. Here the productive applications would include a rice mill, wheat flour mill, water pumps, and lighting requirements. The local partner here could be a village organization, which may be the village Panchayat, a company, cooperative or an NGO. In the ‘joint venture’ DESI Power promises to provide affordable electricity using locally available renewable energy sources. The local partner ensures the supply of raw material for the gasifier and according to a pre-decided price, promises to buy the electricity generated. For the economic viability of the power plant, it is vital that maximum electricity is sold and the villagers produce and sell their product profitably to support the virtuous circle of development.
23
In case of the second business model of DESI Power is to cater to the requirements of the small and medium industries including mobile phone towers. In the absence of regular power supply, most of the industries opted for their own on-site generation and the small and medium ones were dependent on diesel generation. Adding to the existing woes, the grid electricity price also increased with the removal of subsidy. DESI Power stepped in here to offer an affordable and sustainable solution to the small and medium industry. The Zero Mile decentralized gasifiers set up in Araria district in 2008 with an installed capacity of 150 kW and connected load of 125 kW is supplying electricity that is competitive with the grid supply in many states. Table 3: Details of the project at Araria Power Supply Duration
Year of Installation
Installed Capacity & Connected Equipment make Load
Baharbari Village
2001
61 KW (50KW at the 60 KW installation time)
5 PM to 10 Hardwood, PM maize dhencha
husk, residue,
3
Vebra Village
2007
61KW (11KW at the 60 KW installation time) (DF- 50 KW installed later)
1:00 PM to Hardwood, 9:00 PM maize Dhencha
husk, residue,
3
Gaiyari Village/ Zero Mile
Nov. 2008
250KW (2PG-75 KW, 125 KW 2DF-50KW) Engine from Cummins, Gasifier
10AM-5 PM
Average feedstock Consumption 800 kgs/day. Hardwood (70%), dhencha (15), maize / Ipomoea (15%)
5
Place
Feedstock
No. of Staff
End User profile Water pumps, Chura mill, Battery charging, Paddy mill, Welding, Evening lighting in the household Rice mill, aata chakki, chura mill and water pumps 15 Micro Enterprises
Service charge collection mechanism Providing uninterrupted supply of electricity is one of the key features for any of the successful business model. Service charge collection mechanism depends on the smooth performance of the existing engine. The technology support, backstopping and operation and maintenance of the power plant is handled by DESI power. In order to address the challenge for lack of trained staff to operate the gasifier, DESI power organizes training camp for staff at Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore. A team of 3-4 trained staff oversee the operation of the plant. Well insulated underground cables supply electricity and a meter at the receiving end provides details about usage. Service charge from the individual households is collected by the operators. Monthly collection from the micro-enterprise is collected by the local field staff trained by DESI power through their in-house training program.
24
Institutional linkages for promoting energy services DESI Power has developed an effective partnership model to promote its projects. Apart from DESI Power itself, it provides space for village level partnership organizations and other institutions for financial support or institutions for value addition / capacity building. The energy services provided through the village level partnership varies from water supply for irrigation, agro-processing, agro-forestry and fuel supply and processing units.
Formation of Baharbari Odyugic Vikas Swavalambi Shakari Samiti (BOVS)
When DESI Power initiated its project in Baharbari, it had no partner to implement the project and to generate employment opportunities for the poor. DESI Power facilitated the forming of Baharbari Odyugic Vikas Swavalambi Shakari Samiti (BOVS) – a cooperative to partner the project. BOVS was developed as a panchayat level cooperative to cater to the development of micro-scale industries in the Baharbari panchayat. The cooperative has invested in these machines and is responsible for their operation and management. Investments have been made in the installation of electric pump sets, a battery-charging station, rice mill, flour mill and a briquetting press. Based on the users needs, BOVS has developed a set of Energy Services which is of huge demand. These include assured irrigation, battery recharging, rice parboiling/milling, flour grinding, biomass briquetting, and equipment fabrication and repair services. The farmers pay
35 per hour for pumped water, delivered through a 75-mm pipe;
the charge is enhanced to
49 per hour if the payment is made at the time of the
harvest.
Institutional linkages for sustainable supply of feedstock DESI Power uses biomass based gasifier to generate electricity and energy services. The selection of the project site is based on fulfilling of the criterion of availability of raw material. One of the key strengths of DESI Power is in the management of the feedstock. This can be seen in their constant effort to broad-base the variety of feedstock and their continuous effort to explore all possibilities given the local conditions. At the beginning, DESI Power used Ipomoea (locally called besharam) as a feedstock. But as the demand for electricity increased, the search for an additional feedstock led to maize residue. To add additional substitutes, ‘Dhaincha’ - a leguminous plant with low investment was identified as a possible raw material. Locally people in Araria used to grow “Dhaincha” (Sesbania bispinosa) which is a leguminous plant and can be easily grown without much investment. This was
25
essentially used as a material for backyard contour wall by the villagers. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, DESI power tested the potential of Dhaincha as a biomass fuel and it was found that Dhaincha, not only had good calorific value but was also found to be a nitrogen fixing plant with a small production cycle (four months). Thus cultivation of Dhaincha as an energy crop emerged as a win-win situation for both farmers and DESI Power. DESI Power has prepared a feedstock calendar for the entire year for Araria districts to ensure year round supply. This reflects the importance that they attach to this vital link in the entire chain. Given the potentials for future expansion and the increasing demand, DESI Power is now promoting the concept of captive forestry exclusively for biomass plant feed. They are about to start cultivation of fast growing bamboos as a third substitute for biomass. The table below highlights the feedstock calendar for the entire year for Araria district. Table 4: Feedstock calendar Months
Feedstock
January-May
Dhaincha/Ipomoea (along with hardwood)
June-August
Maize residue (along with hardwood)
September- December
Only hardwood
Cost Economics and Financial institutional linkages Since plants of DESI Power are standardized, and the financing and O&M costs vary only marginally from site to site, the financial performance of each plant depends essentially on the biomass cost and the plant load factor (PLF). The profitability of retrofitting gasifier to existing IC engines is even better. The IRPP’s located in villages will need a longer period than the industry linked power plants to become profitable, depending upon the built-up of the local electric loads and energy services. The source of funds for the projects was from different sources like:
World Bank Development Market Place Awards 2006 Subsidy from MNRE, Government of India Upfront payment from sale of CERs to a Swiss Buyer Equity from German social-investor (fairPlanet, Muenster) Commercial loans from nationalized banks
26
Co-funding from Carbon Funds A part of the investments is also raised through the integration of these projects in the CDM and Joint Implementation mechanisms of the Climate Change Convention. A beginning has been made through the selling of voluntary CO2 emission certificates. DESI POWER project has already been validated and successfully registered in the UNFCCC/ CDM procedures. The project report and the PDD is under the project title “Bundle of 100 biomass based village gasifer based power plants totaling 5.15 MW for Decentralized Energy Systems India Pvt Ltd”.
Key advantages and Challenges DESI Power has been instrumental in creating a change in socio-economic development of the project area. About 70 percent of the total revenue of operations gets pumped back to the village in the form of payment for feedstock and salary to the local staff. Indirect benefits entail higher farm productivity due to low cost of irrigation and sustained profits in the local enterprises because of assured power supply. The most unique feature is its ability to diversify feedstock and to ensure sustainable load management. Further plans are afoot to link not only the gasifier but any suitable local renewable energy technology with telecom towers for a regular anchor load for village power plants of any technical specification whether hybird PV, biogas, or biomass gasification. This model will give IRPPs based on any renewable energy technology the basis for financial sustainability. Towers are planned to make up around 20% to 40% of any village power plant load. This approach to IRPP load and technology optimisation is being tested in Gayari and Bhebhra, and will be further tested in 30, 100 and 1000 villages in the next five years.
4.
SELCO India SELCO India is a social enterprise (Private Sector Company), dedicated towards providing access to solar home lighting facilities to rural and urban people from lower income backgrounds. Strong innovative product portfolio (customizing products based on the consumer’s needs), flexible financial packages and regional energy service centre based for dedicated after sale services are some of the distinct feature of SELCO’s business strategy. Door–step servicing and door-step financing are two of the distinct features of the SELCO business model. The uniqueness of the financial models does not reduce the capital cost of the products but focuses on developing financial products that match the cash-flow of the clients.
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Technology selection The idea behind promotion of solar lighting systems to rural India germinated when Dr. Harish Hande was doing his PhD on sustainable energy at the University of Massachusetts, USA. During a field visit to Dominican Republic, he was surprised to find poor villagers using solar lighting and reasoned that if it was possible for the poor in Dominican Republic to use solar lights, he should be able to bring solar lighting to rural poor in India too. By early 1993, Dr. Hande made up his mind and focused his PhD on solar lights as means for rural electrification. To understand the linkages between energy and poverty he travelled all the way to the remote village of Galgamu, near Anuradhapura, in the hills of north Sri Lanka. Making best use of scholarship money, Dr. Hande took with him few solar panels and a solar powered laptop to gain firsthand experience of issues and challenges faced by people in a village that had no access to electricity. These six months of his life were an excellent experience that helped him develop an in-depth insight of issues and challenges and firmed up his belief in the potential of solar energy for improving the productivity of the rural households. To sum up it may be highlighted that technology selection for SELCO was primarily driven by the vision and passion of its founder Dr. Harish Hande.
Service portfolio The company provides access to installation of Solar Home lighting systems. The business model is geared towards providing solar lamps to increase their income so that they can repay the installments gradually over the period of five years.
Client background The key customer for the business involves rural people from lower income groups and small scale businessmen. There are around 120,000 households who have accepted the solar home lighting system within the state of Karnataka. The company has now expanded its operations in Gujarat. With the institutional linage with SEWA bank, the company can now have access to a large pool of the banks client base.
Nature of the institutional linkages Institutional linkages play a key role in each of these business models. For SELCO model the linkage is both for technology support and also for end user finance. SELCO has developed partnership with a wide range of institutions ranging from community based, technical, financial, not-for-profit to integrate collective skills for identifying new customer segments, for identification of new energy related problems, for developing projects, and to provide innovative solutions to poorly tapped or untapped markets.
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Technical linkage The primary focus of SELCO is to design and sell photovoltaic solar home lighting units specially for lighting but also for other applications like radio, CD players and also for fans. SELCO collects the different parts of the solar home lighting system and assembles the home lighting system closely with local technical manufactures. The installation of the system is carried out by SELCO technicians, and great emphasis is placed on appropriate siting of all components, and tidy wiring. The poor, in SELCO’s view, are not a homogenized mass. The need for poor are different based on their occupation and therefore it falls on SELCO and its small cadre of technicians to assess needs and adapt existing materials along with designing full value chains to make energy resources work for its customers. So there aren’t any marketing budgets and it is these efforts that act as their marketing tool and translates all their customer service agents to the mantle of marketers when they are dealing with the customers. One of the key features of the technical products is that it is customized as per the need of the particular beneficiary based on his/her particular need. Therefore unlike other solar companies, products are not readily available for SELCO.
Institutional mechanism for after sale services The after sales services are provided by the technicians trained by SELCO. The products generally come with a one year warranty. There are service centres at suitable locations which cater to a cluster of villages. In case of any technical problem, the customer calls at a particular helpline number and the grievance in most cases is addressed in next 24 hours. The dedicated team of technician caters to the after sale service. In some cases, technicians also visit a cluster of villages once in every week and can address the problem during his visit. A token amount is collected from the customers for the after sales service. It is worthwhile to mention that the repayment of loan for the product is directly linked to the performance of the machine and on the quality of after sales services provided.
Financial linkage SELCO believes in the core principle that poor people are able to afford modern energy services - and that in the case of PV, an energy source which is regarded as expensive by the rich (in comparison with grid electricity) is actually cheap for the poor (in comparison with kerosene lamps and dry cell batteries). Providing access to the initial capital is one of the key challenges. The end-use finance is provided through a Partnership Model (between the Energy Enterprise and the Financial Institution) where SELCO has developed a strong relationship with Regional Rural
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Banks in Karnataka to offer flexible financing options to customers in need of financing for clean energy products and services. The model is designed to involve financial institution providing credit to an end-user and managing the monitoring and repayment. The uniqueness of the financial models does not reduce the capital cost of the products but focuses on developing financial products that match the cash-flow of the clients. Support from Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) and Ashden Awards has been instrumental to maintain this fine balance. In many of the cases, the burden on the part of the consumers has been eased out with these supports. SELCO has convinced the commercial and rural banking institutions to develop financial solutions that match the cash flow of target population. SELCO has financial linkages with the following regional rural banks:
Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank Nandigadda Seva Sahakarj Bank Pragati Grameena Bank Pradhani Seva Sahakari Bank Syndicate Bank SEWA
Key advantages and Challenges The unique feature of the business model is that it customizes the energy products based on the need of the consumers. Technicians from the company work very closely with the client and advise how they can maximize the impact of the product even when it means lesser sale of the products. The model also involves a wide range of stakeholders ranging from community based organizations, training of dedicated technical professionals and its linkage with the financial institutions. There are different organizations involved in providing access to clean energy to the marginalized section of the society. SELCO by being a for profit company often have to face a stiff competition from non-profit organizations which have access to grants and therefore have the freedom to provide services at a different scale. Therefore by being a for --profit company, SELCO often has some challenges regarding accessing suitable funds which are often available to its other partners.
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5.
Winrock International India: Bhadohi experience Name of the Organization Winrock International India. Project was supported by IKEA Trading (India) Pvt Ltd. Winrock International India (WII) is a not government organization registered under the Indian Societies Act 1860 with its head office in New Delhi and field offices in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Bhadohi (Uttar Pradesh), and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). WII’s mission is “to develop and implement solutions that balance the need for food, income and environmental quality”. WII focuses its work primarily on three broad areas namely - Energy and Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources Management and supported by the Outreach division.
Energy service portfolio WII through its field office in Bhadohi has been able to disseminate over 1,100 solar lanterns through the supply chain established in the project region of Rampur and Ramnagar blocks in Jaunpur district. Most of the solar lanterns have been disseminated to women of self help groups who purchased them for income generation activities such as carpet weaving, embroidery work, small grocery shops, etc and also for their children to study in the evening hours. Apart from solar lanterns, a few solar home lighting systems have also been disseminated to the villagers. A model village has also been established, that comprises of solar lanterns in all the households, street lighting systems, and a community owned solar water pumping system for drinking water and irrigation purposes.
Size and scale of the customer /beneficiaries Rampur and Ramnagar blocks in Jaunpur district have 100 villages each. However, the mandate of the solar program was to maximize the penetration of solar lanterns within the self help groups (SHG) operated by women who were direct beneficiaries of the IKEA women and child program. There were over 400 SHG groups operational during the course of the project. The project had initially started in 50 villages (25 each in Rampur and Ramnagar block) during the pilot demonstration phase. This was later increased to cover all the 200 villages in these blocks.
Nature of the business model Winrock International India (WII) undertook a feasibility study in the year 2002-03 to implement a solar photovoltaic applications program in Jaunpur district, Uttar Pradesh, supported by IKEA Trading (India) Pvt Ltd, with the objective of assessing
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the potential of such a program in furthering IKEA’s human development initiatives i.e., improvement in the quality of life of people and prevention of child labor. This model was developed in mutual consultation with IKEA based on the analysis of the feasibility undertaken. The primary objective was to develop the supply chain components including the manufacturer, dealers, financial institutions, self help groups, mechanics/electricians who would ensure sustainability of the program. After sales service was given utmost importance in the program design, which was missing in many of the earlier projects implemented in the country. WII is discussing with IKEA to expand the product portfolio to promote and include other renewable energy technologies that could be beneficial for the villagers in the project region.
Technology selection Based on mutual discussions between WII and IKEA, it was decided to start in a small way and introduce a product that was easy to operate and maintain, and was a low price product, and something that would provide a clean and reliable source of lighting for a few hours in the evening. A solar lantern was selected based on these parameters. The feasibility study and its analysis thereafter suggested the choice of the technology. It was decided to promote solar lanterns because of its simple design, low cost and easy to operate mechanism. The project aimed at providing sustained access to clean source of energy. The baseline used for comparison was the amount spent on kerosene for lighting by families in these villages. It was clear from the feasibility that the payment for solar lanterns could be made monthly by reducing kerosene consumption.
Mechanism for after sales service The electricians and mechanics were identified from within the villages and the nearby markets who had earlier experience in repairing electrical goods. These electricians were provided training in Bhadohi and at the premises of the solar lantern manufacturer in Delhi. Service records were maintained by the beneficiaries as well as WII field team. A maintenance / service telephone number was provided during the sale so that users could call to register their complaints. It was ensured that complaints were attended to in 24 hours time.
Grievance handing mechanism The lanterns came with a warranty of 10 years for the solar module and 1 year for the balance of system. The trained electricians in the project region repaired the lanterns.
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Payments for repairs were directly paid to the electricians. During sale of lanterns, a telephone number was provided to beneficiaries to contact in case of any faults in the lanterns. These calls were attended to within 24 hours and repairs were conducted.
End user finance mechanism IKEA provided financial support for implementing the project. This has been spread for a period of over six years.The project team has been in regular touch with the local financial institutions in the project region. Series of training programs were organized to sensitize the bank managers to lend for solar products. To kick start the program WII also facilitated the process in the capacity of a micro-finance institution. For payments for purchasing solar lanterns, following are the three modes as experience in the project:
Some affluent villagers purchased lanterns by depositing the total value of the lanterns. However, these were very few in number.
Banks provided financial assistance in terms of loans for SHG members and other villagers who had bank accounts.
To kick-start the program WII facilitated the process by providing loans to beneficiaries. A small down payment was made and the balance was paid in equated monthly installments.
Access to co-funding from international carbon market The solar lanterns are spread dispersly in several villages. Calculations for energy savings were undertaken. However, the costs for registering the project for the carbon market were very high and it was decided not to go in for the same.
Main challenge and barriers for implementation of the model The main challenge was faced right at the beginning of the project in the year 2004. The villagers were not convinced of the technology, primarily because of their bad experience during the subsidy driven program of the Government when low quality lanterns were sold or were not maintained properly. It was a difficult task to convince the villagers that the lanterns being provided were of very good quality and were passed through rigorous quality control tests. The second barrier was access to finance for purchasing the lanterns. In spite of several efforts and continuous discussions with the local banks in the region, banks were not keen to provide loans for a small value product.
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6.
The Energy and Resources Institute: Lighting a Billion Lives Campaign Core Business Model Lighting a billion lives (LaBL) campaign aims to improve access to clean lighting on a fee for service model. Under this campaign, solar charging stations are installed in the villages which are managed and operated by local entrepreneurs. These charging stations provide charging services to solar lanterns of households and enterprises on daily basis for which entrepreneur gets paid by the user. These entrepreneurs are selected and trained by TERI in association with local partner NGO’s/CBO’s. He/she gives the solar lanterns to users on rent and has to keep log record of these services.
Technology selection TERI with the help of its technical partners has designed and developed solar lanterns and associated charging stations. LaBL has evolved a test procedure for evaluating the performance of various LED solar lanterns and label them on the basis of performance. The specifications of charging station and lantern are provided by TERI to the technical partners who are actually responsible for turnkey for the design and development.
Service portfolio The LaBL campaign has two interlinked service objectives: providing solar lanterns as a clean source of illumination at night for poor rural households who don’t have access to grid electricity and converting this service self-sustainable after it is established. The charging station concept is designed as a business activity for the entrepreneur. He/She is motivated to develop a new business to promote the charging station. The entrepreneur receives technical training from TERI to effectively operate the charging station and better manage the business.
Client background The user is the key stakeholder in the LaBL campaign. The first step in the project is to identify villages. Villages which are either un-electrified or have negligible availability of electricity are preferred. Another important parameter in selection of the villages is number of households for ensuring the viability of the project as an independent unit. Other criterions which are taken into consideration for selection of village include perceived electricity needs of the community and willingness to pay for the lighting services.
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Nature of the institutional linkages LaBL campaign in for technical and financial operations has evolved linkages with specialists in the field.
Technical linkage TERI has evolved strategic linkages with leading technology partners. Agreements are being signed with Sujana Energy Limited, Halonix Ltd., Solid Solar, Kripa Lights, Avni Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and LEDON. The partners are providing meticulous after-sales and maintenance support post installations. The bigger companies among the technology partners have a broader service range and smaller one’s, like LEDON, have strong local focus. These can therefore provide better quality aftersales maintenance. For illustration LEDON works primarily in region of Orissa and Chattisgarh in collaboration with 3ACE Associates. 3ACE associates are TERI’s installation partners and have supported in increasing the efficacy of the overall coordination of the implementation process.
Financial linkage The LaBL campaign was initiated on a sponsorship and partnership model. In this model TERI seeks donations from individuals and organizations committed in spreading clean energy. These donations primarily cover the cost of the solar lantern. Campaign has been designed in a way so that any individual can finance/sponsor one solar lantern while an organization can sponsor the entire village (which normally is a package of 50 lanterns) Approximate amount for the respective contributions comes about
3,600 and
3,00,000 respectively.
For managing operational expenses the fee-for-service delivery model is adopted. Solar charging station is set up by TERI in the village. These charging stations are operated and managed by a village entrepreneur. The cost of setting up of the solar charging station (panels), equipments, training to the entrepreneur and other logistics is borne by TERI. As per the implementation strategy of LaBL, the village should have sufficient number of people willing to use the lantern for 15-20 days on an average. The charge for renting the charged lantern depends upon the population of the village. The infrastructure cost of setting up the LaBL project in a typical village ranges between
2.5 – 3 lakhs. This includes cost of lanterns, solar panels, charging
equipments, batteries etc. The agreement before setting the project enunciates that amount charged for renting the lanterns will be shared between TERI, local NGO and the entrepreneur.
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Supply Chain management The campaign involves varied number of stakeholders with defined roles at regional and local level, apart from product partners and energy service companies. The implementation partners, who include CBO’s, self-help groups, or local grass-root NGO’s are the link between the local entrepreneurs and TERI. These local institutions play a very significant role in implementing and advancing the campaign.
Key advantages and Challenges As mentioned above the model depends on the trust and efficiency of the partners implementing the project. Technology of the project is more or less standardized. Therefore essentially the success of LaBL depends on the successful partnerships at various levels. Key challenge in carrying forward the project therefore is in ensuring that partners who are selected have credibility in the local sphere and are able to provide the necessary support required to keep the interest of the beneficiaries.
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Annexure II
Questionnaire Name of the Organization: Nature of the organization: For profit / Not for profit Nature of the business model: a) What were the key factors determining the choice of business model:
Why was this particular model structured the way it has evolved:
How was this model developed:
What is the typical size and scale of the customer /beneficiaries:
What are the organization’s plans for up-scaling:
b) What are the key factors determining the technology choice: c) What are included within the service portfolio of the energy enterprise: d) What is the institutional mechanism for service charge collection / grievance redressal: e) What is the key feature of the business model: f)
Can you please share the main challenge and barriers for implementation of the model:
Nature of Institutional Linkages: a) What is the institutional mechanism for technology provision/ support
and
backstopping b) Mode of institutional linkages for sustainable supply of feedstock c) Institutional mechanism for after sale service Nature of funding and co-funding available: a) Access to financial support for setting up of the infrastructure b) Institutional support for provision of end user financing c) Challenges to access funding for developing the business model d) Current efforts to access co-funding from the Carbon finance market/ Renewable Energy certification etc. Nature of Policy Support: a) Access to any government scheme for implementation of the project b) Broad factors facilitating establishment of the business Key recommendations for policy support to encourage clean energy based sustainable business model:
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References:
Geoghegan, Anderson, Dixon (2008): Opportunities to achieve poverty reduction and climate change benefits through low carbon energy access programs: A review of the portfolio of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, for the Department for International Development
Irwine (2009) Investment: A guide for Sustainable Energy Enterprise and NGOs
MNRE (2010): Access to clean energy: Glimpses of Off-grid projects in India
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2010): India Renewable Energy Status Report: Background report for DIREC 2010
REEEP (2010): Access to Energy Services : 8 case studies
Ringwald (2008): India Renewable Energy Trends (Centre for Social Markets)
Urban & Sumner (2009) In Focus Policy Briefing 9.4 After 2015: Pro-Poor Low Carbon Development
Wheldon A (2007) : Solar photovoltaics enabling small businesses to develop: Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy.
Winieki et al (2009): End user finance: A Guide for Sustainable Energy Enterprise
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