VOL 1: Mini-Grids a Just and Clean Energy Transition

May 30, 2022

INDIA: A SCOPING STUDY

A mini-grid refers to decentralised electricity generation systems with capacities above 10 kW to a few MW, serving residential, commercial, institutional and small industrial loads. As opposed to this, micro-grids are systems with capacities less than 10 kW.

Currently, households in India use diesel or biomass as sources of decentralised energy. These fuels are polluting, but convenient. The aim is to shift households from direct use of diesel and biomass to electricity produced from solar, biomass and wind. This can then become the key source for last-mile connectivity, reaching households that still do not have access to electricity; or, and most critically, can become the supply for cooking energy needs of households. It will then displace all the dirty fuels which are used today, and can be a win-win proposition for the world’s energy-insecure poor.