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MISSION ON HYBRID ENERGY SYSTEMS AND ENERGY SYSTEMS FOR RURAL INDIA



Under "Technology Development Mission (TDM) Projects", Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institute of Science, together with participating Indian industries and other developmental agencies work on clearly defined technology deliverables. Hybrid energy systems and energy systems for rural India is identified as one of the mission areas under the Technology Development Mission Projects - Phase II.

Developing and installing hybrid rural energy package through locally available resources constitute commercial production and utilization of renewable energy from solar, hydro, wind, biomass and other agricultural and forest waste. The integrated hybrid energy utilization will lead to an overall economic development through rural industrialization as well as employment of a large number of unskilled and skilled rural people.

The projects have been selected on the basis of clearly defined deliverables and impact on the national scene. They are classified into two broad sub-mission areas, namely,

(i) Hybrid energy systems and associated control systems, and, (ii) Energy efficiency. Some of the deliverables are:

National Importance

Energy is an essential requirement for all facets of our life and has already been recognized as a basic human need. It is the critical infrastructure on which the socio-economic development of the country depends. The growth of the economy and its global competitiveness hinges on the availability of reliable energy supply at competitive rates. Therefore, it becomes imperative that energy is made available globally at a competitive cost. The gloomy situation in India with regard to the supply of energy and gloomier forecasts for the future are too well known to need repetition. Not only is energy becoming costlier day by day, but also the position of energy resources is worsening because of the gradual exhaustion of the fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels remain a major source of energy in India. Unfortunately, India is primarily dependent on other countries for these fuels. This results in large foreign exchange reserves going out of thecountry. Furthermore, geo-political situation also plays an important role in this connection.

Recognizing that electricity (and other forms of energy) is one of the key drivers for economic growth and poverty alleviation, the nation has set itself the target of providing access to electrical energy to all households by 2012. As per Census 2001, about 45% of the households do not have access to electricity. In meeting the country's efforts for providing sustainable energy source for such large geographically dispersed population, one requires an integrated (hybrid) rural energy system. Different energy sources (fossil fuels and different renewable energy sources) should be combined so as to work in tandem and each source supplementing the energy generation of the other(s), meeting the demand throughout the year. In other words, each generator works at its optimum condition and provides energy depending on the demand and availability of other generator(s).

Developing and installing hybrid rural energy package through locally available resources constitutes a major challenge and this involves commercial production and utilization of renewable energy from solar, hydro, wind, biomass and other agricultural and forest waste. The integrated hybrid energy utilization will lead to an overall economic development through rural industrialization as well as employment of a large number of unskilled and skilled rural people.

While the implementation of alternative energy sources are examined, the conservation of energy through improvements of efficiency is vitally important.There is ample scope for conservation of energy, which needs to be vigorously pursued.