Microgrids -- distributed systems of localized generation, distribution network, and load -- are being increasingly deployed particularly in rural areas of emerging and under-developed countries to achieve energy access. Approximately 87 % of the people without electricity live in rural areas characterized by remoteness and sparse population density. The traditional approach to serving these communities by extending the central grid has been proven to be ineffective due to a combination of factors such as capital scarcity, insufficient energy service, reduced grid reliability, etc.
India has been a pioneer in rural microgrids since the 1990s, however, there is significant progress to be made despite rapid advancements in technologies like solar PV, energy storage and affordable LED lighting solutions. India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) estimates that India has installed over 2000 AC microgrids of over 5 kW and over 10,000 DC microgrids with majority sizing less than 1 kW.
There are many challenges that have restrained growth of this sector including numerous financial, technical and social limitations. Project operators on several occasions do not have clear answers themselves to recognize why microgrids are prematurely failing or operating at lower efficiencies. Interestingly, funding agencies, investors and equipment suppliers are often surprised by sudden news of the failure of assets or technical audit reports undermine poor functionality of mini-grids or microgrids. As it could be guessed, these microgrids are remotely monitored with manual reporting or not monitored at all. And hence, the inaccessibility of data, in this case, has led to a lack of analysis and knowledge generation.
In many of the cases, project owners and operators are not be blamed as poor telecom connectivity and high cost of remote monitoring at a remote location has plagued data acquisition and analysis. India Energy Storage Alliance, with its vision of making microgrids economically sustainable by understanding and addressing common modes of failure on its MICRO platform and the European Space Agency (ESA), with its aim of bringing satellite communication technology for very bottom of pyramid application to create a net social impact, have partnered to resolve this problem statement.
In collaboration with IESA, the European Space Agency is now launching a new initiative to support feasibility studies which identify and explore business opportunities for deploying services based on Satellite Communications, Earth Observation data, and/or other space assets to support the decentralized management of microgrids in India and other developing countries. The study is expected to culminate in a funded microgrid pilot project demonstrating the potential of the above services. Requirements from Indian microgrids stakeholders will be collected by IESA and provided by ESA to the consortia whose proposals are accepted.
India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) on 15th August 2016 launched the "Microgrid Initiative for Campus & Rural Opportunities (MICRO)" whose main goal is to reduce electricity cost for microgrid consumers by 30-50% within next three years through technological & policy innovation. MICRO aims to develop microgrids as an enabler for the economic transformation of regions currently suffering due to poor access to electricity. The IESA team believes that microgrids in India have vast potential to transform the economic landscape in rural India as well as provide improved power quality for consumers in urban townships to critical infrastructures like hospitals and university campuses. To achieve this dream, the sector would need to be organized. The MICRO portal (http://micro.indiaesa.info/) that brings together microgrid developers, technology providers, financing partners, and the local community was launched at a workshop at IIT Bombay on 19th August 2016. IESA is also working with partners such as Global Energy Storage Alliance and Alliance for Rural Electrification to extend this initiative to Asia and Africa, offering a tremendous commercial opportunity to developers and service providers.
