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What is DRES and why is IT a key solution to
India’s energy problem?
DRES or Decentralised Renewable Energy Systems generate
electricity near the point of consumption using locally available
renewable resources. They do not use large land area or a huge
distribution system and are more reliable in terms of energy access.
Some of the DRES running in India today are solar-powered, rice husk
systems and small-scale hydro systems.
In the report, World Energy Outlook 2011, the International Energy
Agency (IEA) says that despite United Nation’s mission of sustainable
energy for all, we still continue to live in a world where 1.3 billion of the
poorest people live without access to modern electricity, of which a
major proportion lives in India. iii
There are more than 300 million people still waiting for electricity in
India iv with more than a third of the rural population lacking electricity. v
Only 52.5 per cent of rural households have access to electricity. vi
These rural areas, though often the location of large energy projects,
have never benefitted from these projects. They have only borne the
brunt of the destruction caused by these projects.
From far flung villages in the mountains, clusters in the forested
central expanse to the rural areas even in the densely populated Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar have not benefitted from the 54,964 MW expansion
of the central grid. vii This is despite the fact that in the Eleventh Five
Year Plan Rs 463,658 crores were spent on the power sector. viii
It is obvious who is benefitting from these
massive investments. Even schemes like
Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
have not benefitted rural areas because of
its reliance on expansion of the central grid.
Evaluations have pointed out how wires have
been laid out and poles erected but electricity
has not reached villages.
Moreover, the quality of electricity from the
grid is plagued with intermittent supply,
voltage fluctuations and transmission losses.
With decentralised systems, the electricity is
generated close to the point of consumption
reducing distribution losses, infrastructure
costs and improving reliability of supply and
voltage.
This is the key reason why Greenpeace
believes that decentralised is the only
way village and rural areas can gain rapid
access to electricity. There are numerous
decentralised systems operating across the
country that are providing sustainable and
regular electricity to households.
OPTIONS IN Decentralised Renewable Energy Systems
SOLAR
biomass
wind
micro-hydro
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MEDIA MANUAL | Introduction: Decentralised Renewable Enregy