Workshop on Off-grid electrification: Experience, Approaches and Issues
6 July 2011
As part of the research project on off-grid electricity access in South Asia (OASYS-South Asia), an international workshop was organised at Dundee on 6th July 2011. Professor Peter Cameron, Director of CEPMLP opened the workshop by welcoming all participants while Dr. Subhes Bhattacharyya, PI of the project provided an overview of the project (see Annex 1 for the slides). The workshop considered the international experience on off-grid electrification, discussed approaches being used towards off-grid electrification and highlighted the issues facing off-grid electrification. Eight presentations were made in two sessions by project team members as well as invited guest speakers in two sessions. This was followed by a panel discussion that considered the issues relating to off-grid electrification in the context of economic development agenda. About fifty participants attended the workshop from universities around Scotland (Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee). Most of the attendees showed keen interest in the presentations and participated in the discussions.
The pre-lunch session considered the off-grid experience in various parts of the world, which was chaired by Dr. Arabinda Mishra of TERI University. The second session, chaired by Dr. Akanksha Chaurey of TERI was devoted to approaches to off-grid electrification and cross-learning opportunities from various initiatives. The Panel discussion was chaired by Prof. Paul Cook of Manchester University.
Presentation
View Workshop Proceedings
Summary of the proceedings from the morning session
Four presentations were made in the morning session spanning over a three hour period which was chaired by Dr. Arabinda Mishra (TERI University). Dr. Mishra opened the session with a brief remark on an off-grid project database development and analysis that he is undertaking. He informed that using the Indian project-level data, he is analysing an in-depth understanding of the factors affecting the success/ failure of off-grid projects. The insights will then be used to develop an analytical framework for off-grid project analysis. He informed that the initial work on this is being completed, and the analysis is likely to produce interesting insights.
Presentations
- Latin American Experience - Dr. Judith Cherni
- The African Experience - Dr. Xavier Lemaire
- Bio-energy for off-grid electrification - Mr. Mirco Gaul
- Micro-hydro applications in rural areas - Dr. William Arthur
Summary of the proceedings of activities in the post-lunch session
The post-lunch session considered alternative approaches to off-grid electrification. The session was chaired by Dr. Akanksha Chaurey of TERI. This session regrouped the presentations of the second half of the day as two presenters could not join the workshop due to late receipt of entry visa. Dr. Chaurey remarked that the development of off-grid systems does not take place in vacuum – each country has its own policies, institutional arrangements and regulations. While most of the countries take a technocratic approach that flows from the top, the decentralised systems also have to be socially acceptable and compatible with the local practices and needs. Also, there are learning opportunities from one another. This session includes presentations that would throw lights into various approaches, practices and lessons from other projects.