India’s Prolonged Power Crisis Has a Solution in Distributed Renewables Energy

Powered by the sun, wind, water, and biofuels, DRE can take the load off thermal power plants and centralised grids while supplying electricity in an affordable and reliable manner. A case in point is SYS3E, a Social Alpha backed startup, that has made solar an attractive, affordable, and sustainable option in the microgrid and utility sectors.

In the next few days as rain clouds gather on the horizon, India will have to brace itself for a prolonged power crisis. If the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air's (CREA) latest report, Failure to load: India's power crisis is a coal management crisis is anything to go by, we are staring at long spells of power cuts due to the country’s dangerously low pre-monsoon coal stock. ( )?

At this level, power plants will be incapable of handling even a modest spike in demand. And, demand will rise in the coming days – more than what was witnessed in May. According to the Central Electricity Authority of India, peak power demand will reach 214 GW in August! India’s all-time high peak power demand is 207.111 GW on April 29, this year.??

Rural electrification, growing use of electrical appliances in rural and urban households, and industrial requirements will ensure that our appetite for power continues to grow at a steady clip. Climate change, with extreme swings in temperature, will play its part in intensifying heating and cooling needs.?

The CREA report brings into focus “official apathy and lack of preparation on the supply side” as the main causes of this crisis. What’s equally revealing is our over-dependence on fossil fuels. Coal alone meets 55% of the country’s energy needs, with oil and biomass together addressing another 30% of our requirement.??

One would expect that a crisis of this magnitude would push the government to speed up India’s energy transition. If anything, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s declaration at COP 26 in Glasgow that India’s renewable energy capacity will reach 500 GW by 2030 reflects the government’s intent. So, how has India progressed on the path to net zero emission targets??

The answer is never simple when the country in question is vast and complex, with a 1.38 billion population and aspirations to become a $5 trillion dollar economy by 2026-27. For the sake of the article let’s touch upon a key aspect of the clean energy movement -- Distributed Renewables Energy (DRE), which can play a pivotal role in popularizing solar, wind, hydro, and biofuels. They can wean us away from coal-fired power plants and centralized power grids that are vulnerable to widespread outages.??

DRE are modular, decentralized, energy generation and storage technologies that provide electricity at the local level. They are situated close to where electricity is used and may either be connected to the local grid or serve as a standalone entity. DRE can be counted upon to provide electricity in a reliable and cost-effective manner for households, commercial entities and industries. The model has been particularly successful across India in the solar power sector.??

I will briefly talk about SYS3E, a Pune-based startup backed by Social Alpha, that has the potential to create large-scale impact on MSMEs by making solar energy more efficient and affordable. Its unique offering is called SunCaptor, a tilted dual-axis tracker that follows the sun by rotating the solar photovoltaic panels using a small motor and a controller. Since the panels are always facing the sun, they invariably generate more energy with the same resources.

The innovation has dual benefits: Additional power production at same cost will lead to decline in prices for consumers, making solar an attractive, affordable, and sustainable option. There is also significant savings in upfront investment costs. A SunCaptor will require fewer solar panels and allied equipment to generate the same amount of electricity as that of a static installation.?

SYS3E had already made its presence felt in the mini and microgrid markets and now they are catering to medium and small-scale industries. The startup believes in “Improving lives, protecting the environment and restoring ecology with renewable energy innovation”. SYS3E’s innovation closely aligns with Social Alpha’s thesis of energy access – when underserved and unserved communities and households can avail of reliable, clean, and affordable energy to meet not just their basic energy needs, but also to improve their socio-economic condition.??

Those who believe that climate change is the biggest threat to the planet know that we are running out of time. With more technologies like SYS3E, the planet may have a fighting chance to stave off an imminent catastrophe.

About the Author

A journalist for 20 years handling multiple roles on the field and at the desk, Pratik Ghosh takes abiding interest in social, economic and political issues. He calls himself a Content Farmer, cultivating Social Alpha’s deep engagement with science and tech startups that are striving to solve India’s stubborn developmental challenges at the grassroots.