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InDepth Renewable energy

36 October 2016

The “anthropocene” era is the period, generally seen as starting in the late 1960’s, when human activity

began to disturb weather patterns, ecosystems, and societies. Indeed climate change resulting in rapid loss of water-table is believed to have catalysed civil war and the humanitarian disaster in Syria. Closer to home our over-dependence on increasingly unpredictable monsoons is a grave risk to the sustained well-being of the nation. Since water is required to produce both energy and food even small, predictable and regional fluctuations in the availability of water cause socio-economic distress. The so-called food-energy-water nexus describes an unstable equilibrium that the state must maintain in order to provide all three elements with minimum uncertainty and cost to the people of the nation.

In 2015 the 21st Conference of Parties (COP-21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) met in Paris to agree upon a mechanism of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC’s) to meet a global target for reducing carbon emissions. 146 nations including India submitted a list of “Intended” NDC’s (INDC’s) in 2015 [1]. In order to become a legally binding Treaty at least 55 nations will be required to ratify their commitments to the treaty by April 2017. Currently 27 nations including China and the USA have done so. While India has yet to submit a formal ratification the government has already announced ambitious programs that align well with commitments declared in the INDC document. In this document the Government of India declares a commitment to the development of the nation through investment in low-carbon-intensity technologies. Broadly speaking India commits that by 2030 we will reduce the emissions intensity of our GDP by 35% from 2005 levels, generate 40% of our energy through clean, renewable technologies, and invest extensively in the development of a “green infrastructure”. The latter includes building

a carbon-sink (forest-cover), investing in modern water-management and transportation systems, etc. The total cost of all these measures is estimated to be around USD 2.5 trillion between now and 2030[2], which will be partially funded by taxpayers and the balance by the international Green Climate Fund.

Figure 1: Energy mix commitment in the INDC document

One of the policy measures that will contribute significantly to meeting these commitments is the National Solar Mission. The deliverable of this program has been significantly enhanced from 20 GW to 100 GW installed by 2022, or approximately 12 GW per year. Major challenges facing this goal are land-acquisition, the availability of a stable and modern grid that can accommodate variable power sources, access to new technologies and low-cost capital.

We posit that it should be possible to develop efficient solar-photovoltaic “solutions” that deliver energy for sustainable development while enabling or supporting other commitments made in the INDC document. This approach would use synergies that naturally exist within the food-energy-water nexus, thereby reducing the severity of some of these challenges, reducing the

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financial burden of meeting these INDC commitments, as well as delivering sustainable development and good governance. A few concepts along these lines are discussed in this paper, with hope that the government and industry consider such a congruent approach in developing policies and technology roadmaps.

Case-Study #1: Rural Macrogrids and Feeder SeparationSuccessive governments have attempted to boost the manufacturing sector as one way to reduce dependence on agricultural income and boost GDP. One of the primary challenges hampering growth in the manufacturing sector is the lack of stable electrical power. Unscheduled power outages can have multiple knock-on consequences for manufacturers ranging from higher operating costs (due to the increased use of Diesel generators), higher wastage, damage to equipment, and even loss of life.

The impact of uncertain power is, if anything, more deeply felt in the agricultural sector. Rural feeders in India tend to be few and far in-between, as well as much longer than in urban sectors. As a result random electrical faults that in a city would have isolated only one city block can cause an entire district with several villages and farms to go dark. Uncertainty about the availability of power – far more than the lack of power generation capacity – leads to behaviours such as theft of electricity, or the tendency to pump excessive volumes of ground-water whenever there is power. It also makes unviable the establishment of small and medium-scale enterprises that could uplift rural economies.

A solution is required that would simultaneously address Transmission & Distribution losses, minimize wide-area outages in the event of electrical fault, and deliver stable power where it is needed. It is proposed to construct several small (perhaps 1-2 MW) solar power plants, each capable of either operating independently or connected to the grid, in remote rural or tribal locations. The Government of India has sanctioned 43000 crores under the Deendayal Updhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) to finance the separation of electricity feeders to agricultural and rural consumers[3]. A financing model built on generation-based incentives and where the local community takes part-ownership in each macro-grid might also help resolve project security and

land-acquisition issues. The World Bank recommends that in order to deliver on their expectations such schemes will require tailoring for the energy needs and societal limitations of each state[4].

Figure 2: Feeder segregation and solar power for rural consumers

Case-Study #2: Floating Solar PowerThe creation of a secure land-bank is essential for the development of green-energy corridors. However rural land acquisition by government has always been a politically sensitive subject. Where these conflicting interests perhaps converge is in the matter of irrigation. One of the most ambitious and high-impact programs described in the INDC document is the formation of a nationwide Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) system that will connect rivers together via a network of reservoirs and canals. This project has the potential to link flood-prone regions of water-surplus with water-scarce regions, as well as refill depleted underground aquifers. One of the engineering elements of the IWRM is the use of electric pumps to lift water to reservoirs at some altitude, from where it will be distributed via canals to farms and villages via gravity. The electricity requirements for such a system can be significant. The Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme in Andhra Pradesh connects the water-rich and flood-prone Godavari river with the drought-prone Krishna river via the 160 km long Polavaram Right Canal[5]. Additional Left canals are planned for the future. Around 100 MW of power will be required to feed its 24 pumps[6]. If one were to use solar energy to produce this much power round-the-clock the plant would occupy around 1000 acres of precious farmland. The total surface area of just the right-canal and reservoirs along its 160 km length will easily exceed 1000 acres. Furthermore water evaporation losses along such a long canal can be severe.

This problem presents a serendipitous opportunity for floating solar power systems that are built over pontoons floating in the water. It is now a proven fact that mounting solar panels on water can reduce wind-speed over water and help reduce evaporation losses by around 30%[7], while at the same time allowing the solar panels to operate at cooler temperatures, thus producing around 10% more electricity[8]. Rights of way for the power-plant as well as for distribution lines could be over the canal, further boosting the value of the project. Floating photovoltaics is a relatively new

InDepth Renewable energy

38 October 2016

solution-technology and only a very small number of companies worldwide have achieved the necessary level of competence and cost-effectiveness. SunMount Engineering in Mumbai has recently launched a floating-power solution with an international partner, that is completely “Make in India” compliant. Their product uses long-lasting materials and construction techniques developed for the irrigation industry, and a rugged, fail-safe pontoon design derived from offshore-wind technology. Most crucially the solution is designed to the passage of ample light and free flow of air underwater to support underwater life and prevent bio-fouling.

Floating solar-power plants can also be mounted over lagoons, or near-shore on sea-water. In such cases the energy produced can be consumed at source for desalination or water-treatment, adding further to the commitments outlined in the INDC document.

Case-Study #3: Solar Energy and BiomassThe earthquake, tsunami and nuclear fallout disaster at Fukushima, Japan raised global awareness of why industrial development must be engineered to minimize ecological impact. Indeed that unfortunate event was instrumental for the success of the COP-20 Treaty Meeting in Paris in 2015. At Fukushima the farmland surrounding the damaged reactor was declared unsafe for agricultural plants. The government of Japan supported local farmers by building “Renewable Energy Villages”, with solar PV plants on their farmland, allowing them to earn an income from sale of electricity[9]. These widely-spaced solar panels are mounted on tall poles under which are grown shade-tolerant plants such as rapeseed (canola) that are used as fuel for biogas. While such power-plants are more expensive to construct they offer an opportunity to use fertile farmland for power generation (and irrigation) and generate an additional source of income for farmers. Indeed cogenerated (biomass) power is one of the components of the INDC commitments, so this approach offers another serendipitous opportunity to delivering two deliverables together while promoting rural economies and executing good governance.

ConclusionSolar energy continues inexorably on its path to lower costs and higher efficiencies, driven by a global demand

for clean energy. Given that solar energy has energy payback time as well as emissions payback time of between 2-4 years[10], and a productive lifetime of over 25 years this is an investment that will go a long way towards meeting India’s low carbon intensity commitment framed in the INDC. Solar energy is expected to achieve grid-parity against imported coal in India by 2018 using today’s basic technology[11]. Investments underway in vertical integration and new solar cell and module technologies could help achieve this goal sooner in full compliance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” initiative.

The government has already implemented a solar rooftops policy that, in keeping with the theme of this paper, delivers clean energy while complying with the Smart Cities initiative. Three opportunities are proposed here that could, if implemented properly, deliver on additional commitments made in the INDC while meeting the developmental goals of the nation. A thorough reading of the INDC document may reveal more such symbiotic opportunities. This paper makes no attempt to offer solutions for financing of such engineering solutions; however it is evident from the literature that there are already programs in place or evolving nationally (REC, DDUGJY) and internationally (Green Climate Fund, etc.) that could be tapped, perhaps through the guidance of the International Solar Alliance.

Figure 3: Map of the Pattiseema project, Andhra Pradesh, India

Figure 4: Growing shade-tolerant biofuel plants under solar panels

InDepth Renewable energy

39October 2016

Figure 5: Levelized Cost (LCOE) trend for solar energy in India[11]

REFERENCES

1 “India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution: Working towards Climate Justice”, at WWW4.UNFCC.INT

2 “Renewable Energy and the pathway to Paris”, Sudatta Ray, et al, CEEW, New Delhi, February 2015

3 “Feeder Segregation Scheme”, Govt. of India Press Information Bureau, August 2015

4 “Lighting rural India: Load segregation experience in selected states”, The World Bank, February 2014

5 “Godavari and Krishna Rivers Interlink: When Two Rivers Meet”, Srinivas Janyala, Indian Express, 11 September 2015

6 “Powering Pattiseema to cost a bomb”, S. Guru Srikanth, The New Indian Express, 18 Aug 2015

7 ”Experimental study of the effect of floating solar panels on reducing evaporation in Singapore reservoirs”, Gair Kai Xiang Melvin, National University of Singapore, 2015

8 ”A study of power generation analysis of floating PV systems considering environmental impact”, Young-Kwan Choi, Intl J. Software Engg and Applications, v.8, No.1 (2014), pp75-84

9 “Japan plants renewable energy village in Fukushima’s contaminated farmland”, Jeremy Hsu, IEEE Spectrum, January 2014

10 ”Photovoltaics Energy Payback Times, Greenhouse Gas emissions and External costs: 2004-early 2005 status”, V. Fthenakis, Prog. Photovolt: Res.Appl. 2006, v.14: pp275-280

11 ”Reaching India’s Renewable Energy Targets Cost-effectively”, Gireesh Shrimali, et al, Indian School of Business, April 2015 ▪

Sandeep R. KoppikarChief Technology Officer

Waaree Energies Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, INDIA

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