Decision-Making and Planning Framework to Improve the Deployment Success of Decentralized Rural Electrification in India

Abstract

300 million people in India lack access to electricity. More than 90 % of them live in rural areas. The low electrification rate of around 55 % among rural households and the lack of electrification infrastructure in remote areas are major challenges. Decentralized rural electrification has emerged as an alternative approach to electrifying remote rural areas; but an increasing number of commissioned projects are failing to stand the test of time. The present research identifies what factors were crucial in successfully translating off-grid technologies into sustainable solutions. The findings indicate that in addition to appropriate technology adoption, the success of decentralized rural electrification depends on proper management of socioeconomic, operational, environmental, and economic challenges. This includes adequate needs assessment, awareness raising, tariff sensitivity to socioeconomic conditions, demand management, capacity building, access to patient capital, a high capacity utilization level, and sensitivity toward the local environment. The transition from few success stories to scaling up calls for standardizing the planning approach while customizing the solutions. Based on these findings, we developed a multi-tier decision-making framework to assist the planning and management of decentralized rural electrification and enhance the sustainability of projects. The framework systematically captures the complexity of factors that need to be considered for effective decision-making and planning of decentralized rural electrification. We anticipate that implementation of the proposed framework will improve the success rate of projects, enabling decentralized rural electrification to be scaled-up as a sustainable electrification solution.