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Urjaa Samadhan - An Introduction
Vijay BhopalProjects ManagerScene Consulting
19/02/2015
Renewable Energy in International Development
• A massive movement– Lighting
– Livelihood• Energy for enterprise
• Lighting for education/safety/recreation etc.
• Lighting for increasing productivity
• India is a hot-bed of activity, particularly solar– 2nd only to East Africa
• Extensive literature, pilots and existing projects
Renewable Energy in International Development
• Solar is particularly prevalent– Numerous forms and applications
Solar charging Stations / Mobile Charging Stations / Stand-alone Lanterns
Solar Home Systems Micro-grids (AC and DC)
Delivery Models for Roll-Out Programmes
Fully paid up, with payment schedules
Part-grant funded
Fully grant funded
Commercial Sales
Easier to implementGreater long-term social and economic benefits
Problem Definition
• Projects are ‘rolled-out’ by donors and governments Electrification
Rural development
Women’s empowerment
Furthering of education
• But “complex technology breaks”
• Funding for maintenance and operation is non-existent
• Lack of clarity over ownership/liability in grant funded projects
• Supply chains and expertise is absent
• Ability/willingness to pay is low
Even very well designed programmes suffer from system breakdown
Introduction to Odisha
• Amongst poorest of Indian States
• ~45 Million people
• Energy access poor, through numbers rising through ‘rapid expansion of grid’
Project Examples
• Solar Charging Station– Total break down of many lanterns
– Leads to break down in payment mechanism (entrepreneur in trouble)
– Value chain not in place = inability to revive project without grant support
Fully paid up, with payment schedules
Part-grant funded
Fully grant funded
• Solar Home System– Grant funded = uncertainty over ownership
– Unknown who the implementing agency is!
– Value chain not in place = desire to revive project but don’t know where to start
Project Examples
Fully paid up, with payment schedules
Part-grant funded
Fully grant funded
Our Project
• Three year (2014-17) project to address issue of system breakdown in Odisha– Key innovation is use of SMS Gateway to manage value chain
Our partners
• Crucial that our project doesn’t fizzle out or break down too- Thinking of afterlife from the start- Led to thoughts of creating a social enterprise to address the problem
Urjaa Samadhan
• A Connected Enterprise for energy maintenance services to the ‘base of the pyramid’• Following trend of ‘broadband enterprise’ for BoP
Technology: Web Platform SMS & Data connectivity SMS
Urjaa Samadhan
The five pillars of Samadhan:
• Trained Block-Level Entrepreneurs: An enterprise-based handholding approach to supporting accredited block-level service providers with access to clients, training, tools and parts;
• Structured Services and Price Transparency: Organised services at village level and block-level market locations, dependent on their convenience and ability to pay. Provision of a service warranty and accessible pricing guides;
• Communications: Use of a communications gateway that facilitates user access to service providers, identifies aggregated market opportunities for block level entrepreneurs, and offers unprecedented monitoring and evaluation for upstream stakeholders;
• Inclusivity: An after-sales service that caters for all solar technology types and breaks the precedent of specialised and programme-specific provisions for operation and maintenance;
• Finance: Partnerships with organisations able to offer low interest loans to those without credit history for the purchase of solar PV modules, batteries, and other expensive component parts;
Progress So Far
• SMS Gateway technology in development
• Training design in progress
• Pilot project planned for early 2016 in 4 blocks
