Keonjhar
Location: Ranipada Village, Harichadanpur-Tehsil reserve forest in Keonjhar District of Odisha State, India.
Area: 202 hectares
Number of inhabitants: 75 Houses with 300 Population
Climate: The climate of Keonjhar is characterized by an oppressively hot summer with high humidity.
Pilot led by: IIT BBS
Energy Mix & Infrastructure
The following infrastructures are available at Keonjhar Demo Site.
- A total of 77 kWp (Kanheigola- 30 kWp, Nola -25kWp and Ranipada- 22 kWp) Solar PV installations.
- Every house in these villages is provided with 100 W for meeting the basic facilities like 2 tube lights and fan only during night time (6 PM to 10 PM).
- The demo site is located in Ranipada where solar PV panels generate about 26 MWh annually which equals the electricity consumption of the village.
Energy Agenda
The high-level aims:
- Develop and demonstrate various energy vectors integration, by means of high energy efficient converters and its control.
- Implement a livelihood program to complement its off-grid systems in selected remote villages, aiming to create support ecosystems to promote income-generating energy uses in agriculture and small businesses.
- Increase of population awareness and customer engagement, such that rural to urban migration can be minimized.
Relative Activities
Various energy vectors such as solar PV, biomass, storage, e-mobility and water purification will be integrated with the existing PV system. The proposed 40 kWp microgrid system will be primarily used for livelihood activities apart from household supply. The main challenge is to design power converters with high efficiency at low power range. The field test is anticipated to demonstrate optimized use of renewable PV solar and biomass power by means of stiff DC-link control capability in standalone mode. The demonstrated solutions, tools, strategies, business models in Keonjhar pilot will enable the development of a socio-economically sustainable model which can be easily replicated in other remote villages in India.
