Title of the Project: From Darkness to Light – Solar Energy Promotion

Background of the Project:
Electricity and social development go hand in hand. Without electricity the pace of development is not achieved. According to official statistics, West Bengal has 37,945 villages according to the Census 2001, out of which 36,422 villages (or 96 per cent) were already electrified going by extant definition as of December 2007. Under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran (RGGVY) scheme, 25,065 villages were to be covered. Even though the coverage of villages is 96% the ongoing rural electrification works needs to be aimed at “intensification” of electricity connections. The current definition of electrified village stipulates that at least 10% of the households must have an electricity connection. This obviously means that all houses in a village are not electrified. Additionally the hamlets of a particular village are not covered. Some rural areas are so far-flung that in some cases it is decided not to lay down conventional electricity lines due to the small populace to be served and high cost of laying lines.

In West Bengal there are 5 projects for rural electrification. The biggest of them is RGGVY which covers 14 districts and is to reach out for 26 lakh BOP connections to effect. The others include West Bengal Rural Household Electricity Programme (WBREP) for 4 lakh BPL households in 4 districts. WBREP – Supplementary has focus on areas where the population is below 100 persons. It plans to reach out to 2610 villages with 22705 BPL service connection. WBREP – Balance focuses on the border districts of Coach Bihar and Jalpaiguri districts for bringing 86320BPL connections into the fold. The Sundarban Electrification Programme is specially developed to reach the Sundarbans area where large parts remain un electrified due to the difficulty in transportation of the poles. In a few islands non island near the Southern part of the Sundarbans power is being supplied for 4 hours in the evening by diesel generators.

In the difficult to reach areas West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA) is working to support energy through Wind, Solar and Bio gas units. There are about 2,000 villages in West Bengal where conventional electric line cannot be extended due to prohibitive cost. 400 villages out of these 2000 villages have already been electrified by Solar PV route. Two Types of PV systems are being utilized for village electrification that are Solar Home Lighting system and Centralized Solar PV Power plants of capacity 25-50 KW range and setting up of mini grids in the villages from where people get grid quality electricity. The total Solar PV installed capacity in the State of West Bengal has exceeded 1 MW recently. There are more than 15 stand alone type Power Plants in Sundarban area of West Bengal operating for about last 5 years.

Project Location          : Block: Gosaba
Project duration          : March 2013 – February 2015
Total staff                   : Supervisor: 1 & Animator                 : 4
Beneficiaries               : Gosaba, Rangabelia, Satjelia, CM khali, Dayapur, Kumirmari, Bali I&II GP

Objective of the Project: 

1. By the end of the project period, 3000 families adopt one solar product for the domestic use.
2. By the end of the project period, one solar growth centre will be established to provide solar service in the area.

1. Achievement:
2. 428 Families are Adapted Solar System
3. A growth center established at Catholic Church in Gosaba. The voltage of electric supply in Gosaba is very low and frequent power cut.  The growth center lighted the area with its limited resource.
4. The project provided eco friendly clean energy to the place where the people come to worship.
5. The non-electrified remote island communities receive home light solar system at home and solar lantern for mobility at night.
6. 5 project staff and 10 field level technicians provides service to the community
7. One windmill has been set up in Satjalia village under Sundarban which provides  light to 50 families