The SPEED (Smart Power for Environmentally sound Economic Development) program, an initiative of New Delhi-based, Development Alternatives (DA), harnesses the potential of smart business models to deliver electricity through Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE)-based power plants in underserved regions of the country; thereby improving the quality of life and enhancing livelihood security.
“Greening” mobile towersThere are more than 320,000 telecom towers located in India and they consume over 2 billion litres of diesel annually! SPEED presents an opportunity for the mobile tower industry to cut costs while “greening” their towers through the use of solar energy.
Transforming rural IndiaDiara Rasulpur in Bihar is a cluster of thirty-three villages with a population size of about 30,000 people living in around 5,335 households. Majority of the population in Diara Rasulpur depend on kerosene lamps and wax candles for household lighting. Similar is the story in Bara – a medium sized off grid village in Araria district of Bihar and Baharayen, a small hamlet located outside a village, in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
Under the SPEED Program, a 30kW solar power plant has been established at Diara Rasulpur. By March 2014, it has covered 500 households in eleven villages and 5 new microenterprises in one village of Diara Rasulpur. Similarly, in Bara, a 32KW Biomass Power Plant has been set up to cater to 150 households, micro enterprises, 3 telecom towers and Irrigation loads. In Baharayen, a 5 KW Solar power plant has been commissioned.
