Put renewable energy on CSR menu

By Samir Nazareth
12 Oct 2010

Businesses can make a very positive intervention in the society by adding renewable energy projects to their CSR activities, which will help improve the socio-economic conditions of the marginalised.

Villagers can be trained to manage renewable energy projects
(photo courtesy: Panos)
According to the Government, India will need another 100,000 MW of power generation capacity by 2012. However the 2009 Budget document states ‘The growth in electricity generation by power utilities during 2008-09 at 2.7 per cent fell much short of the targeted 9.1 per cent.’

This is something routine as the demand for energy outstrips the efforts taken to meet it. Economic growth and development projects like the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidhyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), a scheme to provide electricity to rural India, increase the burden on the already impoverished central grid. The Budget document recognises this and writes ‘the energy shortage increased, because the growth in requirement (5.1 per cent) was greater than the availability (3.8 per cent).’
Further, electrification under RGGVY does not imply electrification of the entire village nor does it guarantee regular power supply. Thus villages are unable to reap the benefits of electricity though connected to the grid.
The lack of equitable distribution of electricity is a socio-economic problem. Villages and small towns, being socio-economically weaker, do not receive 24x7 power supply, and this only exacerbates their problems. Even as the government builds more fossil fuel based power plants, supply of electricity to the common man is not guaranteed as the power is meant for industrial growth. This top down approach ignores the socio-economic benefits of ensuring electricity is provided to the ‘Aam Admi’.
The fact that the top-down approach has failed is seen starkly in the areas around thermal power plants which suffer daily power outages. This is a slip between the cup and the lip which needs to be bridged. Decentralised renewable energy is a viable method to do so. However, the incentives given by the government for such schemes have not enthused many to get into the fray.

However, companies like North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) in Delhi who are engaged in electricity generation and supply are already planning to install solar panels on houses as part of their business strategy. Such a system reduces transmission losses, reduces demand load and provides extra electricity at almost no cost. The Punjab Energy Development Agency is also planning something similar in a township in Mohali in Chandigarh. Such initiatives have scope to be converted into CDM projects.

At present, most CSR activities revolve around education, health care, alternative employment or maintaining gardens. The innovative spirit that guides corporate India should also guide their CSR activities.

Decentralised electricity generation using renewables and its distribution can become the new frontiers for CSR activities. Such projects reduce load on the grid, bridge the growing electricity deficit, provide regular electricity supply and generate local employment.

As part of a CSR initiative a business can set up renewable energy systems in villages that will be maintained by villagers who have undergone training. Installing a mix of solar panels, wind mills and biogas plants can make a village energy self sufficient.

Cities can benefit too; take the case of Nagpur, in Central India. According to municipal data the city has 659 primary schools, 396 secondary schools, 140 higher secondary schools, 385 junior colleges, 12 medical colleges and 15 engineering colleges. Installing solar panels to meet some, if not all, of their power requirements would reduce the load on the central grid. As these institutions don’t operate 24x7 excess electricity could be fed back to the grid.

Though electricity is a basic requirement the government is clearly unable to provide it to all. Companies need to find ways to become socially relevant. Empowering people through decentralised renewable energy is one such way.
By adding renewable energy projects to their CSR activities, businesses will make a very positive intervention that will go a long way in improving the socio-economic lot of disempowered.

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