Abstract
Off-grid power system is well acknowledged as a viable alternative to grid extension in rural areas of developing countries. A significant portion of such projects has been installed in many developing countries through government subsidy program or donorfunded projects. Follow ups are necessary for the detailed analysis of the project results and to correctly determine the impact of the project and its success. This paper reports on the impact of tri-hybrid renewable energy off-grid system comprising of hydro, wind, solar energy in the remote mountainous village Thingan and Kolkhop in Makawanpur district of Nepal. A general demographic survey in Thingan and Kolkhop (N = 110) and post-electrification survey in Thingan (N = 48) were conducted after one year of installation of the power system. In this paper, we investigate the impact of electrification on the household’s lighting usage, education, social structure, environment, income and level of satisfaction. We also compare the difference in the quality of life before and after electrifying the village. The study reveals that electricity has played a great role both at individual and communal level in the form of quality lighting and power for productive work in the form of mechanization of daily chores and increasing the economic standard of villagers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Energy Council, “World-Energy-Scenarios: Composing Energy Futures to 2050,” https://www.worldenergy.org/publications/2013/world-energy-scenarios-composing-energy-futures-to-2050/ (Accessed 12 October 2015)
Aggidis, G. A., Luchinskaya, E., Rothschild, R., and Howard, D. C., “The Costs of Small-Scale Hydropower Production: Impact on the Development of Existing Potential,” Renewable Energy, Vol. 35, No. 12, pp. 2632–2638, 2010.
Bhandari, B., Lee, K.-T., Cho, Y.-M., and Ahn, S.-H., “Optimization of Hybrid Renewable Energy Power System: A Review,” Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf.-Green Tech., Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 99–112, 2015.
Kanase-Patil, A. B., Saini, R. P., and Sharma, M. P., “Integrated Renewable Energy Systems for Off Grid Rural Electrification of Remote Area,” Renewable Energy, Vol. 35, No. 6, pp. 1342–1349, 2010.
Ahn, S. H., Lee, K. T., Bhandari, B., Lee, C. S., and Song, C. K., “Formation Strategy of Renewable Energy Sources for High Mountain Off-Grid System Considering Sustainability,” J. Korean Soc. Precis Eng, Vol. 29, No. 9, pp. 958–963, 2012.
Bensch, G., Kluve, J., and Peters, J., “Rural Electrification in Rwanda-An Impact Assessment Using Matching Techniques,” https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1735399 (Accessed 24 December 2016)
Zhand, A., Haddix, K., and Richard, K., “Renewable Energy Village Power Systems for Remote and Impoverished Himalayan Villages in Nepal,” Proc. of the International Conference on Renewable Energy for Developing Countries, 2006.
Bhandari, B., Poudel, S. R., Lee, K.-T., and Ahn, S.-H., “Mathematical Modeling of Hybrid Renewable Energy System: A Review on Small Hydro-Solar-Wind Power Generation,” Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf.-Green Tech., Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 157–173, 2014.
International Renewable Energy Agency, “Renewable Energy Technologies: Cost Analysis Series,” https://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publications/RE_Technologies_Cost_Analysis-WIND_POWER.pdf (Accessed 23 December 2016)
International Renewable Energy Agency, “Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2014,” http://www.irena.org/documentdownloads/publications/irena_re_power_costs_summary.pdf (Accessed 23 December 2016)
World Commission on Environment and Development, “Our Common Future,” 1987.
Bhandari, B., Ahn, S.-H., and Ahn, T.-B., “Optimization of Hybrid Renewable Energy Power System for Remote Installations: Case Studies for Mountain and Island,” Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf., Vol. 17, No. 6, pp. 815–822, 2016.
Bhandari, B., Lee, K. T., Lee, C. S., Song, C. K., Maskey, R. K., et al., “A Novel Off-Grid Hybrid Power System Comprised of Solar Photovoltaic, Wind, and Hydro Energy Sources,” Applied Energy, Vol. 133, pp. 236–242, 2014.
Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, “A Year in Review: Making Renewable Energy Mainstream Supply to Rural Areas of Nepal,” http://www.aepc.gov.np/docs/resource/subreport/20140516052120_Annual%20progress%20Review%20of%20AEPC%202012-2013.pdf (Accessed 21 July 2016)
Government of Nepal, “Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program Investment Plan for Nepal,” 2011.
Government of Nepal, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, “Subsidy Policy for Renewable Energy 2069 BS,” http://www.aepc.gov.np/docs/resource/rescenter/20130818060043_RE%20Subsidy%20Policy%202013%20-%20English.pdf (Accessed 20 July 2016)
Obrecht, A. J., “Soft Transformation in the Kingdom of Bhutan: Socio-Cultural and Technological Perspectives,” 2010.
Nepal Solar Volunteer Corps, “Activities,” http://nepal-solar.org (Accessed 12 October 2015)
Saghir, J., “Energy and Poverty: Myths, Links, and Policy Issues,” Energy Work. Notes, World Bank, No. 4, pp. 1–24, 2005.
Zahnd, A. and Kimber, H. M., “Benefits from a Renewable Energy Village Electrification System,” Renewable Energy, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 362–368, 2009.
Katuwal, H. and Bohara, A. K., “Biogas: A Promising Renewable Technology and Its Impact on Rural Households in Nepal,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 13, No. 9, pp. 2668–2674, 2009.
Machala, M., “Kerosene Lamps vs. Solar Lanterns,” http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2011/ph240/machala1/ (Accessed 1 November 2016)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bhandari, B., Lee, KT., Chu, WS. et al. Socio-economic impact of renewable energy-based power system in mountainous villages of Nepal. Int. J. of Precis. Eng. and Manuf.-Green Tech. 4, 37–44 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40684-017-0005-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40684-017-0005-2