Solar Powered Irrigation Systems in India: Lessons for Africa Through a FAO Study Tour Draft Report (2019)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Solar Powered Irrigation Systems in India: Lessons for Africa Through a FAO Study Tour Draft Report (2019) International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) Preface India is blessed with solar insolation in abundance and is striving to become a true world leader in the use of solar energy. The concerted efforts of the Government of India and different State Governments have made significant progress through different initiatives and schemes. This report highlights important initiatives, their implementation and impacts especially in three States namely, Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, as a part of the study material for a visiting delegation consisting of Dr. Ayman Elsayed Ibrahim Shahin, Sector Head of Monitoring Systems & Communication, Information and Assets Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mr. Gabouj Ridha, General Director of Rural Engineering and Water Management, Ministry of Agriculture Water Resources and fisheries, Tunis, Tunisia, and Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Al-Hamid, Senior Land and Water Officer, FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa, Cairo, Egypt. Solar water pumping for irrigation is being promoted worldwide by the Governments to address the continued demand by farmers to extend the electricity transmission network to all agricultural fields to enable them to avoid the use of expensive diesel for running irrigation pumps. Solar pumping systems offer superior solution to address such issue besides addressing the issues of depleting groundwater and other energy needs at the farm. If only 50% of the 9 million running diesel water pumping systems are replaced by the solar PV pumps, the diesel consumption may be reduced to the tune of 225 billion liters a year besides significant reductions in CO2 emissions over 100 million tons. With the government incentives, solar pumps provide a predictable, more reliable and affordable source of energy at the farm. A field study with small farmers in district Alwar, Rajasthan revealed that solar pumps have improved crop productivity, income and even the livelihoods of small farmers. Interactions with the farmers using solar pumps confirmed most of the positive perceptions that the visiting team had about the technology and its impact. The success of the solar pump schemes in India may also be gauged through the ever-increasing number of farmers willing to adopt the technology, off course with and through the Government schemes subsiding the capital costs as of now. These subsidies have to be viewed as a cost offset to the grid extensions and saving the costs of generation and transmission over long distances. The solar pump schemes have a huge potential of replicability in most developing nations. The issues of trained man power for installation, repair and maintenance need to be addressed simultaneously. [i] [ii] Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES __________________________________________________________________________ 1 LIST OF TABLES ___________________________________________________________________________ 1 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS _______________________________________________________________ 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ______________________________________________________________________ 5 Need for Solar Powered Irrigation Systems ............................................................................................... 5 Benefits of SPIS ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Costs Associated with SPIS and Government Interventions ........................................................................ 5 Viable Business Models ............................................................................................................................ 6 Capacity Building ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Conclusions and Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 7 1. BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................................... 9 2. SOLAR ENERGY IN AGRICULTURE: GLOBAL AND INDIAN OVERVIEW ................................................. 10 3. CASE FOR SOLAR POWER IN AGRICULTURE SECTOR OF INDIA ........................................................... 13 3.1 AGRICULTURE SCENARIO _________________________________________________________________ 13 3.2 CHALLENGES OF THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR IN INDIA ______________________________________________ 14 3.3 POTENTIAL OF SOLAR POWERED SYSTEMS _____________________________________________________ 14 3.3.1 Adopted models of SPV pump for irrigation ................................................................................ 15 3.3.2 Specific Government Incentives for SPIS ..................................................................................... 15 3.3.3 Farmers’ Adoption Behaviour for Solar Pumps ............................................................................ 16 3.3.4 Economic viability of solar-powered irrigation system- A State-level Example .......................... 16 4. SOLAR POLICY OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ........................................................................ 18 4.1 THE NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION ____________________________________________________________ 19 4.2 SOLAR PUMPING PROGRAMME FOR IRRIGATION AND DRINKING WATER _________________________________ 20 4.2.1 Types of Solar Pumping Systems Eligible under the Scheme ........................................................ 21 4.2.2 Potential Implementation Models for the Programme ................................................................ 22 4.2.3 Coordination committee at GOI level.......................................................................................... 22 4.2.4 Coordination committee at State level ....................................................................................... 22 4.3 CAPITAL SUBSIDY SCHEME OF GOI FOR PROMOTING SPV WATER PUMPING SYSTEMS FOR IRRIGATION PURPOSE ________ 22 5. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEMES OF SELECTED INDIAN STATES .............................................................. 23 5.1 PUNJAB STATE _______________________________________________________________________ 23 5.2 MAHARASHTRA STATE SCHEMES ___________________________________________________________ 25 5.3 RAJASTHAN STATE SCHEMES ______________________________________________________________ 26 6. SOLAR ENERGY FOR RURAL WOMEN EMPOWERMENT ..................................................................... 27 6.1 WOMEN SALT-FARMERS IN GUJRAT, INDIA _____________________________________________________ 27 6.2 MOUSUNI PROJECT IN SUNDERBANS (WEST BENGAL STATE), INDIA ____________________________________ 27 6.3 SOLAR ENERGY FOR DUAL PUMP SCHEME A BOOM FOR WOMEN IN MAHARASHTRA STATE, INDIA ________________ 28 7. NEW AND INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODELS ...................................................................................... 29 7.1 PV INVESTMENTS AS HEDGE AGAINST RAISING ELECTRICITY TARIFFS ____________________________________ 29 7.2 THE KUSUM SCHEME, INDIA _____________________________________________________________ 29 7.3 NABARD – MNRE SCHEME, INDIA _________________________________________________________ 29 7.4 SOLAR PARKS AND ULTRA MEGA SOLAR POWER PROJECTS, INDIA _____________________________________ 30 [iii] 7.5 SOLAR POWER AS A REMUNERATIVE CROP (SPARC) MODEL _________________________________________ 30 7.6 SPIS IN NEPAL _______________________________________________________________________ 30 7.7 SPIS IN BANGLADESH ___________________________________________________________________ 31 8. FIELD VISITS AND TECHNICAL INTERACTIONS .................................................................................... 31 8.1 GRID POWERED LIFT IRRIGATION PROJECT, RAJWAL _______________________________________________ 32 8.2 COMMUNITY BASED SOLAR/ GRID POWERED MICRO IRRIGATION CADA (HARYANA) ________________________ 34 8.3 EVALUATION OF SOLAR PUMPING SYSTEMS _____________________________________________________ 36 8.3.1 Evaluation of Solar Energy Driven Micro Irrigation System in Churu, Rajasthan (India) .................... 36 8.3.2 Cost-effectiveness of small solar pumping systems – A case study .................................................. 37 8.4 JAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEM LIMITED __________________________________________________________ 38 9. SUMMARY AND WAY FORWARD ...................................................................................................... 39 9.1 IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES ____________________________________________________________ 39 9.2 REMEDIAL MEASURES __________________________________________________________________ 40 9.3 MAJOR TAKEAWAY FROM INDIAN EXPERIENCES __________________________________________________ 40 9.4 WAY FORWARD ______________________________________________________________________ 41 9.4.1 Finance ...................................................................................................................................... 42 9.4.2 Capacity building ....................................................................................................................... 42 9.4.3 Technological Considerations ..................................................................................................... 43 9.5 ISSUES DISCUSSED DURING