Date and time: Tuesday, April 27, 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

In this webinar, the concept of solar feeders (MW-scale distributed solar power plants dedicated to agriculture) and how they can contribute to three objectives: a) providing reliable day-time power to agriculture, b) rapidly scaling up distributed renewables and c)doing this in fiscally prudent manner – all of which contribute to significantly improving the financial health of the distribution sector was discussed. A short animation explaining solar feeders is here.
 
Prayas (Energy Group) presented an update about the progress of solar feeders in Maharashtra and how this has been taken up as part of the national KUSUM scheme. Further they elaborated on the learnings from Maharashtra for other states, as they plan to scale up deployment. The economic and social benefits of this approach mean that States should ideally plan for comprehensive and universal coverage of agricultural electricity provision through solar feeders. The panelists brought in their experiences and insights to this policy approach, and collectively debated the opportunities and challenges that this presents.

This webinar was the second in a series of dialogues – India Energy Transition Dialogues – convened by the Centre for Policy Research to explore different paths to meet India’s 21st century energy goals. 

Panellists:

• Ashwin Gambhir – Fellow, Prayas (Energy Group)
• Dipak Kokate – Head (Growth), South-West Cluster, Energy Efficiency Services Limited
• Ankush Malik – Vice President, Business Development, Juniper Green Energy Pvt Ltd
• Ann Josey – Fellow, Prayas (Energy Group)
• Akhilesh Magal – Head, Renewable Advisory, Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI)

Moderated by:

Ashwini K. Swain – Fellow, Centre for Policy Research