Opportunities for Real-time Monitoring, Control and Payment Technologies for Mini-grids: A Case Study of Operational Systems in Nepal

Transcription

1 Opportunities for Real-time Monitoring, Control and Payment Technologies for Mini-grids: A Case Study of Background The inception of renewable development in Nepal started with the establishment of the Pharping (500kW) hydroelectric project in Since then hydropower, which contributes more than 90% of the country s electricity generation capacity and output, has developed through two distinct sectors, one delivering larger capacity projects with connections to the national grid and another using micro- and mini-hydro to electrify the remote places of the country. The larger plants were built, operated and managed by the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority(NEA) whereas micro- and mini- hydro were built by the private sector, NGOs or community organisations with subsidy from government and donor agencies and active involvement of local people in operation and management. The Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) was established in 1996 to popularize and promote the use of renewable energy technology as well as assist technically in its development 2. In recent years, a small number of solar mini-grids have been developed in addition to the large number of hydro mini-grids. Following the publication of the RE Subsidy Policy 2016, solar mini-grids up to 1MW are now financially supported by AEPC. 21 kwp solar mini-grid in Kaduwa, Khotang district, developed and implemented by Gham Power 1 Aitken, J. M.; Cromwell, G.; Wishart, G., Mini-and Micro-hydropower in Nepal. ICIMOD Occasional Paper 16. Kathmandu: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) 2 Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) website, National Rural & Renewable Energy Programme (NRREP). Accessed 28 th October 2016.

2 76.3% of Nepal s population has access to electricity among which 97% of the urban population and around 72% of the rural population have access. However, only 45% of rural electricity users are connected to the national grid 3, the remainder being served by minigrids and standalone systems, including solar home systems. Although the quality and efficiency of the electricity supply (both on- and off-grid) is debatable, the growth of renewable energy sector in Nepal is comparatively high amongst developing countries. In the past, the majority of rural mini grids were monitored, operated and managed manually. The payment process was also manual with an operator measuring the meter and taking payment at the local offices. With the development of communications technology, a number of remote monitoring and payment systems were developed with the turn of the century. These systems used the mobile network, wireless network and digital media for data collection, feeding information into a central control system. Payments also began to be done through mobile top-up and digital payment 4. Nepal s renewable mini-grid sector started to adopt digitalized monitoring and payment systems with direct assistance from AEPC. This report outlines the types and extent of remote monitoring, control and payment systems used in Nepal, and some of their challenges. Existing Monitoring Systems in Nepal: Status and Challenges Case Study 1: AEPC remote monitoring system (locally fabricated) To pilot the technology, the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) installed 40 Remote Data Acquisition systems with digital energy meters in micro-hydro power houses. A local firm, Mahavir Shree International, created an interface to extract data (voltage, frequency and energy use) from the energy meters installed by AEPC with a data transfer board comprising of an integrated local SIM card (GSM or CDMA) embedded in the board. The data is transferred through the SIM to the server and is then displayed online. At the time of piloting, AEPC had plans to expand the system all over Nepal but the whole structure didn t work as expected. The following two issues were identified in most of the pilot micro-hydro sites: 1. Most of the Micro Hydro Plants power houses were located in gorges where mobile signal strength is low. This created difficulties in finding suitable places to install the systems. 2. The project implementers loaded the SIM cards embedded in the data transfer boards with an initial balance of NPR 1000 (approximately US$10). However, once this had expired, no actions were taken to recharge SIM cards and the communities served by the micro-hydro plants didn t find any incentive in recharging them. 3 World Bank Group, World Data Bank. Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) database from World Bank Global Electrification database; source: DHS Accessed 28 th October P. M. Dauenhauer et al., Remote monitoring of off-grid renewable energy case studies in rural Malawi, Zambia, and Gambia, 2013 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC). ing_of_off_grid_renewable_energy_case_studies.pdf. Accessed: Oct. 28,

3 Case Study 2: Gham Power (Spark Meter) With technical and financial assistance from AEPC, the Asian Development Bank through its Energy for All Initiative (E4All) and DOEN Foundation, private sector developer Gham Power Pvt. Ltd. worked with the local communities of Harkapur (Okhaldhunga district) and Kaduwa (Khotang district) and Chyasmitar (Khotang district) to deploy 3 solar micro-grids. These systems have a total capacity of 35 kilowatts (kw) and generate about 34 MWh annually to power 25 local businesses and 83 households. The sites are located approximately 150 km east of Kathmandu and there exists no possibility of the national grid to reach these sites in next 5 years as the nearest grid connection is about 55 km distant over mountainous terrain. SparkMeter installed on solar mini-grid The solar PV modules are ground mounted. The battery bank and control units are housed safely in a separate room. A local support team with full-time trained staff provides operation and maintenance services. The electricity tariff is a flat rate per time period, and for households ranges from $4 to $6 per month and for businesses from $10 to $80 per month. The design includes smart prepaid meters to manage an automated billing and payment collection system. For remote monitoring and managing the meters, the system includes basic wireless internet connection at the sites. In the past, payment was done via manual reading of meters with customers paying their bills at local Gham power offices. Case Study 3: Renewable World (Bit Harvester) Renewable World, an INGO working in Nepal with the aim of eradicating poverty through renewables, has installed a hydraulic ramp to pump water to a height of 90m from one of the water sources near a village. A 12,000-liter storage tank has been constructed above the village, which is filled in 48 hours by water from the ramp pump. The tank water is distributed to 19 households for irrigation purposes. There are 6 water distribution outlets connected to the storage tank and each water distribution outlet is equipped with an analogue water meter. The meter is connected with a wire to transfer the data to the Bit Harvester, a remote data acquisition and control system developed by the company SteamaCo. A Bit Harvester uses a mobile SIM to transmit the data to a remote server, where the data is converted into readable form and viewable through a web-based platform. The Bit Harvester is connected to a 40 W peak solar power system with a battery to supply the energy needed to operate the system. Challenges presented by the system include: 3

4 1. Six water distribution pipes take the water from the tank down to the different farm lands, and each splits further to supply between one and three household plots. The Bit Harvester connected on the tank outlet pipes cannot provide the water usage for each individual household, thus making it difficult to collect the revenue from each household based upon their the water usage. Renewable World is aware of this limitation, but it was not judged to be cost effective to connect 18 water distribution outlets to each meter due to the extra cost associated with the wire and the PVC cover needed to protect it. The project developer considered installing 6 separate Bit Harvesters to meter each household individually, but the cost was not viable for them. 2. The project developer is currently bearing the cost of using the online platform (and the server behind it), which costs 1 USD per month per meter. Problems were encountered with the farmers willingness to pay for water consumption itself, never mind bearing the monthly Bit Harvester metering charge. Case Study 4: Saral Urja (Chinese-manufactured meter) An 18 kw mini-grid installed by a solar company - Saral Urja, based in Kathmandu - is providing energy to 116 households.. The total investment of the mini-grid was NPR 10 million, where the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP) provided a grant of NPR 8.2 Million while the company invested the remaining amount. Financial Status: The mini-grid came into operation in early 2016 and in the initial months the developer has been collecting revenue in line with their business plan, having hired a local person to collect the revenue and look after the system. The company s technician visits the site once a month to monitor whether the system is managed well or not and to solve any technical problems faced by the system. Tariff: This energy-limited system has four different tariff structures. The most popular tariff rate is NPR 400 per month for 165 Wh of energy per day and most of the households are using this energy scheme. The other popular tariff rate is NPR 750 per month for 495 Wh. Unique Feature: The company has introduced a Prepaid Energy Limiting Meter (singlephase, two-wire electronic active RS485 on-line meter) which has been installed on every user connection. The cost of the Chinese-designed meter is low in comparison to competing alternatives like the Bit Harvester. The meter permits electricity consumption only when the users have paid for it in advance and when they have not exceeded their daily allocated consumption. Each Prepaid Energy Limiting Meter is programmed with the starting time (e.g. 2:00 am) when the new allocation will begin each day. When the daily energy consumption limit is reached, a buzzer will first sound an alarm (beep 1 sec after 4 sec), and then the meter will automatically cut off the power until the next day, when the energy allocation is reset. Future concerns: The private company wants to remotely monitor all of the system, including individual batteries, with only remote technical assistance. This arrangement may be cost effective, but means that problems are not solved as quickly as they would be if a trained technician was employed close to the site. The reliability of the metering technology has yet to be proven. 4

5 Analysis and Conclusion A variety of real time monitoring, control and payment systems have been piloted in Nepal through a number of separate projects. The technology adopted ranges from simpler, locallydeveloped and manufactured technology to award-winning smart technology. The following list summarises some of the challenges in installing smart monitoring systems in the minigrid and water supply sector in Nepal: 1. The initial cost of the smart meters is still expensive for rural households in Nepal. 2. Some smart meters charge a nominal service fee, which nevertheless represents a huge amount for low-income rural households. Service charges can seem particularly steep when compared with those households expenditure on the electricity itself. It is not uncommon for households with lighting-only electricity demand to pay an equal amount for a month of electricity use. 3. Mobile-based smart meters don t work in all parts of Nepal even though telecommunication coverage is available in rural areas. The hill and mountainous physiographic regions, where many of the mini-grids are located, tend to suffer from poorer mobile reception. Micro-hydro plants, which are often situated in steep valleys and gorges, may have no coverage at all. 4. Low cost Chinese-designed meters are also used in a mini-grid in Nepal, but the reliability of the technology is yet to be confirmed. Recommendation There are more than 3000 mini-grids in Nepal, meaning that there is a huge market for smart meters in the off-grid context. Remote monitoring, control and payment systems can be used to manage demand of mini-grids and improve revenue collection efficiency. However, the cost of installing and operating mini-grids in rural Nepal is already high, and combined with users low initial electricity demand and ability to pay, mini-grids are not always attractive investments for developers. Therefore, it is an utmost necessity to introduce locally-made low cost and reliable smart meters. For a household, there is no incentive to use smart meters unless the consumer experience offered is better than with standard meters (e.g. convenient payments), and even then people will not be willing to pay much of a premium. That said, smart meters help mini-grid operators and management committees to manage their mini-grid in more efficient ways, and the additional capital cost of smart systems may be outweighed by the savings offered in terms of operating costs. Although they are in the early stages of demonstration, this appears to be the case with systems like the Saral Urja solar mini-grid (deploying Prepaid Energy Limiting Meters) and Gham Power mini-grids (deploying automated billing and payment systems). In order to make smart meters usable by rural mini-grid management committees, simple designs should be favoured so that decision-makers are able to understand the system. In addition, the data generated from smart meters should be made accessible to managers, operators and technicians through smartphones, enabling them to use the data effectively and in real-time. 5

6 This document is an output from a project co funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development (DfID), the Engineering & Physical Science Research Group (EPSRC) and the former Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID, EPSRC or DECC. This case study report was produced as part of the ESCoBox research project. The authors would like to acknowledge the lead research partner De Montfort University, and partner organisations including Institute for Development Studies and SteamaCo for valuable contributions of thought leadership, insightful studies and collaborative working. Take Practical Action. Work with us. This case study report was written by Dipendra Bhattarai and Bipin Basnet of Practical Action Consulting South Asia. Drawing on over 40 years of international expertise, Practical Action Consulting (PAC) provides independent and professional consulting services in the use of technology for poverty reduction to governments, NGOs, donors and the private sector. To find out how we can work together contact us: consulting@practicalaction.org.uk Website: Offices in Peru, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Senegal, Sri Lanka, UK. 6