IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v57y2013icp407-417.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The trials and tribulations of the Village Energy Security Programme (VESP) in India

Author

Listed:
  • Palit, Debajit
  • Sovacool, Benjamin K.
  • Cooper, Christopher
  • Zoppo, David
  • Eidsness, Jay
  • Crafton, Meredith
  • Johnson, Katie
  • Clarke, Shannon

Abstract

The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) launched the Village Energy Security Programme (VESP) in 2004 but discontinued it during the 12th Five Year Plan, starting in 2012, after a series of unexpected challenges. Planners structured the program so that a village energy committee (VEC) ran a decentralized village program involving biomass gasifiers, straight vegetable oil (SVO) systems, biogas plants, and improved cookstoves. This suite of technologies was intended to produce electricity and thermal energy to meet the “total energy requirements” of rural communities. At the end of January 2011, a total of 79 VESP projects were sanctioned in 9 states and 65 of these projects were fully commissioned, yet more than half were not operational. The MNRE envisaged that the VESP would provide energy services to eradicate poverty, improve health, reduce drudgery, enhance education, raise agricultural productivity, create employment, generate income, and reduce migration. However, VESP projects have had limited success, and the trials and tribulations of the VESP offers important lessons for policymakers launching rural energy programs in India and other developing economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Palit, Debajit & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Cooper, Christopher & Zoppo, David & Eidsness, Jay & Crafton, Meredith & Johnson, Katie & Clarke, Shannon, 2013. "The trials and tribulations of the Village Energy Security Programme (VESP) in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 407-417.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:57:y:2013:i:c:p:407-417
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.02.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421513000918
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.02.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Banerjee, Rangan, 2006. "Comparison of options for distributed generation in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 101-111, January.
    2. Buragohain, Buljit & Mahanta, Pinakeswar & Moholkar, Vijayanand S., 2010. "Biomass gasification for decentralized power generation: The Indian perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 73-92, January.
    3. Palit, Debajit & Malhotra, Ramit & Kumar, Atul, 2011. "Sustainable model for financial viability of decentralized biomass gasifier based power projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 4893-4901, September.
    4. Balachandra, P., 2011. "Modern energy access to all in rural India: An integrated implementation strategy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7803-7814.
    5. Rao, P. Sharath Chandra & Miller, Jeffrey B. & Wang, Young Doo & Byrne, John B., 2009. "Energy-microfinance intervention for below poverty line households in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1694-1712, May.
    6. Rehman, I.H. & Kar, Abhishek & Banerjee, Manjushree & Kumar, Preeth & Shardul, Martand & Mohanty, Jeevan & Hossain, Ijaz, 2012. "Understanding the political economy and key drivers of energy access in addressing national energy access priorities and policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(S1), pages 27-37.
    7. Srivastava, Leena & Goswami, Anandajit & Diljun, Gaurang Meher & Chaudhury, Saswata, 2012. "Energy access: Revelations from energy consumption patterns in rural India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(S1), pages 11-20.
    8. Ghosh, Debyani & D Sagar, Ambuj & Kishore, V.V.N., 2006. "Scaling up biomass gasifier use: an application-specific approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(13), pages 1566-1582, September.
    9. Chaurey, Akanksha & Ranganathan, Malini & Mohanty, Parimita, 2004. "Electricity access for geographically disadvantaged rural communities--technology and policy insights," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(15), pages 1693-1705, October.
    10. Ghosh, Sonaton & Das, Tuhin K. & Jash, Tushar, 2004. "Sustainability of decentralized woodfuel-based power plant: an experience in India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 155-166.
    11. Chakrabarti, Snigdha & Chakrabarti, Subhendu, 2002. "Rural electrification programme with solar energy in remote region-a case study in an island," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 33-42, January.
    12. Bhattacharyya, Subhes C., 2006. "Energy access problem of the poor in India: Is rural electrification a remedy?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(18), pages 3387-3397, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke & Chinyere Augusta Nwajiuba & Jane Munonye & Uwazie Iyke Uwazie & Nkechinyere Uwajumogu & Christian Obioma Uwadoka & Jonathan Ogbeni Aligbe, 2019. "Improved Cook-stoves and Environmental and Health Outcomes: Lessons from Cross River State, Nigeria," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2017. "Contestation, contingency, and justice in the Nordic low-carbon energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 569-582.
    3. Ikejemba, Eugene C.X. & Schuur, Peter C., 2020. "The empirical failures of attaining the societal benefits of renewable energy development projects in Sub-Saharan Africa," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1490-1498.
    4. Sivarasu, S.R. & Chandira Sekaran, E. & Karthik, P., 2015. "Development of renewable energy based microgrid project implementations for residential consumers in India: Scope, challenges and possibilities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 256-269.
    5. Palit, Debajit & Bandyopadhyay, Kaushik Ranjan, 2016. "Rural electricity access in South Asia: Is grid extension the remedy? A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1505-1515.
    6. Aparna Katre & Arianna Tozzi, 2018. "Assessing the Sustainability of Decentralized Renewable Energy Systems: A Comprehensive Framework with Analytical Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    7. Nuru, Jude T. & Rhoades, Jason L. & Gruber, James S., 2021. "The socio-technical barriers and strategies for overcoming the barriers to deploying solar mini-grids in rural islands: Evidence from Ghana," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Dawit Diriba Guta & Jose Jara & Narayan Prasad Adhikari & Qiu Chen & Varun Gaur & Alisher Mirzabaev, 2017. "Assessment of the Successes and Failures of Decentralized Energy Solutions and Implications for the Water–Energy–Food Security Nexus: Case Studies from Developing Countries," Resources, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-15, June.
    9. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Ryan, Sarah E., 2016. "The geography of energy and education: Leaders, laggards, and lessons for achieving primary and secondary school electrification," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 107-123.
    10. Chambon, Clementine L. & Karia, Tanuj & Sandwell, Philip & Hallett, Jason P., 2020. "Techno-economic assessment of biomass gasification-based mini-grids for productive energy applications: The case of rural India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 432-444.
    11. Comello, Stephen D. & Reichelstein, Stefan J. & Sahoo, Anshuman & Schmidt, Tobias S., 2017. "Enabling Mini-Grid Development in Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 94-107.
    12. Hassan Qudrat-Ullah, 2023. "A Review and Analysis of Green Energy and the Environmental Policies in South Asia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-17, November.
    13. Vallecha, Harshit & Bhattacharjee, Debraj & Osiri, John Kalu & Bhola, Prabha, 2021. "Evaluation of barriers and enablers through integrative multicriteria decision mapping: Developing sustainable community energy in Indian context," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    14. Shi, Hongxu & Xu, Hao & Gao, Wei & Zhang, Jinhao & Chang, Ming, 2022. "The impact of energy poverty on agricultural productivity: The case of China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    15. Holstenkamp, Lars, 2019. "What do we know about cooperative sustainable electrification in the global South? A synthesis of the literature and refined social-ecological systems framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 307-320.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Buragohain, Buljit & Mahanta, Pinakeswar & Moholkar, Vijayanand S., 2010. "Biomass gasification for decentralized power generation: The Indian perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 73-92, January.
    2. Oda, Hisaya & Tsujita, Yuko, 2011. "The determinants of rural electrification: The case of Bihar, India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3086-3095, June.
    3. Palit, Debajit & Bandyopadhyay, Kaushik Ranjan, 2016. "Rural electricity access in South Asia: Is grid extension the remedy? A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1505-1515.
    4. Chaurey, Akanksha & Kandpal, Tara Chandra, 2010. "Assessment and evaluation of PV based decentralized rural electrification: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(8), pages 2266-2278, October.
    5. Debajit Palit & Ramit Malhotra & Sanjay Mande, 2017. "Enhancing viability of biofuel-based decentralized power projects for rural electrification in India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 263-283, February.
    6. Patel, Vimal R. & Upadhyay, Darshit S. & Patel, Rajesh N., 2014. "Gasification of lignite in a fixed bed reactor: Influence of particle size on performance of downdraft gasifier," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 323-332.
    7. Liu, Xuan & Hu, Ye & Xiao, Yan, 2017. "Risk management for rural energy industry of Sichuan Province in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1029-1044.
    8. Balachandra, P., 2011. "Modern energy access to all in rural India: An integrated implementation strategy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7803-7814.
    9. Nouni, M.R. & Mullick, S.C. & Kandpal, T.C., 2008. "Providing electricity access to remote areas in India: An approach towards identifying potential areas for decentralized electricity supply," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 1187-1220, June.
    10. Kaundinya, Deepak Paramashivan & Balachandra, P. & Ravindranath, N.H., 2009. "Grid-connected versus stand-alone energy systems for decentralized power--A review of literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 2041-2050, October.
    11. Purohit, Pallav, 2009. "CO2 emissions mitigation potential of solar home systems under clean development mechanism in India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1014-1023.
    12. Oda, Hisaya & Tsujita, Yuko, 2010. "The determinants of rural electrification in Bihar, India," IDE Discussion Papers 254, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    13. Gojiya, Anil & Deb, Dipankar & Iyer, Kannan K.R., 2019. "Feasibility study of power generation from agricultural residue in comparison with soil incorporation of residue," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 416-425.
    14. Sam Shrank, 2008. "Another Look at Renewables on India’s Sagar Island," Working Papers id:1619, eSocialSciences.
    15. Palit, Debajit & Malhotra, Ramit & Kumar, Atul, 2011. "Sustainable model for financial viability of decentralized biomass gasifier based power projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 4893-4901, September.
    16. Cust, J. & Singh, A. & Neuhoff, K., 2007. "Rural Electrification in India: Economic and Institutional aspects of Renewables," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0763, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    17. Kanagawa, Makoto & Nakata, Toshihiko, 2008. "Assessment of access to electricity and the socio-economic impacts in rural areas of developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 2016-2029, June.
    18. Palit, Debajit & Bandyopadhyay, Kaushik Ranjan, 2017. "Rural electricity access in India in retrospect: A critical rumination," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 109-120.
    19. Andrea Vaona & Natalia Magnani, 2014. "Access to electricity and socio-economic characteristics: panel data evidence from 31 countries," Working Papers 15/2014, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    20. Chambon, Clementine L. & Karia, Tanuj & Sandwell, Philip & Hallett, Jason P., 2020. "Techno-economic assessment of biomass gasification-based mini-grids for productive energy applications: The case of rural India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 432-444.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:57:y:2013:i:c:p:407-417. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.