Improving community resilience through distributed solar energy as critical infrastructure – a case study of South Asia

Abstract

Purpose The analytical framework proposed in this study aims to link the capital portfolio approach to sustaining human well-being, 2015 sustainable development goals and development action ARC-D concepts. Nepal case study is a “tribrid” power generation system that combines distributed solar, hydro and wind power generation capacities for the resilience of a community of around 500 people in a remote village with a total installed capacity of 28 kW. The second case study is about the solarization of 900 health centres in Chhattisgarh, India, with off-grid solar PV with a cumulative capacity of 3 MW. Design/methodology/approach Critical infrastructure at the community scale needs to be resilient to maintain community-level functionality in the face of adverse impacts. The present study provides two case study sites from Nepal and India to demonstrate various elements of resilience building for critical infrastructures, especially for the energy sector. Findings Granular technology and distributed generation in Nepal and India can act as critical infrastructure in providing on-demand electricity service to enhance community-level resilience along with future opportunities of scale up. Originality/value The analytical framework for evaluating community-scale resilience through critical infrastructure design and application of the framework using evidence based on case studies are the original contributions.