Oorja is pleased to announce their partnership with D.E.S.I Power (Decentralised Energy Systems India). The two social enterprises have shared goals of sustainable village development, providing access to clean electricity and supporting micro-enterprises in rural India.
“We are thrilled to partner with D.E.S.I Power, who have pioneered the use of biomass gasification for rural development. We share their vision of using a comprehensive approach which focuses not only on energy but also integrates access to other essential services,” said Amit Saraogi and Clementine Chambon, Oorja’s co-founders who visited Araria this week.
Since 1996, D.E.S.I Power has developed a model of village development by providing clean electricity – powered by biomass gasification, solar photovoltaics (PV) and hybrid systems – to support micro-enterprise development in 14 villages in Araria. “D.E.S.I Power has been working on a replicable model for integrated development, including energy access, organic farming, sanitation, and irrigation, using Micro Grids and Tiny Grids,” said S. N. Sharan (Bulluji), Managing Director of DESI Power.
Oorja will benefit from D.E.S.I Power’s support and experience to pilot their own solution in Bahraich district, Uttar Pradesh. They plan to build smart micro-grids incorporating hybrid biomass-solar PV technologies, as a strategy to mitigate climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to fossil fuel use. In particular, they would also like to replicate DESI Power’s model of building Tiny Grids to power electric pumps for irrigation water, replacing the diesel-powered boring pumps used until now.
In India, there are over 400 million people living without access to electricity and over 18,000 villages that cannot be economically reached by extending the national grid. Oorja and DESI Power are committed to demonstrating that decentralized energy solutions can co-exist with grid expansion to rapidly end energy poverty.
“By forming collaborative partnerships and sharing each other’s resources and networks, we can scale our solutions to have maximal socio-economic and environmental impact,” said Dr. Hari Sharan, Chairman of DESI Power, and his team.