A new approach to micro-level energy planning—A case of northern parts of Rajasthan, India

The gap in demand and supply of energy can be met by optimal allocation of energy resources. In developing countries like India, demand for energy is constantly rising. Conventional energy supply options have failed to cope up with this increase. Therefore, it is required to plan the allocation at micro-level also. A micro-level energy planning thus becomes pragmatic for sustainable development. Micro-level energy planning aims at optimal resource allocation thereby reducing dependence on commercial energy and reducing associated environmental hazards, and opening new avenues for employment generation. This paper considers energy consumption patterns in northern part of Rajasthan, India to arrive at micro-level plan using multi-objective goal programming approach. Optimal energy resource allocation for various end-uses has been deduced. In conventional micro-level energy planning the region is defined as village or taluk or district. Inter-village energy mix have been attempted to define region for energy planning in the present text. The results of inter-village mix show that the energy mix of two villages at micro-level results in better utilization of available energy sources compared to an individual village. The methodology suggested gives the flexibility of defining a region to the energy planner.