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Asia / Commercial & demonstration

Dharnai Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations7
System facts18
Sources reviewed9
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Greenpeace commissioned Dharnai's 100 kW solar mini-grid in 2014 as a demonstration for a Bihar village that had lacked reliable grid power. The design split 70 kW among homes, shops and community services and 30 kW among irrigation pumps, with battery-backed distribution and streetlights. It delivered meaningful early social benefits, but it was not durable: grid electricity arrived in 2016, batteries failed after roughly three years, tariffs and load limits were unattractive, and maintenance and collections collapsed.

Research status
Defunct as a mini-grid. Field reporting in 2021 found the power station used as a makeshift cattle shed and the PV, CCTV and distribution infrastructure idle; a 2026 sector report classifies the project as failed by 2018. A few stand-alone daytime irrigation pumps were still working in 2021 because they did not depend on the failed battery bank, but that does not make the central mini-grid operational.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
100 kW
Coordinates
25.01251, 84.97915
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Dharnai Microgrid?

7 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

BASIX

Livelihood/community implementation and operating partner. [3][7]

Organization

CEED

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Centre for Environment and Energy Development (CEED)

Community mobilization and local implementation partner. [3][7]

Organization

Greenpeace

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Greenpeace India

Project initiator, principal funder, public campaign lead and commissioning reporter. [3][4]

Organization

Kripa Solar

Solar installation contractor identified at project foundation. [5]

Organization

Village Electricity Committee

Local governance, tariff/collection and community interface described in post-project research. [8]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
100 [1]
Solar PV
100 kW total: 70 kW for household/commercial/community demand and 30 kW allocated to irrigation pumping. [3]
PV module count
Greenpeace's retrospective reports 280 panels; module wattage, manufacturer, inverter model and actual AC capacity were not published. [6]
Initial service scope
Launch reporting cites more than 450 households, about 50 commercial loads, two schools, one health centre, a farmer-training centre and 60 streetlights, serving roughly 2,400 people. Another Greenpeace retrospective says about 400 homes and six pumps, while the launch says ten 3 hp pumps; these are reporting/boundary differences. [3][4][6]
Project cost
Approximately INR3 crore at commissioning. [4]
Battery
Battery-backed service was central to night operation, but reliable public sources do not establish chemistry, manufacturer, nominal kWh, usable duration or replacement plan. [3][7][8]
Connection decline
A cited village study counted 225 solar connections in 2014 and 126 in 2016, before final collapse. [7]
Tariff competition
Field reporting cites about INR9/kWh for mini-grid power versus INR3/kWh for conventional grid power after grid arrival; service also restricted high-power appliances. [7]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

PV arrays

Model not publicly disclosed

Approximately 280 rooftop/ground-mounted panels across community facilities; module and inverter OEM/models were not disclosed. [6][7]

02

Battery bank

Model not publicly disclosed

Unspecified battery storage for night/firm service. Exhaustion after roughly three years and lack of repair disabled the central mini-grid; kWh and chemistry remain unverified. [7][8]

03

Irrigation pumps

Model not publicly disclosed

Commissioning material says ten 3 hp solar pumps under a 30 kW allocation; a later Greenpeace account says six. Some battery-free daytime pumps remained in use in 2021. [3][6][7]

04

Distribution and metering

Model not publicly disclosed

Local wires, meters, rooftop installations, CCTV/monitoring and 60 solar-powered streetlights were deployed; commercial component models were not published. [3][7]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Generation

    70 KW Solar PV for shops and households [1]

  • Generation

    30 KW Solar PV for pumping hydro [1]

  • Early outcomes

    Residents reported improved evening study, cooking and perceived safety, plus fewer snakebite deaths around lit streets. These social benefits were real but concentrated in the first operating years. [7]

  • Failure sequence

    Grid power arrived about two years after commissioning; lower tariffs and fewer appliance restrictions drew customers away. Around year three the batteries were exhausted, maintenance was not restored and billing/collection arrangements deteriorated, leaving the system defunct by 2017-18. [7][8][9]

  • Business-model lesson

    The case shows that a technically commissioned donor-backed mini-grid still needs competitive service, replacement reserves, durable O&M, collection authority and rules for coexistence with an arriving central grid. [8][9]

  • Residual assets

    Daytime solar irrigation can survive independently of battery failure, but isolated functioning pumps must not be used to label the village distribution microgrid operational. [7]

Provenance

9 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    Dharnai Live by Greenpeace

    dharnailive.org · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  3. [3]
  4. [4]
  5. [5]
  6. [6]
    Energy for Dharnai

    Greenpeace Germany · Primary source

  7. [7]
  8. [8]
  9. [9]
    Mini-grid Markets, Mechanisms and Monetisation

    Centre for Science and Environment · Primary source

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