Tariff Analysis and Cost-Benefit Tool for Solarizing Irrigation

Meeting agricultural electricity needs—mostly for irrigation—from solar power can improve energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, facilitate the cost-effective integration of renewable energy, and reduce state subsidy obligations and power procurement costs. Solarizing agricultural power demand can be achieved by requiring farmers to draw electricity for productive purposes during solar peak hours and adding solar power installations to relevant feeder stations. 

Recognizing the benefit of solarization, the Government of India launched the PM-KUSUM scheme in 2019. Two of the components (A and C-FLS) incentivize the installation of medium-scale distributed solar power plants (1 to 10 MW) connected to the distribution substations to cater to agricultural power demand. 

However, progress under the scheme has been slow. Key challenges include lack of buy-in to the idea of solarizing irrigation power demand within various state administrations, unviable tariffs offered by the state regulators for solar projects, and difficulty in financing projects. 

The Tariff Analysis and Cost-Benefit Tool for Solarizing Irrigation (TACTS) aims to help policy-makers, distribution companies, and developers tackle three of these barriers. The Excel-based spreadsheets draw on the most recent data. The Tariff Calculation section estimates viable tariffs for projects under different deployment models. The Financing section projects the potential impact of different financial instruments in improving the ease of financing projects. And the Costs and Benefits section quantifies the pros and cons of solarizing agricultural power demand to encourage policy-makers to accelerate the implementation of the scheme. 

Instructions before opening the workbook

1. This file has macros. Please download and save the file—do not open it yet.

2. Macros for files from external sources may be blocked in your system due to admin settings. Follow the next steps before using the file: 

   Right-click on downloaded file --> Properties --> In the dialogue box: General tab --> At the bottom, there will be a Security section; select the box next to Unblock --> Apply --> OK.

3. Open the file only in the desktop version of Excel—not in the online version of Excel or in Google Sheets.
4. After opening the file, you may receive a prompt suggesting some active content has been disabled. Select the Enable Content option and click Connect in the dialogue box that opens.

5. Macros may be disabled in your Excel by default. If so, you will receive a prompt stating that Excel has blocked macros from running. Follow the next steps to enable macros. 

   File --> Options (at the bottom of the left panel) --> Trust Centre --> Trust Centre Settings --> Macro Settings --> Enable Macros.

6. Some calculations have circular referencing. Enable iterative calculation by: 

   File --> Options (at the bottom of the left panel) --> Formulas --> Calculation Options --> Enable Iterative Calculation.