Intelligent Mini-Grid Sizing and Reliability Planning Platform for Rural India

Objective: To develop a digital tool that enables rural energy planners to accurately size and optimize the reliability of mini-grid installations for underserved Indian villages.

Millions of rural households across India lack reliable access to electricity, with many villages dependent on small mini-grids that often suffer from poor sizing, frequent outages, and inefficient planning. This affects the quality of life, economic opportunity, and education in remote areas. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and local panchayats require robust tools for data-driven planning to meet SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy).

The proposed solution is an interactive software platform that combines open-source geospatial, demographic, and consumption data to recommend optimal mini-grid configurations and anticipate reliability challenges. The tool will allow planners and engineers to simulate different scenarios, model seasonal demand patterns, and integrate renewable sources (solar, wind, biomass) with local constraints.

Key features include village-level data ingestion, load estimation using open datasets, renewable resource mapping, grid sizing calculators, reliability forecasting, and a user-friendly dashboard for scenario planning. The working prototype must support at least two districts from two different states, using real village data and open-source mapping layers.

This solution can substantially improve rural electrification outcomes by guiding smarter investments, reducing outages, and scaling efficiently to thousands of villages. Its open, modular design enables adaptation by state agencies and NGOs, directly impacting rural livelihoods and accelerating progress toward universal energy access.