South Asia Partnership

Bhutan’s energy system, primarily powered by low-carbon hydropower, faces challenges during the dry winter months when water resources diminish. Additionally, climate change and extreme weather events are increasing variability in water availability, threatening the reliability of its hydropower plants. To address these vulnerabilities, Bhutan is working to enhance the resilience of its energy system by deepening its understanding of climate change impacts on hydropower. Bhutan’s National Center for Hydrology and Meteorology, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Royal University of Bhutan, and other partners are collaborating with U.S. national labs through the SAGE program to assess these impacts.

At the same time, Bhutan is exploring photovoltaic (PV) solar energy to diversify its energy mix. Key power sector players, such as Druk Green Power Corporation and Bhutan Power Corporation, are working with SAGE to develop their solar capabilities and integrate solar energy into the grid. These efforts aim to strengthen the country's energy infrastructure, enhance efficiency, and ensure a more stable, climate-resilient energy supply. 

South Asia Group for Energy—Bhutan, NREL Fact Sheet (2024)

Building Capacity: Solar Photovoltaics Site Assessment and Feasibility Study, NREL Technical Report (2024)

India is working towards a goal of achieving 40% renewable electricity capacity with an additional 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2040. The intention is to improve Indian grid security, resilience, and reliability. To achieve this goal, Grid Indian and the Central Electricity Authority are partnering with the South Asia Group for Energy to map out concerns, analyze issues, and engage with stakeholders to determine how inverter-based resources can be deployed onto the grid.

Through SAGE, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is also working directly with NITI Aayog on integrated assessment modeling of India's energy system to provide insights to the Government of India for India's national energy policy,  nationally determined contribution, and long-term strategy. 
 
South Asia Group for Energy—India, NREL Fact Sheet (2024)

Sri Lanka set a target of generating 70% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. This goal includes the addition of 5.8 GW of renewable power capacity, comprising hydropower, solar, wind, and biomass, between 2023 and 2030, with an interim target of adding 2.5 GW of renewable capacity by 2026.

To accomplish this, Sri Lanka’s power grid needs significant transformation and modernization to handle the integration of variable renewable energy sources effectively. SAGE is helping Sri Lanka's grid operator, the Ceylon Electricity Board, understand the gaps for operating the grid with higher renewable share and identifying technology and research requirements to establish a variable renewable energy control center.

South Asia Group for Energy—Sri Lanka, NREL Fact Sheet (2024) 

An Overview of Renewable Energy Desk Activities for Power Grid Operations and Planning, NREL Fact Sheet (2024) 

Tangible Solutions for Grid Operation Upgrade, NREL Presentation (2024) 

During the first phase of SAGE, the labs collaborated with India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and its technical institutions, the National Institute of Wind Energy and the National Institute of BioEnergy, on several key pieces of analysis.  

NREL and the National Institute of Wind Energy partnered to advance the National Institute of Wind Energy's renewable energy forecasting capabilities by implementing a model for predicting solar radiation to improve dispatch capabilities for utility-scale solar plants. This project enables higher solar penetration in South Asia because improved forecasting reduces the cost of operational electricity generation by reducing reserve requirements.

Through SAGE, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the National Institute of BioEnergy evaluated the impact on air pollution of changes in agricultural waste burning, estimated water use and savings potentials from improved irrigation practices, and assessed changes in food prices based on crop yields and competition between biomass and food crops.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Institute of BioEnergy also worked together on improving and certifying their biomass cookstoves testing laboratory.  

An integral aspect of the collaborations with these national institutions includes technical insights through research and capacity building between the teams. 

Institutional Framework of Variable Renewable Energy Forecasting in India, NREL Technical Report (2023)

Charting a Path for Research and Development of Reliability and Resilience in South Asia's Power Sector, NREL Technical Report (2021)

Power Sector Decarbonization in South Asia—Pathways for Research, Modeling, and Implementation, NREL Technical Report (2022)

Reliability and Resiliency in South Asia's Power Sector, NREL Technical Report (2022)

Access all of the resources produced through the first phase of SAGE by visiting the South Asia Regional Energy Partnership website.

SAGE builds upon years of previous collaborations between USAID missions in India and South Asia and the Department of Energy national labs. One of the first major collaborations between India and the national labs began in 2017, when the government of India laid out an ambitious goal to integrate 175 GW of installed renewable capacity by 2022, including 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind.

A team of specialists from NREL, India’s Power System Operator, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory collaborated with Indian stakeholders to determine the impacts of operating a power system with this level of wind and solar and to identify actions to improve renewable energy integration.

This renewable integration study resolved critical questions about how India's electric grid can manage high penetrations of wind and solar generation. The study used specially designed weather and power system modeling to identify how India's power system balances generation and demand throughout the year.

"Energy is a key determinant of growth, and India needs sustainable energy sources to continue to grow at 7%–8% annually. Introducing renewable energy solutions into established energy systems often requires changes to well-established policy, institutions, and market structures. This study will prove to be helpful in scaling up renewable energy in India effectively and sustainably." —Michael Satin, director of Clean Energy and Environment at USAID/India

India Renewable Integration Study

Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy Into India's Electric Grid: Vol. I—National Study, NREL Technical Report (2017)

Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy Into India's Electric Grid: Vol. II—Regional Study, NREL Technical Report (2017)

This research focused on the challenges caused by renewable integration into the power grid at large. Because the challenges and opportunities vary depending on the point of interconnection (distribution or transmission), there were two distinct research tracks: power procurement and distributed energy resources.

1. Power procurement: This research track examined the challenges and opportunities caused by gigawatt-scale renewable integration at the transmission level. Specifically, this track investigated the contribution that utility-scale renewable energy procurement provides to distribution utilities, both from energy and capacity perspectives.
   
   
2. Distributed energy resources: This research track focused on the challenges and opportunities caused by many small-scale distributed renewable resource integrations at the distribution systems. At the power-distribution level, distribution utilities may face not only new solar energy technologies but also battery energy storage and electric vehicles. Combined, these three technologies (solar PV, battery energy storage, and electric vehicles) pose unique challenges to distribution utilities.

Preparing Distribution Utilities for the Future—Unlocking Demand-Side Management Potential: A Novel Analytical Framework, NREL Technical Report (2021)

Preparing Distribution Utilities for the Future—Evolving Customer Consumption in Renewable Rich Grids: A Novel Analytical Framework, NREL Technical Report (2021)

Preparing Distribution Utilities for Utility-Scale Storage and Electric Vehicles: A Novel Analytical Framework, NREL Technical Report (2020)

Ramping Up the Ramping Capability—India's Power System Transition, NREL Technical Report (2020)

Opening Markets, Designing Windows, and Closing Gates: India's Power System Transition—Insights on Gate Closure, NREL Technical Report (2019)