Energy Transition in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Energy Transition in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Backcasting Analysis to aid a transition to sustainable energy in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by 2040

Vallabhaneni, Aditya Vardhan (TU Delft Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Quist, J.N. (mentor)
Blok, K. (mentor)
Mulder, K.F. (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Electrical Engineering | Sustainable Energy Technology

2018-08-28

In this research study, a backcasting analysis has been conducted on the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago with the aim of establishing a sustainable energy supply by the year 2040. Quist backcasting framework, due to it's flexible nature has been used as the main skeleton for this research. As a part of the study, 8 islands with significant populations have been chosen from within the archipelago. The current energy system in the islands is largely characterized by both technical and economic inefficiencies. The island largely relies on diesel for it's power supply. The underdeveloped nature of the economy in the archipelago, especially in the rural areas, enables the usage of large amounts of traditional fuels such as firewood and crop residue for their daily energy needs. As a part of the backcasting analysis, the desired future energy system has been envisioned for the islands and a modelling exercise has been performed to optimize the sizing of the energy sources in the future system using levelized cost of electricity as a parameter. These optimized sizings have found to be largely dependent upon the learning rates and the future costs of technologies. Transitional pathways for each of the islands have been drafted to materialize these visions. It has been observed that large amounts of infrastructure upgradation and a strong policy framework are the main interventions necessary. In order to facilitate a transition in the rural areas, drafting a separate rural energy policy would be advisable. Overall, this thesis succeeds in blending a wide range of topics into the backcasting framework and uses it well to draw tangible transitional pathways.

Backcasting Analysis
Energy Transition
Renewable Energy
Optimal Configuration
Andaman and Nicobar Islands

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1e9f6599-86b3-453a-aded-69fae6d2b4e1

Student theses

master thesis

© 2018 Aditya Vardhan Vallabhaneni