While our customers in California will be running their homes on low carbon power, we will continue to pursue targeted rural electrification programs that can be supported on an ongoing basis.
We're already hard at work on these 'off-grid' projects, some of which bring power to thousands, others of which are in pilot phase to show communities and governments what can be achieved.
Malaysia
We have completed a $39mn project, funded by the Ministry of Rural Development, which supplied more than 13,000 systems to remote communities situated in dense tropical rainforest, high mountain ridges and flood-prone river deltas. The systems deliver power to homes, rural clinics, community halls, schools and churches.
Sri Lanka
We have worked with the Ministry of Agriculture in Sri Lanka and partners to install 5,000 solar powered drip irrigation systems. These systems have proved very successful, increasing crop yields and the quality of the crop, while reducing water consumption and soil erosion. This has led to increased household income and improved quality of life.
Philippines
We completed work in 2004 on the Solar Power Technology Support (SPOTS) project, which was funded jointly by the Philippines and Spanish governments. It has brought electricity to around 40 communities for everything from school lighting to water pumping for clean drinking water to vaccine refrigeration. A second phase will now cover 40 more communities. The SPOTS project has increased farm productivity, raised household income and improved the lives of about 400,000 people in the most isolated regions of Mindanao.
Angola
A solar pilot project, funded jointly by BP Angola and the UK government, provides a reliable source of energy to a village of about 360 people, 55km north of the capital city of Luanda. Launched in June 2004, the project is helping the area recover from the recent war by providing energy to community buildings. This includes the school and medical centre, a vaccine refrigerator, lighting for houses, a water-pumping system and street lighting. BP also provided a training course to the Paranhos Farmers Association to teach them how the systems operate. Before the project, the only electricity supply came from a small, unreliable generator that villagers could usually not afford to run or repair. The project also acts as a showcase to demonstrate the potential of solar energy in rural communities in Angola. BP Solar and the Angolan Ministry of Energy and Water have been co-operating on a study to identify the potential for a nationwide rural electrification programme using solar photovoltaics as the enabling technology.
India
Our joint venture, Tata BP Solar, has set up more than 100 solar power plants in villages deep in forests, benefiting about 30,000 villagers. Residential lighting has been provided for around 5,000 households and street lighting for the community. At the island village of Indrapur, a 110 kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar power plant in the fragile ecosystem of Sunderbans enables 10,000 people in a fishing community to have access to electricity and clean water. One 20kWp and nine 10kWp solar power plants in the desert state of Rajasthan have brought power to 243 village households. More than 200 solar water pumping systems have enabled farmers in Uttar Pradesh to irrigate their fields. A joint project with Hewlett-Packard uses mobile vans fitted with an aerodynamic 640-watt solar power plant on their roofs to provide energy to provide doorstep services to farmers in Kuppam including soil testing, internet and e-mail facilities.
