Making energy access safe in Bihar, India

Over 82% of the 103 million residents in Bihar, India lack access to reliable electricity. Our latest partner, Husk Power Systems, will bring millions of families in Bihar out of the darkness by providing reliable, renewable and affordable electricity.  In just four years Husk Power wowed the nation with the installation of 84 mini-power plants that convert rice husks into electricity at a scale that is affordable for families that can spend only $2 a month for power.  In total, Husk Power provides electricity to over 200,000 people spread across 300 villages, and employing 350 local people across Bihar.

“What’s replicable isn’t the distribution of electricity. It’s the whole process of how to take an old technology and apply it to local constraints. How to create a system out of the materials and labor that are readily available,” said CEO Gyanesh Pandey in an interview with the New York Times.

This Fall, Husk Power and Catapult team up to increase the scale of Husk’s impact by evaluating and refining the energy production process from a people and safety perspective in a special project funded by Shell Foundation. Catapulter Charlie Sellers is spending the next few months in Bihar working side-by-side with the Husk Power team to observe, conceptualize, and prototype solutions that can be replicated on each of Husk’s power generators.

We’re excited to kick-off this collaboration with Husk Power.  Stay tuned for Charlie’s updates from Bihar on our twitter and blog feed.