Training of Operations Team at Mon Office

On 10th March 25, a refresher training for the Hamara Grid operations team was organised at Mon Office, Nagaland. A total of 10 Project Officers participated in the training. The Operations training was conducted by Col. Vijay, Managing Director; Rick, Regional Manager, Mon and Sudeshna, Operations Director.

Following topics were discussed in a participatory manner:

• 1. Scope of Operations in the solar mini grid ecosystem
• 2. Skills and expertise of Project Officer- Operations
• 3. Organizing and planning work – Repair& maintenance, meter reading & recharging, community rapport and demand generation activities
• 4. Managing manpower
• 5. Critical Issues faced in Operations
• 6. Importance of demand generation in mini grid ecosystem
• 7. Different approaches/ strategies/ tools for demand generation activities in the operational villages
• 8. Role of the Project Officer in demand acquisition

The training sessions were made lively through real scenario-painting exercises, group presentations by the participants and role-plays.

This training is a part of a continuous series of capacity building sessions for internal team strengthening of Hamara Grid.

Technical Capacity Building of Team Hamara Grid on solar mini grid installations

A three-days (20th -22nd Feb 25) technical training on solar mini grid installation was organised at Lapalampong village in Mon district, Nagaland.

The training was conducted by Lalan Kumar, Head Technical and Rick Ranjan Pal, Regional Manager, Mon, Hamara Grid.

This technical training was attended by 10 Project Officers.

The following topics were covered during the three-days training:

• 1. Pre-installation technical survey, processes and documentation.
• 2. Village / site sketch with distance/ measurements.
• 3. Transmission & Distribution (T&D) line mapping.
• 4. Pole excavation, erection, clamp and bracket fitting.
• 5. Stay wire connections and cabling as part of T&D works.
• 6. MMS installation and AJB connection.
• 7. AJB connection and connection of battery, diesel genset and energy meter to the inverter.
• 8. Meter box installation and fitting on the metal poles.
• 9. Earthing works and lightning arrestor installation.
• 10. Technical report preparation.
• 11. Inventory and material management at the field level.
• 12.Mandatory safety standards to be maintained during the mini grid installation process.

Technical Capacity Building of Team Hamara Grid on Caterpillar (CAT) mini grid system

A two-days (18th and 19th Feb 25) technical training on Caterpillar (CAT) mini grid system was organised at Lapalampong village in Mon district, Nagaland. Lapalampong is being powered through a CAT solar mini grid from September 2024. The training was conducted by Lalan Kumar, Head Technical and was attended by 8 Project Officers of Hamara Grid.

The following topics were covered during the two-day training:

• 1. Single Line diagram (SLD) of CAT mini grid
• 2. PV Module and AJB connection in the context of CAT mini grid
• 3. Cable connections of all electronic equipments.
• 4. Overview of PV inverter
• 5. Understand all the internal components of XES 120 (Li-ion battery bank, MPPT, Cerbo gx, ECM)
• 6. Operation and maintenance of XES 120, PV Inverter, Battery bank, Cerbo gx etc.
• 7. Safety standards to be maintained while operating the XES 120

Hamara Grid Annual Stakeholders’ Meet

A cohort of partners for the Nagaland Rural Development through Mini-grids Project met at Kolkata on 31st January 2025 to take stock of progress, learnings, chart the way forward to scale. The meeting was attended by our partners GEAPP, Caterpillar Inc., Assist International, DOEN Foundation, Shell Foundation and PowerTrust. The Directors of Hamara Grid governing board were present as well. The discussions were insightful, vibrant and fruitful. It is exciting times for Team Hamara as the project prepares to scale to 75 villages of Nagaland. We pledge to make it happen with the development of the communities at the heart of the project.

Inauguration of the two Solar Mini Grids at Hongpoi and Pongkong villages in Mon, Nagaland by Shri Wangpang Konyak, Honorable MLA and Advisor to Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of Nagaland

Two solar mini grids were inaugurated at Hongpoi and Pongkong villages on 7th November and 8th November 2024 by Shri Wangpang Konyak, Honorable MLA and Advisor to Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of Nagaland. The mini grids were funded under his LADP 2024-2025. The inauguration ceremonies were graced by the senior members of the respective Village Councils, including the Chairman and blessed by the local Church Authorities. The Regional Manager of Hamara Grid in Mon, Shri Shyamal Bera and team members also attended the inauguration function. In his speech, Shri Wangpang Konyak mentioned that the solar mini grid project would not only ensure 24x7 clean energy access in the operational villages but would go a long way in spurring livelihood development in the operational villages. He thanked the Hamara Grid team and all the local stakeholders for their contribution and wanted to further collaborate with Hamara Grid / MRDF for powering additional villages in Mon, Nagaland through mini-grids. For Team Hamara Grid, support from elected people’s representatives will contribute enormously to the scaling of this flagship project in Mon District, Nagaland.

Meeting with Madam Phangnon Konyak, member of Rajya Sabha (MP), Nagaland in Mon

On 1st November 24, Hamara Grid Regional Manager, Mr. Shyamal Kumar Bera along with Logistics Officer, Mr. Ape Konyak was invited to meet Madam Phangnon Konyak at her residence in Mon town, Nagaland. Madam Phangnon was very keen to know about Hamara Grid’s flagship Solar Electrification Project in Mon district. Shyamal presented her an overview of the project which is now spread across 17 operational villages in Mon district impacting over 25,200 Konyak lives and livelihoods. Shyamal elaborated on the objective of this flagship project, partnership with key stakeholders including Mon District administration and its deep impact in terms of 24x7 supply of reliable and affordable solar energy in the remote villages, increasing local employment and diversifying livelihood opportunities in remote Mon villages. Madam Phangnon was very happy with the project outcomes. She wanted to contribute towards scaling of the project across eastern Nagaland and wished Hamara Grid’s project all success!!

“4th Foundation Day of Hamara Grid”

Dimapur Roundtable on Scaling Rural Development through Mini Grids in Nagaland and North-East India.

Hamara Grid began work on three new mini-grids at Lapalampong, Wakching and Totok Chingnyu as part of a pilot in partnership with Caterpillar Inc and Assist International.

“Financial Inclusion and Empowerment in remote villages of Nagaland”

“Hamara Grid commissions its 10th mini-grid”

“Hamara Grid work has figured as a case study on the are website and has been posted on LinkedIn”

An update on the Hamara Grid work has been featured by Alliance for Rural Electrification as a case study “Hamara Grid – Challenges in installation & operation of solar mini-grids in remote, rural areas (India)” Click Here

“Training of master trainers on Banana Fiber handicrafts value chain”

“Closed loop value chain in Mon Villages (Nagaland) - Maize Crop”

“Hamara Grid Turns 3!”

We had a joyous celebration of our second foundation day on 29th July’2022 at Mon, Nagaland. It was celebrated with office decorations, cake cutting, team reflections on our two-year journey of growth followed by a sumptuous team lunch. It was indeed a milestone that we achieved with support from our partners and well-wishers. We are all committed to keep the growth momentum on!

Hamara Grid team meeting with Shri. Ajit Verma, IAS, new Deputy Commissioner of Mon District, Nagaland

“The Mithun Rural Development Foundation (MRDF) targets 100% adoption of mini-grids by Mon district households”

• • The program aims to provide reliable access to electricity for the last mile and promoting the adoption of green energy sources, covering 1000 villages in the next seven years.

In conjunction with NABARD and Smart Power India [SPI], the MRDF team has just installed the first three-phase productive load in the state of Nagaland. The 7.5 HP rice huller installed on the 27th of January in Longkei village, Mon district, was powered completely by the village’s recently installed solar mini-grid. The consistent and high quality electricity provided by our mini-grid is one that local entrepreneurs can confidently rely on, creating fertile conditions for the development of micro-enterprises. Moreover, this milestone propels us towards achieving our aim of increasing village incomes by 20% year-on-year, an objective at the heart of our effort.

This marks the first micro-enterprise to be incubated by our team in the region, one of over 1300 we hope to incubate across 132 villages in Mon district over the next three and a half years, and over 10,000 across Nagaland in the next decade. These are invariably powered by renewable electricity, ensuring climate conscious development where it is most necessary.

The Mon District Administration, Government of Nagaland, and Mithun Rural Development Foundation (MRDF) sign a 20-year agreement to set up mini-Grids in rural Nagaland.

“Our Director, Operations in Conversation with Smart Power Connect.”

“We had a joyous celebration of our first foundation day on 29th July’2021. It was celebrated with office decorations, cake cutting, team reflections on our one-year journey of growth followed by a sumptuous team lunch. It was indeed a milestone that we achieved with support from our partners and well-wishers. We are all committed to keep the growth momentum on!”

Webinar Report - Building EU-India Technology Partnerships to Promote Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) as Source of Reliable Energy Access to Power Rural India.

Editorial Note by Col. Vijay Bhaskar

Women as Catalysts in the Future of Energy Access

Sudeshna Mukherjee, Director – Operations Hamara Grid, was a key speaker in the global webinar on ‘Women as catalysts in future energy access’ hosted by Rockefeller Foundation, Smart Power India and Power for All on 18th March, 2021. Click Here

Nurturing Women Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development Goals

Training on Demand Generation Strategy for Solar Mini Grids

The Demand Professionals