With the help of Colombo-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI), six Gujarat farmers have formed world’s first power cooperative society to sell surplus power generated from water pumps installed at their farms.

After conducting a successful pilot project of connecting farmer with the grid at Anand district of Gujarat, IWMI has now assembled six farmers of Dhundi village in Kheda district for the society. Having been trained on use of water pump and how to earn from connecting surplus power from it to the grid, these farmers have come together to form a solar cooperative society named Dhundi Saur Urja Utpadak Sahakari Mandali or Solar Pump Irrigators Cooperative Enterprise (SPICE).

The cooperative society has been registered at Registrar of Cooperative Society, Government of Gujarat.

It is for the first time that someone has set up solar cooperative society. We showcased our pilot project to these small farmers to help them understand that this could be a new mode of earning which eventually led to formation of the society,Tushar Shah of IWM said.

State discom Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited (MGVCL) and Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) are also supporting IWMI for this project.

With the trial run of power supply to the grid being completed, farmers have begun supplying surplus power from solar pumps on commercial basis to MGVCL at the rate of Rs 4.70 per unit.

The cooperative society members being small farmers, IWMI had supported them financially for purchase and installation of pumps and solar panels. The institute has so far funded about Rs 40 lakh in the project.

Shah said: "Solar pump costs are not affordable for small farmers so we decided to provide funds to them. We have installed 58 kilo watts (Kw) solar water pumps in Dhundi village. However, we will not add more funds and would rather go for the government’s schemes for solar water pumps when we induct new members in the solar cooperative society."

Four more farmers of Dhundi village have agreed to join SPICE and will be part of it by end of May. IWMI has also decided to showcase this model to other parts of Gujarat by inviting farmers.

Currently our focus is Gujarat. Once the model is properly operational we will take it to other states also. For now we are planning to invite other farmers to see the project from across the state, Shah told Business Standard.

MGVCL has signed an agreement with the society to purchase surplus power. It is also helping the society connect with the grid. SPICE is expecting to supply about 250 units power a day to the grid.

We have signed a power purchase agreement with the farmers of the solar cooperative society at the rate of Rs 4.70 per unit. This is not the end, if more farmers join, we will connect them also with the grid as part of the agreement, an MGVCL official stated.

Through the society, farmers are hoping to bring down costs as well as earn almost double through sale of surplus power.

The farmers at Dhundi are small farmers with average landholding of only one acre. Each farmer spends close to Rs 20,000 annually on diesel for irrigation. With SPICE, the farmers will not only save the costs on diesel but will also be earning close to Rs 40,000 per annum from sale of solar power, said P Raghu who is in-charge of the project.

On its part, GERMI is providing technical support to the society and educating farmers about operation of the pumps and connection with the grid.

According to IMWI, the local utility will also save on future subsidy of around Rs 50,000 per annum per farmer which they would have incurred had these farmers gotten electricity connections instead of solar pumps. Considering that India has close to 15-20 million electric pumps which annually absorb Rs 60,000 crore of farm power subsidies to earn a meagre income, the idea of SPICE offers wide ranging appeal.