Water depletion following increased solar energy use

In some regions with fragile water basins, increased access to solar energy, which has alleviated energy poverty and promoted the use of clean energy, has had unintended side effects. Unregulated access to solar energy has led to the depletion of water resources through overuse for agriculture. This has been made possible by small-scale private water pumps powered by solar energy.

Nº 95

1) India

2) Egypt

some attempts made
past case
Region-1
Region-2
Region-3
Region-4
ongoing case
no attempts made

Water depletion following increased solar energy use

In some regions with fragile water basins, increased access to solar energy, which has alleviated energy poverty and promoted the use of clean energy, has had unintended side effects. Unregulated access to solar energy has led to the depletion of water resources through overuse for agriculture. This has been made possible by small-scale private water pumps powered by solar energy.

1) The Indian government has set a target of installing 1.75 million off-grid solar pumps and 1 million grid-connected solar pumps as part of a nationwide roll-out of solar energy. However, this initiative carries significant risks as it could exacerbate the depletion of India’s groundwater resources. The introduction of the erstwhile government’s solar pump programme in Punjab, for example, has coincided with a decline in groundwater levels since 1997.

2) Egypt faces significant water security challenges. The country has a shortage of arable land, the vast majority of total land being desert (96%). It also has low rainfall and the availability of water from the Nile River for agricultural purposes is declining. In addition, a significant proportion of Egypt’s groundwater resources are over-exploited. In the energy sector, there is a shift away from subsidising fossil fuels and towards promoting solar pump irrigation systems (SPIS) in off-grid and desert areas where solar energy potential is high. In this context, effective management of groundwater extraction, particularly through the use of solar pumps, becomes crucial.

1) Chandra Bhushan, Priyavrat Bhati, Mandvi Singh and Pratha Jhawar (2019). Silver Bullet: Redesigning Solar Pump Programme for Water and Energy Security, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi.

Bassi, N. (2016). Solarizing groundwater irrigation in India: a growing debate. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 34, 132-145.

Gupta, E. (2019). The impact of solar water pumps on energy-water-food nexus: Evidence from Rajasthan, India. Energy Policy, 598-609.

2) Popoola, O. D. (2022). A NEXUS APPROACH TO SOLAR PUMPING IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN NORTH AFRICA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES – A Case Study of Egypt. Enschede: University of Twente.

Al-Saidi, M., & Lahham, N. (2019). Solar energy farming as a development innovation for vulnerable water basins. Development in Practice, 29(5), 619-634.