The Pathanpara micro-hydro system was built in 1997 in a small, unelectrified hamlet in the Western Ghats in Kerala, south-west India. It was installed on one of the perennial streams that are common in this verdant mountain region, and generates a peak electrical capacity of 5kW. Funded by community donations and designed by two local engineers, the system was built in part as opposition to proposals of a nuclear power plant nearby. “We wanted to prove it was possible to create power without doing any big-big thing,” says Anil Kumar, one of the engineers who created the system. “Big nuclear, big dams… all these things are harmful.”

At its peak, the micro-hydro system provided electricity to 75 households and some commercial units. It continues to distribute power today, despite competition from the main electricity grid, which entered the village in 2002. The system is managed by an elected committee of villagers and its customers are loyal – after all, electricity tariffs haven’t changed in ten years.