ensuring rapid expansion of the electricity infrastructure in India. Electricity infrastructure is now available within 50 meters of consumers' premises. The Government of India announced 100% electrification of all willing households in India in 2018. A deeper look into electrification rates across the country suggest that about 13% of household consumers still don't have electricity connections due to questions of affordability of grid electricity and poor quality of service. The majority of household consumers with a grid-based electricity connection have a low sanctioned load of 0–1 kW or 1–2 kW. Besides, disparity has also been noted in grid electricity access rate among agricultural and institutional consumers. Europe Ireland During the 1930s most towns in Ireland were connected to the national grid. The outbreak of World War II in Europe lead to shortages of fuel and materials and the electrification process was brought to a virtual halt. In the early 1950s the Rural Electrification scheme gradually brought electric power to the countryside, a process that was completed on the mainland in 1973 (although it wasn't until 2003 that the last of the inhabited offshore islands were fully connected). Currently the Rural Electrification scheme continues, but is primarily concerned with upgrading the quality of the network (voltage fluctuations are still a problem in parts of Ireland – particularly in rural areas) and making three phase supplies available to larger farms and rural businesses requiring it. Successful examples Gram Oorja Like many other microgrid companies, Gram Oorja has set out to provide electricity to the millions who lack access to power in rural India. Gram Oorja created a model based upon “corporate-social partnership” and gains funding from corporate charity funds. Their first project was in Darewadi, a rural village with 39 households. Gram Oorja raised funding from Bosch Solar Energy and received consultation and guidance from the Shakti Foundation. They installed a solar power plant capable of producing 9.4 kilowatts of power with a backup biogas unit to produce energy when sunlight is not available. Local ownership of the project is one of the key tenets of Gram Oorja's business model, so they encouraged participation in the set up and management of the mini-grid. A village trust collects bills every month and deposits the revenue into a corpus fund. This hybrid model proved to be successful and has been implemented in over 10 villages. Gram Oorja currently has an installed capacity of 45.7