| Abstract | The provision of electricity supplies to the rural areas is one of the main development objectives in the Kingdom of Bhutan, where 100% rural electrification is expected to be achieved by the year 2020. Rural Electrification (RE) is usually done through hydropower plant based-grid electricity network expansion which has covered almost all the areas near to the motor able roads and grid networks. The remaining future RE areas are the interior rural areas which are far away from motor able road and electricity grid, and the scattered nature of rural settlements have made the future RE cost per household more than that of the previous years. The cost has now become USD 2000 per household. Therefore, there is a need to analyse the benefits of the "off- the grid option of Rural Electrification" against the grid extension. The use of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) like solar PV, windpower systems, small hydropower systems, and biomass based technologies are the RET applications which can replace the grid extension way of rural electrification. To analyse "the off-the grid option" the need for an adequate Renewable Energy Resource (RER) database is imperative, which is presently not available in Bhutan. This has triggered the idea to carry out this study. The overall objective of this study was thus, to study the application of Renewable Energy Resources (RER) for rural electrification in the Kingdom of Bhutan. The study therefore: (1) Carried out an assessment of the various Renewable Energy Resources (RER) namely solar, wind, biomass, hydropower and geothermal in Bhutan, and prepared GIS maps for the resources, and (2) Did a pre-feasibility study, and recommended a suitable Renewable Energy Technology (RET) option for electrification in Dorokha Gewog, under Samtse Dzongkhag, in Bhutan, which demonstrated the importance of having RER database for Energy Planners and Policy Makers. The solar and wind energy resources are assessed only for twelve locations for which sunshine duration (hours) and wind speed (m/s) data is available. Interpolations to obtain data for rest of the locations was not done since it will be erroneous due to mountainous terrain nature of Bhutan. Rather, it was assumed that solar and wind energy resource assessment for rest of Bhutan can be clone using the methodology presented in this study after the data is made available. The biomass, hydropower and geothermal resource were assessed for whole Bhutan. Two "off- the grid options" for electrification of Dorokha are proposed through this study. The first option is to construct a small hydropower plant (3* _200k-W, 230 V, 50 Hz.) followed by construction of local transmission and distribution lines in the area. The second option recommended is to go for PV SHS combined with introduction of "Improved Biomass Cookstoves" which can be fueled either by fuelwood or crop residue. While the PV SHS provide good lighting, the cooking and heating applications can be done using the "Improved Cookstove". The Introduction of Improved Cookstoves can reduce the fuelwood consumption since their efficiency is more than 40% where as the efficiency of the traditional ovens are only 10%. Moreover, crop residues can he used as the main fuel that can be supplemented by fuelwood. This technique will give sufficient time for the fuelwood resources to regenerate naturally or through new plantations. This can be achieved through a simple forest resources management plan involving the concerned rural people as an awareness champion to protect the environment in their own Gewog. Further, the use of Improved Cookstoves can keep the rural households clean since the smoke will no longer be emitted in the house unlike the traditional oven |