Tata Power: KERALA GOVERNMENT COLLABORATES WITH SOCIAL ALPHA FOR DEVELOPING STARTUP ECOSYSTEM IN THE AREA OF CLEAN ENERGY AND CLIMATE ACTION – EQ Mag Pro

• Signs MoU through Energy Management Centre (EMC) and Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) with Social Alpha representing the Clean Energy International Incubation Centre (CEIIC)

• Focus on clean energy technologies promoting smart grids, transition to renewables, and climate action by setting up of a joint Incubation Centre in Kerala for strengthening the early-stage innovation ecosystem

Thiruvananthapuram, 2nd February 2022 : The Government of Kerala, through the Energy Management Centre (EMC) and Kerala Development and Innovation Strategy Council (KDISC), enters into an MoU with Social Alpha through its Clean Energy International Incubation Centre (CEIIC). Set up in 2018 by Social Alpha, CEIIC is a joint initiative of Tata Trusts and the Government of India, and is supported by the Department of Biotechnology, BIRAC, Tata Power and Tata Power-Delhi Distribution.

The MoU underlines the joint commitment of EMC, KDISC and CEIIC to work together in the areas of innovative, clean energy technologies which integrate with the initiatives and programs of the Government of Kerala. This collaboration will also facilitate the State of Kerala in curating innovative technologies for deployment through government initiatives for addressing the challenges in the power sector and energy access for all. The jointly set-up incubation centre will leverage the labs and infrastructure already set up by the collaborating agencies.

CEIIC will also bring with it a rich partner ecosystem and a network for experts. Tata Power, one of the key stakeholders and CEIIC, with a strong network of over a hundred national and international technology and institution partners, lab facilities and cadre of experts, will also lend support to this joint incubator for creating affordable and scalable solutions.

The initiative addresses the pressing need for solutions that leverage cutting-edge, disruptive clean energy technologies to accelerate progress toward net zero. The program aligns with the goals of the Mission Innovation Platform and India’s commitment towards Climate. Climate Change is one of the biggest challenges facing our world today, spurring the call for global collaborations to tackle the crisis. The collaboration under this initiative reiterates the commitment of State Government, Social Alpha and the Tata Power to work towards sustainability and climate.

Speaking of the collaboration, Mr. Manoj Kumar, Founder & CEO, Social Alpha, said, “To address the climate crisis and get to net-zero, we must support innovations and entrepreneurs who are working on breakthrough, scalable climate solutions. Transition to renewables and building efficient and smart solutions and systems for generation, distribution, storage and consumption of energy are extremely critical to solving the climate challenge. For a country like India, renewable integration has to go hand-in-hand with achieving access to energy for all, along with the decarbonization of the industries and of the power sector, for moving towards the goal of net-zero. Incubators like the one that we are setting up with the Government of Kerala can be instrumental in catalysing early-stage innovation for driving this agenda at an accelerated pace.”

Congratulating the three organizations for taking initiatives under the Climate Change and Mission Innovation Programs of GoI, Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power said, “We are glad to partner with the Government of Kerala through CEIIC and are confident that this collaboration will create a testbed for new age implementable technologies in the energy space and boost start-up culture in the state. This association will power our #DoGreen mission of leading green innovations and will also significantly contribute towards India’s clean energy ecosystem and net zero commitments.”

The MoU was signed in presence of Shri, K. Krishnankutty, Honourable Minister for Electricity, Government of Kerala; Dr V.P. Joy, IAS, Chief Secretary; Dr K. M. Abraham, IAS
(Retd),Chief Principal Secretary to the CM; Dr B. Ashok, IAS, CMD, KSEBL, Dr. P.V. Unnikrishnan, Member Secretary K-DISC; Shri, V.C. Anil Kumar, Chief Electrical Inspector, Government of Kerala, Dr R. Harikumar, Director EMC; Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power; Dr. G Ganesh Das, CEO, Clean Energy International Incubation Centre (CEIIC); Mr Jakob Poulose, Director and Principal, Social Alpha.

About EMC:

EMC, Department of Power, Govt. of Kerala, the first State level organization exclusively for promoting energy conservation came into existence on 0702-1996. In exercise of power conferred by clause (d) of section 15 of Energy Conservation Act, 2001(Central Act 52 of 2002) Energy Management Centre – Kerala (EMC), is designated as the State Designated Agency (SDA) of Bureau of Energy efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India to coordinate, enforce and implement Energy Conservation Act, 2001(Central Act 52 of 2002) in 2003.

About KDISC:

Kerala Development and Innovation Strategy Council, (KDISC) is a strategic think-tank and advisory body constituted by the Government of Kerala. KDISC aims at bringing out path-breaking strategic plans that reflect new directions in technology, product and process innovations, social shaping of technology and creating a healthy and conducive ecosystem for fostering innovations in the State.

About Social Alpha:

Social Alpha is as a multistage innovation curation and venture development platform for science and technology start-ups that aim to address the most critical social, economic and environmental challenges. Since its inception in 2016, Social Alpha has supported more than 150 start-ups including 60+ seed investments. Social Alpha has established the Clean Energy International Incubation Centre in Delhi in 2018 for supporting the lab-to-market journey of early stage clean energy start-ups.

About Tata Power

Tata Power (NSE: TATAPOWER; BSE:500400) is one of India’s largest integrated power companies and together with its subsidiaries and jointly controlled entities, has an installed/managed capacity of 13,171 MW. The Company has a presence across the entire power value chain – generation of renewable as well as conventional power including hydro and thermal energy, transmission & distribution, coal & freight, logistics, and trading.

The Company had developed the country’s first Ultra Mega Power Project at Mundra (Gujarat) based on supercritical technology. With 4.3 GW of clean energy generation from solar, wind, hydro, and waste heat recovery accounting for 33% of the overall portfolio, the company is a leader in clean energy generation. It has successful public-private partnerships in generation, transmission & distribution in India viz: Powerlinks Transmission Ltd. with Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. for evacuation of Power from Tala hydro plant in Bhutan to Delhi, Maithon Power Ltd. with Damodar Valley Corporation for a 1,050 MW Mega Power Project at Jharkhand.

Tata Power is currently serving more than 12 million consumers via its Discoms, under public-private partnership model viz Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd. with Government of Delhi in North Delhi, TP Northern Odisha Distribution Limited, TP Central Odisha Distribution Limited, TP Western Odisha Distribution Limited, and TP Southern Odisha Distribution Limited with Government of Odisha.

With a focus on sustainable and clean energy development, Tata Power is steering the transformation an integrated solutions providers by looking at new business growth in distributed generation through rooftop solar and microgrids, storage solutions, EV charging infrastructure, ESCO, home automation & smart meters et al.

With its 107 years track record of technology advancements, project execution excellence, world-class safety processes, customer care,and green initiatives, Tata Power is well poised for multi-fold growth and is committed to lighting up lives for generations to come.