Tata and Rockefeller launch India-focused clean energy microgrid unit

The move is meant to complement the well-documented drive of the Modi government to provide power to the whole of India. Indeed, the government already announced in April 2018 that it had succeeded in its goal of electrifying every village in India, although this was not without controversy. The definition of electrification under close scrutiny showed that only 10% of households in a village had to be powered to qualify for the category and this did not take into account quality and reliability of power, famously a thorn in the side of Indian consumers’ in a land where both power theft and cuts had been normalised.

Rural electrification has also come with a push and shove between the main distribution companies, micro-grid firms and solar home system (SHS) suppliers, each of whom stand to gain or miss out against one other depending on the quirks of any chosen regulations or policies on electrification.

Nonetheless, many parts of India have serious power shortages and lack power access. The northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have more than 40% of rural enterprises relying on off-grid power mainly through diesel, claimed Tata.

Other companies already in this space have tried a range of alternative energy supplies. Husk Power, for example, combined biomass from rice husk waste with solar power and battery storage to give round-the-clock electricity to several households and businesses at a town in the far east of Uttar Pradesh.

In a release, Tata Power noted that “over time, the opportunity to deploy grid-interactive solutions will materialize, creating a more integrated, stable and smart rural grid”. The company can therefore work on off-grid supply, but then also offer decentralised supply at a later date to allow consumers to benefit from the main grid but also to use microgrids as backup in the case of a power outage.

Tata Power, which has nearly 11GW of installed power capacity, is already experienced in this more alternative area of distributed energy, having established a joint venture with the Delhi government to power local people in the city as well as in slum communities.

“Once at scale, TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd. anticipates supporting 100,000 rural enterprises, creating 10,000 new green jobs, and providing irrigation for over 400,000 local farmers,” said Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha. 

Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation, added: “Providing reliable electricity to the communities that need it most is one of the best ways for us to end poverty and unleash economic opportunity in our lifetimes.”

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