Tata Power, Rockefeller Foundation to set up renewable microgrid electricity

Tata Power and Rockefeller Foundation on Monday announced the launch of a major new initiative to set up microgrids, which will address one of the most pervasive challenges in modern India

By scaling up an innovative microgrid model to be implemented in collaboration with Smart Power India (SPI) and the Institute for Transformative Technologies, TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd will provide clean power to nearly 50 lakh households, directly impacting the lives of 2.5 crore people over the next decade.

"This unique collaboration will amplify the government's ongoing campaign to provide electricity to rural areas, unleashing the potential of renewable microgrids to serve households and businesses that suffer from poor reliability and coverage by traditional grid-based power," said Tata Power in a statement.

Rural businesses and households continue to rely on alternative sources to power daily needs with more than 40 per cent of rural enterprises in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh relying on non-grid sources of power like diesel.

TP Renewable Microgrid will provide a competitive and cleaner source of power, expanding access and lowering effective electricity costs and carbon emissions by 10 lakh tonnes per year as well as reducing the amount of diesel burned by 5.7 crore litres yearly.

Over time, the opportunity to deploy grid-interactive solutions will materialise, creating a more integrated, stable and smart rural grid.

TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd will be operated and managed by Tata Power, India's largest integrated power company with about 11,000 megawatt of installed generation capacity and over 26 lakh customers under management across Delhi, Ajmer, and Mumbai.

"We are proud to bring energy to millions of people. Once at scale, TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd anticipates supporting one lakh rural enterprises, creating 10,000 new green jobs and providing irrigation for over four lakh local farmers," said Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha.

"We look forward to empowering communities across India by creating micro-enterprise and creating opportunities for all people," he said.

Rockefeller Foundation President Rajiv Shah said there is an unprecedented opportunity to transform the lives of millions of people in India by providing access to power.

"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," he said.