Sustainability Outlook Headlines

GIP-led investors group to buy Equis for $5 billion in largest ever clean energy deal

A group of investors led by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) will acquire Equis Energy for $5 billion. The other investors in the largest clean energy deal till date include Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) and China’s CIC Capital Corp. among others. The sale includes the liabilities of $1.3 billion and the Indian portfolio of the Singapore-based renewable energy developer,... Read more..

Cities at crossroads: Don’t waste the possibilities. Use of plastic to lay roads shows the way.

Young Abhishek Gautam and his friends Deepak and Amit were out riding their bikes on the road beside East Delhi’s garbage dump at Ghazipur last September, when a garbage slide from the steep mountain of mixed solid waste (50 metres high, about the height of a 16 storey building and more than twice the permissible height for landfills) pushed them into the Kondli canal nearby. Deepak and Amit were fortunately rescued by the locals, but Abhishek could not be saved. Rajkumari, a 32-year-old woman, also lost her... Read more..

Saudis set $500 billion plan to develop border region with Jordan, Egypt that will power itself solely with wind power and solar energy

Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday a $500 billion plan to create a business and industrial zone extending across its borders into Jordan and Egypt, the biggest project yet in a series of efforts to free the kingdom of its dependence on oil exports.

The 26,500 square km (10,230 square mile) zone, known as NEOM, will focus on industries including energy and water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and... Read more..

Tata Power Delhi Distribution signs pact with GIZ to promote green energy and efficiency

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL), the private electricity distributor in the national capital, today announced it has signed an agreement with German state-owned Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives.

The two parties would explore possibilities of collaboration at the utility level. “The purpose of the MoU is... Read more..

Narayana Murthy pitches for subsidies to clean energy firms

Recalling his mother's ordeal of cooking on woodstove, Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy today said the government should provide subsidies to businesses which sell clean energy products like cookstoves in rural India. He also said India should focus more on providing better healthcare facilities, education, nutrition and clean energy to its vast population. "If country like India has to indeed redeem the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, then India has to work on health, education, nutrition and clean energy," Murthy said at an event organised by Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

... Read more..

Mytrah Energy may delist from London AIM before India IPO

Renewable energy firm Mytrah Energy (India) Pvt. Ltd, backed by the Piramal Group, is likely to delist its holding company Mytrah Energy Ltd from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London before moving ahead with a planned domestic initial public offering (IPO), two people aware of the development said. Mytrah Energy listed on AIM in October 2010 after raising $80 million from institutional investors. In... Read more..

NTPC searches for buyer for Kadapa Solar Park’s power

Six months after it conducted a solar auction of 250 MW at the Kadapa Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh, NTPC has still not been able to find a buyer for the power the project will produce, people aware of the matter said. All 250 MW at the April auction were won by SolaireDirect, a subsidiary of the French energy giant Engie, quoting a tariff of Rs 3.15 per kWh, which was a record low at the time. 

Hind Power hopes to seal solar asset sale with Macquarie by November

Delhi-based Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt Ltd (Hindustan Power) expects to conclude by November a deal to sell some of its solar assets to Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund (MAIF).

A spokesperson for Hindustan Power confirmed to BusinessLine that the deal was on track. “The due diligence process is going on as... Read more..

World energy bodies caution India on wind projects

The recent tariff-based auctions for wind power capacity, which threw up a surprise low tariff of Rs. 2.64 a kWhr, is all fine, but make sure that the projects do come up, say world energy bodies.

Commenting on the auctions, in an e-mailed response to BusinessLine, Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency, observed that competition puts companies under pressure and only the best will... Read more..

Battery swapping can push electric car revolution: Asian Development Bank

Battery swapping can propel India’s electric car revolution in the short-term as the country struggles to deal with vehicular pollution, said Asian Development Bank’s site on Monday.

Tenders to procure 10,000 high-performance electric cars have already been announced, and the government is expected to invite bids for 50,000 electric three-wheelers from the original equipment manufacturers by the end of this... Read more..

India lauded for improving energy access to 500 million people: IEA

India has provided electricity access to half a billion people since 2000. An energy access report of 140 countries brought out by the International Energy Agency on Thursday shows that those without access to electricity across the globe fell from 1.6 billion in 2000 to 1.1 billion in 2016.

Developing countries in Asia are making significant progress. Obviously, India has been among the largest contributors... Read more..

SpiceJet to light up a village in Assam under CSR

As part of its CSR initiative, SpiceJet has, this Diwali, taken up the responsibility to light up a village in Assam.

The airline aims to provide sustainable energy access through solar microgrid to the people during a period of 75 days.

“As part of the initiative, SpiceJet will set a ‘Solar Microgrid’ on... Read more..