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Sustainability Outlook Headlines
Goa: Power minister inaugurates first convergence project in GoaGoa Power & Renewable Energy Minister Nilesh Cabral on Saturday inaugurated the first convergence project. This project will integrate decentralised renewable energy with efficient (water) pumps and LED lamps for rural homes. "Nilesh Cabral, Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Government of Goa, inaugurated the first 'convergence project', which integrates the delivery of clean renewable decentralised energy with energy efficient pump sets and LED lamps for rural homes," a statement by Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) said. The 100MW... Read more.. |
India Grid Trust to acquire FRV's solar assets for Rs 660 crIndia Grid Trust signed securities purchase agreement on 18 December 2020 for acquisition of 100% in FRV Andhra Pradesh Solar Farm-I and FRV India Solar Park II from FRV Solar Holdings XI. The acquisition is in line with the IndiGrid investment strategy as provided in the trust deed with a focus to ensure stable distribution to unit holders by owning assets with long term contracts. The acquisition was struck at an enterprise value of around Rs 660 crore and its completion would depend upon receipt of relevant approvals and completion of contractual obligations... Read more.. |
Solar tariffs continue to reach new record lows with a tariff of Rs 1.99 per unitSolar tariffs continue to reach new record lows with Saturday's auction fetching a tariff of Rs 1.99 per unit. In the 500MW auction conducted by Gujarat's distribution company, NTPC, Torrent Power, Aljomaih Energy and Water Company, and Aditya Birla Renewables won 200MW, 100MW, 80MW and 120MW respectively at a tariff of Rs 1.99 per unit, sources said. GUVNL (Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited) could not be reached for a comment. The lowest so far had been Rs 2.00 per unit which was reached in an auction conducted by the renewable energy ministry's nodal agency,... Read more.. |
Serum Institute to soon produce ‘Green Vaccine’The world’s largest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India (SII), could soon become the world’s first company to produce a ‘Green Vaccine’. The vaccine major firm is also aspiring to be the first `Net Zero’ pharma company in the world. Achieving Net Zero state would mean reduction of emissions from all sources to zero. Adar Poonawalla-backed cleantech startup, h2e Power Systems, will be powering SII’s transition to renewable and green energy. Pune-based h2e Power is India’s first homegrown green hydrogen and fuel cell company. h2e is now working on the SII... Read more.. |
In J&K, 100% households of Srinagar and Ganderbal get tap water connectionsIn the UT of Jammu and Kashmir every household in Ganderbal and Srinagar districts has got tap water connections and every family is getting potable piped water in their homes. The UT is planning 100% coverage by 2022 to accomplish the ambitious target of providing tap water connection to every rural household of J&K. This kind of work in these difficult terrains speak volumes of the commitment of the people and Govt. to provide basic facilities in rural areas. Out of 18.17 lakh rural households in the UT of Jammu & Kashmir, 8.66 lakh (48%) are provided... Read more.. |
Ayana Renewable gets additional USD 390 million fundingRenewable energy platform Ayana on Thursday got additional funding worth USD 390 million from the CDC, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF). CDC Group, the UK's development finance institution and impact investor, NIIF and EverSource Capital managed GGEF announced additional equity funding of USD 70 million, USD 284 million and USD 36 million respectively in Ayana Renewable Power (Ayana), a leading Indian renewable energy platform, a statement said. The proposed transaction envisages NIIF to become the... Read more.. |
Single-use plastic waste to pave way for 1500-km road constructionIn an ambitious pro-environmental measure, the state government has set a target of constructing 1500 km of roads in the state with the help of single-use plastic by the end of current financial year. According to a proposal moved by the public works department (PWD), the step would not only expedite construction of roads but also help in getting rid of around 2000 tonnes of single-use plastic. Talking to TOI, principal secretary, PWD, Nitin Ramesh Gokarn, said the use of plastic in road construction had already been adopted in the schedule of rate (SOR), which... Read more.. |
Punjab cabinet approves IOCL's proposal to set up compressed biogas plantThe Punjab cabinet on Thursday gave in-principle approval to Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) for setting up a compressed biogas (CBG) plant at the site of closed cooperative sugar mills at Rakhra in Patiala. The plant, to be developed in collaboration with Sugarfed, will help reduce stubble burning through use of paddy straw for biogas generation, and will also nurture soil fertility through organic manure production, according to a government statement here. The decision was taken at a virtual meeting of the cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh... Read more.. |
ICRA assigns 'stable' rating to GMPL, first rating in Indian EV Bus segmentIn an industry-first, ICRA, leading rating agency in the country, has assigned [ICRA]A- (Stable) to Greencell Marudhara Private Limited, GMPL, the electric vehicle bus - fleet operator for the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) in the state of Rajasthan. The rating in this sunrise sector is of significance as the Government of India (GOI) is focusing significantly on promoting electric vehicles as a cleaner and sustainable form of transportation, with special focus on the commercial segment. To encourage electric vehicle adoption in India, the... Read more.. |
ISGF To Launch The First Of Its Kind Project In South Asia On Peer To Peer (P2P) Trading Of Rooftop Solar Power On Blockchain In Lucknow, Uttar PradeshNew Delhi [India], December 17 (ANI/PRNewswire): Uttar Pradesh is all set to launch India and South Asia's first blockchain-enabled Peer to Peer (P2P) Trading of Rooftop Solar Power on 17 December 2020. Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL), Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (MVVNL) and Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) will host the first of its kind pilot project involving energy generated from solar rooftop systems installed on buildings in Lucknow. The project is being implemented by India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF)... Read more.. |
Uber announces launch of 3,000 electric two-wheeler, three-wheelers and cabs in 2021Uber on Wednesday announced its plans to switch majorly to fully zero-emission platform by 2040 globally and in India, it has committed scaling up to 3,000 electric vehicles across two-wheelers, three-wheelers and cabs by the end of 2021. Officials from the aggregator firm also mentioned that this year, it provided 1.8 lakh free rides to state/local governments and partnered with the National Health Authority of India (NHA) to provide over a lakh free rides to healthcare workers. "In India, we disbursed grants to approximately a lakh drivers in distress during... Read more.. |
IndiGrid ties up with IBM for digital transformation of critical power infrastructureInfrastructure Investment trust IndiGrid on Thursday announced a multi-year collaboration agreement with IBM to build an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled asset management platform. The IBM Maximo Application Suite will allow IndiGrid to become future-ready by improving the overall health of its assets and maximise the full potential of their operating life, while adhering to safety and regulatory guidelines, a company statement said. Through this digital transformation with IBM Services, India Grid Trust (IndiGrid) will be able to monitor, manage &... Read more.. |
Cabinet approves revised cost estimate of North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project for six States for strengthening of the Intra-State Transmission and Distribution SystemsThe Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) at an estimated cost of Rs. 6,700 crore. This is a major step towards economic development of North Eastern Region through strengthening of Intra - State Transmission and Distribution systems. The scheme is being implemented through POWERGRID, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under Ministry of Power in association with six beneficiary North Eastern States namely... Read more.. |
Cabinet approves MoU between India and USA for exchange of information in areas of mutual interest in the electricity sectorThe Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s proposal for entering into a Memorandum of Understanding between Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), India and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), United States of America (USA) for exchange of information and experiences in areas of mutual interest to both in the electricity sectors. The MoU will help in improving regulatory and policy framework for developing efficient whole sale power market and... Read more.. |
15 firms look to invest $3 billion in solar manufacturingUS silicon wafer maker 1366 Technologies and First Solar are among 15 companies that are considering total investments of around $3 billion to build solar equipment manufacturing facilities capitalizing on the Indian government’s initiative to push local manufacturing. A government official aware of the development that these companies have communicated to the government on their plans to manufacture a total of 10 gigawatt (GW) of wafer, and 20GW each of solar cells and modules. The other major companies who have shown interest include Acme Solar, Vikram Solar... Read more.. |
Pure EV signs MoU for indigenous lithium-ion technologyIIT Hyderabad-incubated startup Pure EV is collaborating with CSIR-CECRI on indigenizing Lithium-Ion Battery (LIB) technology for electric vehicles. Pure EV has signed a MoU with CSIR-CECRI to undertake joint research on the production of battery packs, validation of LIB cells and addressing the specific requirements to ensure the suitability of developed LIBs for critical performance at the Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) conditions. Lithium battery is the most reliable and commercially-viable choice for electric vehicles across the world. Currently, in... Read more.. |
Delhi municipal corporations plan e-charging stations at every 3kmHere’s some good news for those planning to buy an eco-friendly electric vehicle. Municipal corporations in Delhi have decided to set up a large number of electric charging stations in the city during the next one year. Senior officials say that their target is to provide at least one station in an area of 3 sqkm so that people owning electric vehicles are incentivised. South Delhi Municipal Corporation has identified 75 locations for creating charging infrastructure, the north corporation has finalised 127 such charging points and the east corporation has... Read more.. |
IIT Guwahati students’ start-up develops app for farmers to manage crops and farmsAgSpert, an agri-tech startup, co-founded by the students of IIT Guwahati, and alumni of NIT Silchar and Dibrugarh University, Assam, has developed AgSpeak, a multi-lingual smartphone application for farmers to smartly manage their farms and remotely monitor distress activities. Developed with a goal of optimising the in-farm productivity through Artificial Intelligence (AI), this application will help the farmers in making decisions and managing farm activities by the click of a single button on their smartphone or computer. AgSpeak was launched by Prof TG... Read more.. |
‘Techtonic’ to address waste managementSweden-based H&M Foundation and Social Alpha have joined hands to launch “Techtonic – Innovations in Waste Management”, a nationwide challenge to identify locally designed, disruptive innovations addressing problems in waste management and improving the livelihoods of waste pickers. The aim is to create an enabling ecosystem stack for innovators and entrepreneurs developing waste management solutions with a focus on supply chains efficiencies, logistics traceability and waste to value systems. Top 5 winners of Techtonic will join the first cohort of Social... Read more.. |
EESL, MSEDCL commission eight megawatt solar energy project in MaharashtraState-owned EESL and the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company on Tuesday announced commissioning of about 8 megawatt solar-agro project at Devdaithan, Maharashtra. The 7987 KW project in Ahmednagar district is part of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd's (EESL) commitment to the state under the Mukhya Mantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana, wherein it will supply the state discom with 679 MW of solar power. The project was completed in six months. As a part of the initiative, the discom's agri-feeders are being transformed into solar agri-feeders. EESL has... Read more.. |
FMCG firm HCCB presses 7 new renewable energy projects into serviceHindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) on Tuesday announced that it has pressed seven additional renewable energy projects into service to source 23.5 million units of electricity from clean energy. "Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) successfully pressed 7 additional renewable energy projects into service," a company statement said. Installed in different factories of the company, these projects are designed to source 23.5 million units of power by way of Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) through various state grids, it added. Powered essentially by wind, solar... Read more.. |
Microsoft Azure partners with Sun Mobility to create EV batteries that connect to the cloudNew Delhi, Microsoft on Tuesday said that electric vehicles solutions firm SUN Mobility is using its Azure Cloud as well as other solutions in developing Cloud-connected swappable batteries to put the country on the road to the future. The batteries as well as the swap stations are connected to the Cloud using Microsoft Azure and numerous built-in solutions like Azure IoT Hub, Azure Data Factory, CosmosDB, Azure Databricks, among others, that transmit battery performance telemetrics back to SUN Mobility. The customers also have the option of using an app, which... Read more.. |
Central govt plans three power gear production zonesThe government plans to set up three large manufacturing zones for power and clean energy equipment by offering companies incentives such as land and electricity at attractive prices, power and new and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh said. Building these zones is part of India’s campaign to encourage self-reliance and reduce dependence on Chinese power equipment. A list of equipment has been drawn up that the government wants to be manufactured in these zones—one each to be set up in a coastal state, a hill state and a land-locked state. The Centre... Read more.. |
Exxon Mobil, under pressure on climate, aims to cut emissions intensity by 2025Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp, under increasing pressure from investors and climate change campaigners, said on Monday it planned to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions over the next five years. Last Thursday, the Church Commissioners for England joined growing investor campaigns to demand changes at Exxon and backed calls for a board refresh and development of a strategy for the largest U.S. oil company's transition to cleaner fuels. Several of Exxon's rivals this year have set longer-term climate ambitions, including Royal Dutch Shell and BP Plc, which aim to... Read more.. |
Solar Park Developer Asked Not to Stop Generators from Feeding Excess Energy to the GridThe Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) directed a solar park developer in the state to not obstruct solar power generators from evacuating the generated solar power up to 110% of the project’s rated capacity. The Commission said that if the power injection created grid disturbance, then the state load dispatch center (SLDC) or the distribution companies (DISCOMs) were free to issue directions to the solar developers. Background ACME Jodhpur Solar Power Private Limited and ACME Rewa Solar Power Private Limited had filed a petition seeking... Read more.. |
