A view of the Indian cityscape

Enterprise to Empower Indians with Renewable Microgrid Electricity

Nov. 13, 2019
TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd. anticipates setting up 10,000 microgrids through 2026 to provide power to millions across India and help eradicate energy poverty.

Tata Power and The Rockefeller Foundation recently announced the launch of TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd., which will address one of the most pervasive challenges in modern India: the lack of access to affordable, reliable electricity for millions of rural homes and enterprises.

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 will provide clean power to nearly five million households, directly impacting the lives of 25 million people over the next decade. This collaboration will amplify the government of India'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.

Rural businesses and households continue to rely on alternative sources to power daily needs — with more than 40% of rural enterprises in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh relying on non-grid sources of power such as diesel. TP Renewable will provide a competitive and cleaner source of power, expanding access and lowering effective electricity costs and carbon emissions by one million tons per year, while reducing the amount of diesel burned by 57 million liters yearly. Over time, the opportunity to deploy grid-interactive solutions will materialize, creating a more integrated, stable, and smart rural grid.

TP Renewable's anticipated rollout of 10,000 microgrids through 2026 will expand the global microgrid footprint, and will act as a catalyst for governments and the private sector to collaborate in building clean, resilient, and stable grids in other markets. It will be operated and managed by Tata Power, with the SPI providing technical expertise.

"We are proud to bring energy to millions of people. 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. "We look forward to empowering communities across India by creating micro enterprises and opportunities for the people."

"We have an unprecedented opportunity to transform the lives of millions of people in India by providing access to power," said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation. "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."

In addition to building, owning, and operating microgrids in India, TP Renewable intends to provide ancillary micro-enterprise services to benefit communities.

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