Flexible Resource Initiative (FRI) of the U.S.-India Clean Energy Finance Task Force (Task Force) is a program co-led by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), together with representatives of India led by the Ministry of Power (MOP).

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Idam Infra conducted this study to assess the least-cost pathways for power sector investments through 2030 for the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. These studies assess the state-specific least-cost resource mix to meet their load reliably through 2030, in sync with the national grid, and by considering key flexible resources such as energy storage and demand response solutions including agricultural load shifts as well as flexibility provided by thermal generators.

To access the reports for all four states, click here.

We hosted a national webinar on State-Specific Least Cost Pathways for Power System Investments Through 2030 on 27th April 2023. It was attended by key stakeholders and over 140 participants and featured a brief presentation on the four state-specific studies on least cost pathways for Power sector investments followed by an engaging discussion with the esteemed panel members.

This two-day workshop had 4 thematic technical sessions in addition to the inaugural and valedictory sessions. The thematic session consisted of 12 presentations from experts and five-panel discussions. The expert panellists were from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy https://mnre.gov.in/ Central Electricity Authority, CTUIL, PGCIL, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, OFGEM, leaders from the offshore wind industry, UK academia, and experts from ASPI Renewable Energy.

The workshop was attended by 247 invitees -143 online and 104 in-person participants of which, 17% of the online and 14% of the in-person participants were women. The event received positive feedback from all the key stakeholders and successfully laid out a roadmap for the evacuation of 30 GW of OSW power.

The event involved our presentation of the draft on wind repowering policy and scheme. The event was attended by 51 participants and 10 speakers, with representatives from wind industry associations, developers, OEMs, and Government bodies from across India. The discussion led to a stimulating exchange of thoughts and inspired comments from industry stakeholders with respect to repowering policy and its key aspects in the context of India.

Under the ASPIRE Programme, Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK, and Carbon Trust UK, organised a webinar on “Opportunities for AI Solutions to Reduce Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions in the Cement Sector” on 31st May 2023. The webinar provided insights on Carbon Re’s AI-based Delta Zero Cement technology which is an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) based software platform that helps cement plant operators reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. The webinar was attended by over 70 participants from the cement industry. These participants represented major Indian cement companies such as ACC, Ultratech, Shree Cement, Prism Cement, Udaipur Cement, etc.

To know more about the webinar, please visit: IDEEKSHA Portal - Carbon Re Webinar

A Study Tour/ Visit of Godawari Power and Ispat Limited, Raipur, was organised by Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK, and Carbon Trust UK under Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) Programme on 20th April 2023. The study tour successfully demonstrated and disseminated the various best practices and innovative Industrial Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation (IEED) technologies adopted by the GPIL Unit to enhance its energy efficiency and efforts to decarbonise its operations. The study tour was attended by government agencies, industrial organisations, research institutions, and national and international technology providers (including senior officials and executives).

To know more about the webinar, please visit: IDEEKSHA Portal - Carbon Re Webinar

A sectoral workshop on “Best Practices in Energy Efficiency in Iron & Steel Sector: A Path for Decarbonisation”, was organised by Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK, and Carbon Trust UK under Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy ASPIRE Programme on 19th April 2023. The workshop was graced by senior officials from leading Indian iron and steel companies, technology providers, and researchers from the iron and steel industry from India and the UK. The Founder and Managing Director of Idam Infra, Balawant Joshi, along with the other dignitaries and experts from the industry shared their views on the technologies and policy interventions required to accelerate the decarbonisation of the iron and steel sector.

To know more about the webinar, please visit: IDEEKSHA Portal - Carbon Re Webinar

A Study Tour/ Visit of Udaipur Cement Works Limited, Udaipur, was organised by Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK, and Carbon Trust UK under the Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) Programme on 15th March 2023. The study tour successfully demonstrated and disseminated the various best practices and innovative Industrial Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation (IEED) technologies adopted by the UCWL to enhance its energy efficiency and efforts to decarbonise its operations. The study tour was attended by government agencies, industrial organisations, research institutions, and national and international technology providers (including senior officials and executives).

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Cement Study Tour

A sectoral workshop on “Best Practices in Energy Efficiency in Cement Sector: A Path for Decarbonisation”, was organised by Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK, and Carbon Trust UK under Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) Programme on 14th March 2023. The workshop was graced by senior officials from leading Indian cement companies, technology providers, and researchers from the cement industry from India and the United Kingdom. The Founder and Managing Director of Idam Infra, Balawant Joshi, along with the other dignitaries and experts from the industry shared their views on the technologies and policy interventions required to accelerate the decarbonisation of Cement industry.

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Cement Sectoral Workshop

The iDEEKSHA Portal developed by Idam Infra was launched by Shri R.K. Singh, Hon’ble Union Cabinet Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy in the presence of Secretary (Power) and Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) during the 21st Foundation Day Event of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) on 1st Mar 2023, in Delhi. On the same day, a cross-sectoral workshop was conducted and graced by senior officials from leading Indian energy intensive industries, technology providers, and researchers from India and the UK.

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Launch of iDEEKSHA Portal

Under the Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) Programme, Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK, and Carbon Trust UK, organised a webinar on “Waterless Smart Dyeing and Finishing Technology” on 2nd February 2023. The webinar provided insights on Alchemie's Endeavour: Waterless Smart Dyeing and Novara: Digital Textile Finishing technology, that helps textile plant operators reduce energy consumption and water consumption. The webinar was attended by over 40 participants from the textile industries. These participants were from major textile companies such as various units of Raymond plant, Loyal textile, etc.

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Alchemie Webinar

A Study Tour/ Visit of Raymond Textile Plant, Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, was organised by Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK, and Carbon Trust UK under Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) Programme on 9th December 2022. The study tour successfully demonstrated and disseminated the various best practices and innovative Industrial Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation (IEED) technologies adopted by the Raymond Textile Plant to enhance its energy efficiency and efforts to decarbonise its operations. The study tour was attended by government agencies, industrial organisations, research institutions, and national and international technology providers (including senior officials and executives).

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Textile Study Tour

A sectoral workshop on “Best Practices in Energy Efficiency in Textile Sector: A Path for Decarbonisation”, was organised by Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK and Carbon Trust UK under Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) Programme on 8th December 2022. The workshop was graced by senior officials from leading Indian textile companies, technology providers and researchers from the textile industry from India and the UK. The Founder and Managing Director of Idam Infra, Balawant Joshi, along with the other dignitaries and experts from the industry shared their views on technologies and policy interventions required to accelerate the decarbonisation of the textile.

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Textile Sectoral Workshop

A Study Tour/ Visit of Aditya Aluminium Plant, Lapanga, Odisha, was organised by Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK, and Carbon Trust UK under Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) Programme on 22nd November 2022. The study tour successfully demonstrated and disseminated the various best practices and innovative Industrial Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation (IEED) technologies adopted by Aditya Aluminium Plant to enhance its energy efficiency and decarbonise its operations. The study tour was attended by government agencies, industrial organisations, research institutions, and national and international technology providers (including senior officials and executives).

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Aluminium Study Tour

A sectoral workshop on “Best Practices in Energy Efficiency in Aluminium Sector: A Path for Decarbonisation”, was organised by Idam Infra, in association with KPMG India, KPMG UK and Carbon Trust UK under Accelerating Smart Power and Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) Programme on 21st November 2022. The workshop was graced by senior officials from leading Indian aluminium companies, technology providers, and researchers from the aluminium industry in India and the UK. The Founder and Managing Director of Idam Infra, Balawant Joshi, along with the other dignitaries and experts from the industry shared their views on technologies and policy interventions required to accelerate the decarbonisation of Aluminium industry.

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Aluminium Sectoral Workshop

Idam Infra, under funding support from GIZ, developed RPO Compliance Monitoring and Reporting Web Portal for the State of Punjab. The developed portal will be used by several officials of Obligated Entities (OE), PEDA and PSPCL officials. To help the Obligated Entities (OE) and officials of PEDA and PSPCL to perform their assigned role in the procedure of registration, registration verification, entering and verifying the RPO data, Idam Infra conducted three training programs in 2022 on 17th August, 6th September, and 15th September respectively. Furthermore, in order to provide the necessary guidance, Idam Infra also prepared User Manuals for OEs as well as PSPCL and PEDA.

Annapurna Finance Pvt. Ltd. (AFPL) organised a stakeholders’ meet at Patna, Bihar, with the objective of creating awareness about the rooftop solar sector. The event was aimed at providing a platform for developers, channel partners, manufacturers, MSMEs and other stakeholders to learn more about the latest developments in the rooftop solar space and its utility. About 90 participants attended the event. There were eminent speakers from different sectors like financial institutions, advisory firms and rural development agencies. The event received guidance from the speakers and featured several panel discussions. Pooja Shimpi, Senior Manager at Idam Infra, participated in the panel discussions and shared her views with the stakeholders.

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Textile Study Tour

Integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is going to be a critical activity for Distribution Companies all over the world. Early movers will be able to minimize the cost of integration of DERs, but they will also have to shoulder the responsibility of developing methodologies and standards for the same. We, along with Energynautics GmbH, have executed two projects commissioned by German Development Cooperation (giz):

• Technical Standards for DER integration: International review, India’s gap analyses and the way forward, which was part of the program titled ‘Energy transition in India with distribution companies'.
• Accelerated PV Grid Integration Strategy for the State of Gujarat which was part of the program ‘Indo-German Solar Energy Partnership'.

To know more about the webinar, please visit: iDEEKSHA Portal - Launch of iDEEKSHA Portal

To enable the rapid deployment of solar rooftop systems in the State of Nagaland, a Unified Solar Rooftop Web Portal (USRWP) for processing Solar Rooftop Photovoltaic (PV) Application was developed by Idam Infra as part of the Sustainable Partnership for Rooftop Solar Acceleration in Bharat (SUPRABHA) Technical Assistance (TA) Programme for Grid Connected Solar Rooftop Photovoltaic (GRPV).

Idam Infra conducted a two-day training program for the officials of Department of Power, Nagaland, on July 18 and 19, 2022 at Dimapur with the objective of demonstrating the key functionalities implemented on USRWP for processing the applications at various stages as well as its Developer and Admin Modules.

MSME sector in India is considered as the backbone of the economy. It accounts for around 25-30% of the annual energy consumption of the industrial sector. Several studies highlight that energy costs of MSMEs across specific business segments constitute around 5-30% of their total production costs. However, the proliferation of RTS in the MSME sector, despite its competitiveness in terms of LCoE, faces several barriers such as technical, commercial and financial constraints. The MSME segment has plenty of scope for additions in RTS installations which, if tapped properly, can go a long way towards meeting India’s target of 40 GW RTS capacity addition.

With the objective of creating awareness about RTS amongst MSME segments, Idam Infra, in association with Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), organised four market awareness workshops in the states of Kerala, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Haryana from May 16 to May 27, 2023. A total of 167 participants from MSME segments covering 23 MSME industrial clusters participated in these four workshops. 8 EPC companies also participated in the workshops and presented case studies of RTS projects implemented in MSME segments. In addition, banks and financial institutions, namely, State Bank of India, Yes Bank, SIDBI also presented salient features of their financing products specifically designed for RTS projects. These awareness workshops helped in creating an understanding of RTS, allowing MSMEs to gauge its attractiveness and creating B2B connects across target MSME clusters to allow for its adoption.

The India Transmission Portal is a collaborative initiative of Prayas (Energy Group) with technical support from Idam Infra, under the guidance of Central Electricity Authority (CEA). This portal provides easy access to information on the Indian electricity transmission sector for the benefit of investors, regulators, policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders. It tracks the policies and regulations in the transmission sector, the data related to transmission planning, and the transmission performance and tariff at the central level and in 11 Indian states.

The Round Table Discussion on 'The Proposed Electricity Amendment Bill, 2022' organised by Idam Infra and SOLPO Research was held on 17 December 2022 at Sahara Hotel Star, Mumbai.

The topic for the first session was 'Competition in Distribution Sector'. This session was chaired by Dr Pramod Deo, the Former Chairman of CERC and the theme presentation (attached) was delivered by Shri V. J. Talwar, Former Member, APTEL.

The key points of discussion were:

1. While it is necessary to bring competition in the distribution sector, the proposed scheme in the Amendment Bill is unclear and may not be conducive to this.
2. The deletion of words “develop and maintain the distribution system” from the duties of a distribution licensee in Section 42, Subsection (1) would have large scale ramifications. No one would be responsible for the creation of distribution infrastructure for subsidised consumers.
3. The deletion of words, ‘through their own distribution system’ would imply the creation of open access among distribution licensees. It could also mean no one would be responsible for the creation of distribution systems.
4. The existing Open Access (OA) provisions and regulations are for point-to-point open access. These regulations would not be applicable for OA among distribution licensees and a new framework would be needed for the same. 
5. The proposed ‘deeming’ provision under Section 15 appears to be difficult to implement, especially where No Objection Certificates from multiple central and state governments are required.
6. The guidelines given in the APTEL judgment in 246 of 2012 may be enforced for all areas of supply with multiple licensees.
7. The existing provision regarding a tenure of 25 years of license (Section 15) has created a lot of confusion and anomalous situations as different commissions have adopted different procedures for the reissue of license. It is suggested to include a provision that “A license shall continue to be in force till it is revoked” in order to avoid any confusion.
8. The concepts of Ceiling Tariff and Recovery of all prudent costs cannot to go hand-in-hand. A new methodology for the determination of ceiling tariff would be needed.
9. It is not clear how the ‘cross-subsidy balancing fund’ would be operationalised. The mechanism would get extremely complicated if multiple distribution licensees operating in specific areas are allowed to operate in any area.