Tata Power Invests in Renewable Energy
Tata Power, a Ratan Tata led organization based in India, is going green. The company recently announced plans to move at least 25 percent of its power generation – around 6000 MW – from clean energy sources including wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and gas over the next six years. The major power company will invest $1.1 billion, about 50 billion rupees, in wind energy, says Banmali Agrawala, executive director of strategy and business development.
“We have set ourselves a target to achieve 25% of our total generation from clean sources by 2017. These will comprise wind, solar, hydro, geo-thermal and gas. In wind power alone, we will be investing around Rs. 5, 000 crore” said Agarwala. The first steps will be taken by the end of the year, with a new 3 MW plant at Mulshi in Maharashtra.
Currently the company has more than 200mv wind capacity but will continue to drive that number higher, as “it is the most commercially viable and established form of renewable energy,” Agarwala said. They also plan to add an additional 300-400mv capacity of solar energy by 2017 as well.
The renewable energy development is not a completely unique plan for the company. Tata Power already has several programs in place to educate and develop clean energy in their locations, including the Tata Power Energy Club for children. The program educates youth in the city of Mumbai – where Tata Power has been powering since 1919 – on the steps to conserve energy and find the most efficient uses of energy. Today, 12 major Mumbai schools are offered this program.
