Tata Power: Tata Power and Social Alpha Announce ‘Net-Zero Industry Accelerator’ for Clean Energy transition

Tata Power, one of India’s largest integrated power companies, and Social Alpha have joined hands to build a unique innovation curation and venture development program ‘Net-Zero Industry Accelerator’ focussed on industrial use cases of clean energy transition and industrial decarbonization contributing towards India’s net-zero targets. The Net-Zero Industry Accelerator will prioritize industries with the highest carbon footprints and will co-create the innovation ecosystem in partnership with some of the leading industry players in India along with technologies that abate and address air pollution from industrial sources and encourage energy decarbonization, carbon capture, and storage.

Effective energy decarbonization includes shifting the energy mix away from fossil fuels and toward non carbon electricity and other energy carriers such as hydrogen; increasing energy efficiency, improving the energy density of storage while reducing cost, and managing demand for energy. ‘Net-Zero Industry Accelerator’ will identify disruptive, innovative, and impactful technology solutions in sustainable energy and incubate them in the market journey. In the later stages ‘Net-Zero Industry Accelerator’ will also focus on investment decision-making and prioritize funding and resources for promising innovations impacting multiple industries.

Reaching net-zero and enabling a green and resilient future requires not only the rapid deployment of currently available solutions but also encourages innovation in breakthrough technologies. At a time, when countries are seeking to reach climate change objectives and re-ignite economic growth in the post-COVID era, integrating low-carbon innovation support will be of the utmost importance. ‘Net-Zero Industry Accelerator’ has been conceived to fast-track India’s journey towards the net-zero goal, and to assure a robust ecosystem to support a new generation of entrepreneurs as they take disruptive climate-tech innovations from the lab to market.

Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power said, “The Net Zero Industry Accelerator is a one-of-a-kind initiative that will assist Indian companies in seizing new opportunities as the world moves toward a greener economy through disruptive climate-tech solutions. It would also enhance India’s clean energy ecosystem, generating momentum for the country’s transition to a low-carbon economy and making a significant contribution to the COP26 pledge.”

‘Net-Zero Industry Accelerator’ will also create a platform for various industry players to sponsor open innovations challenges for decarbonization and accelerate India’s journey to net-zero by reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions significantly. It will encourage innovations that will create new value propositions and business models to replace carbon-intensive ways of doing business and lay the groundwork for the path to net-zero emissions.

Speaking of the collaboration, Mr. Manoj Kumar, Founder & CEO, of Social Alpha, said, “Technology and innovation are major building blocks in achieving the deep cuts in carbon emissions that are needed in enabling the transition to a net-zero carbon world. At Social Alpha, we believe that the ongoing climate crisis also presents a massive opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors to create social and economic value as they respond to the biggest threat that humankind is facing today. To accelerate our journey to Net-Zero, and decarbonize every sector of the economy, we must support breakthrough, scalable innovations while reducing the green premiums simultaneously.”

One of India’s most progressive green energy companies, Tata Power is driving its #DoGreen mission of leading green innovations and has collaborated with Social Alpha and the Government of India under Mission Innovation to build a Clean Energy International Incubation Centre (CEIIC) in Delhi in 2018. CEIIC, which is Social Alpha’s Energy Lab, is a joint initiative of Tata Trusts and the Government of India supported by the Department of Biotechnology, BIRAC, Tata Power, and Tata Power – Delhi Distribution Limited. CEIIC has been set up for promoting innovations in the energy space and has become the first International Incubator in India under Mission Innovation. CEIIC’s mandate is to look for start-ups involved in innovative solutions across the entire energy value chain in India, with a strong focus on affordability, accessibility, and user experience, and has already incubated more than 35 start-ups in this sector and currently helping them with market validations and scale-up. ‘Net-Zero Industry Accelerator’ will build upon the success of CEIIC and will focus on market access and deployment readiness across a wide range of industrial decarbonization use cases.