Tata Power :: Media Corner :: Press Releases

Tata Power, India’s largest integrated private power utility has piloted several Green Energy initiatives in Mumbai in 2009. Sustainability is one of the key pillars of Tata Power’s roadmap of integrating growth, social responsibility and environmental concerns. The Company is piloting projects in the area of solar concentrators, bio-mass gasification and many more with a view of bringing these new applications into commercial operations.

Commenting on the clean energy initiatives, Mr. S. Padmanabhan, Executive Director-Operations, Tata Power, said, ‘Effective management of natural resources is the need of the hour, and Tata Power is conscious of its role in addressing the growing challenges of climate change and it’s after effects. Our green energy initiatives in Mumbai reflect the Company’s sustainable roadmap which has been designed in conjunction with our growth plans”.

2.82 KW Solar/Hybrid Wind Turbine at Mankhurd Substation: The Company has been evaluating various technologies and believes in decentralized option for renewable power, including wind and solar power is suitable in India. These options can not only provide energy in remote rural areas in a sustainable way but in urban and semi urban areas as well.

As a green initiative, Tata Power has installed a Hybrid system at Mankhurd receiving station. The 2.82 KW Solar/Wind hybrid turbine at Mankhurd substation is a demonstration project commissioned to meet the lighting requirements of the control room. The hybrid unit contains two complete generating plants, a PV Solar cell plant and a Wind-turbine system. These sources are connected in parallel to a 24V or 48V DC line. The power is next connected to a DC to AC inverter and is then supplied from the inverter’s output to a single-phase 50 HZ, 240V AC load.

The wind turbine is a Unitron make 1.8 kW having carbon fiber blades has been installed on a steel tower which is 6 meters in height above the terrace. It is additionally protected by 3 guy wires and mechanical/electrical brakes. Six solar modules of 170W each giving total output of 1.02 KWp is also installed on the same terrace. Battery bank of total 360Ah capacity is provided to store the energy.

The batteries are provided for storing the power and the storage capacity must be large enough to supply electrical needs during non-charging periods. Battery banks are typically sized to supply the electric load for one to three days. The hybrid system is a stand-alone system, which operates "off-grid" - not connected to an electricity distribution system. It supplies power for control room lighting (Powering around 40 tube lights).

Energy Efficient T5 Fluorescent Tube Light (FTL) for Mumbai Consumers: The Company has launched a pilot program wherein energy efficient tube lights (FTLs) and 5-Star ceiling fans are being supplied to its residential customers in Mumbai. Under this program, Tata Power is facilitating an interesting offer of 50,000 FTLs with electronic ballast at 35 to 40% discount to its end consumers, under the DSM budget. Moreover, other pilot programs of split air conditioners and thermal storage systems have also received a shot in the arm with the approval of Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to implement the same in Mumbai. Consumers are expected to save 30% energy with the usage of these energy efficient equipments.

Bio-Gas Plant at Trombay Thermal Power Station: A two tonne capacity Bio-Gas plant has been set up in Trombay, which utilizes food waste from the central kitchen, canteen and Trombay Housing Colony. The objective of setting up a Bio-Gas plant is to provide clean and cheap source of fuel for cooking purposes. The cooking gas produced by this plant is used by the Central canteen, thereby saving and reducing the dependence on LPG by the central kitchen at Trombay.

Tata Power Energy Club: Energy saved is energy generated, taking this thought into action, Tata Power started its flagship energy conservation programme “Tata Power Energy Club” in Mumbai. After the successful run in 187 schools in Mumbai, the programme has attained critical mass and now is a national movement on energy conservation, covering more than 250 schools across Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Belgaum, Jamshedpur and Lonavla. The club has sensitised over 1 million citizens and has helped save over 1 million units, so far.

The Company has chalked out an ambitious target of cutting its carbon footprint by half within next 15 years and turning carbon neutral by 2050. It further aims at generating 25% of its power through green or renewables sources. Today, Tata Power is one of the leading private wind generator in the country with an installed capacity of 200 MW spread across 3 states i.e. Maharashtra (100), Gujarat (50) and Karnataka (50).

Recently, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) registered Tata Power’s 50.4 MW Khandke wind farm in Maharashtra as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. This is Tata Power’s first CDM registered project and is expected to earn ~85,000 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) annually from UNFCCC.

Tata Power is India's largest private sector power utility with an installed generation capacity of about 3000 MW and a presence in all the segments of the power sector viz Generation (thermal, hydro, solar and wind), Transmission, Distribution and Trading. The Company has successful public-private partnerships in Generation, Transmission and Distribution - “North Delhi Power Limited” with Delhi Vidyut Board for distribution in North Delhi, ‘Powerlinks Transmission Ltd.’ with Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. for evacuation of Power from Tala hydro plant in Bhutan to Delhi and ‘Maithon Power Ltd.’ with Damodar Valley Corporation for a 1050 MW Mega Power Project at Jharkhand. It has acquired 30% stake in Coal Companies at Indonesia and is developing the first 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project at Mundra (Gujarat) based on super-critical technology. With its track record of technology leadership, customer care and redefining contours of the Indian power sector, Tata Power is poised for a five-fold growth and committed to ‘lighting up lives’ for generations to come.