Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a home-grown Super Energy Service Company (ESCO) under the administration of Ministry of Power, Government of India has set a remarkable global precedent in low carbon development.
EESL’s Joint Venture (JV), EnergyPro Assets Ltd (EPAL) has emerged as the fastest-growing Indian company in the United Kingdom (UK) in the “India meets Britain Tracker 2020”, developed by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Grant Thornton.
The JV, between Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) and British impact focussed energy efficiency firm EnergyPro Asset Management Ltd (EPAM)) has grown at a rapid clip, further reaffirming India’s role as a global energy efficiency pioneer.
EPAL bridges the energy transitions in India and the UK and marks an important chapter in the UK Energy Alliance endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.
EPAL began its journey when EESL and EPAM joined together to acquire energy service company (ESCO) operations in the UK quickly followed by clinching a share in a grid-scale battery project in Canada. Since then, it has invested INR 633cr in the UK and has become a success story for Indian owned companies globally.
Speaking on the success of the JV, Saurabh Kumar, MD-EESL said “Through EPAL, we have crafted a global brand that consorts closely with the Prime Minister’s appeal for fostering local businesses. It is another testament to our vision of building a world class energy service business that delivers economic, environmental and social benefits locally. The success of EPAL also marks a significant stride towards achieving India’s overall energy transition, aided by the exchange of technology and best practices between India and the UK. This feat would not have been possible without the contribution of each and every member of the EESL family.”
EPAL’s watershed moment was in 2018 when it acquired Edina, UK’s leading supplier, installer and maintenance provider for Combined, Heat and Power (CHP) solutions.
Edina was the first-ever acquisition of an overseas company, by an entity administered under Ministry of Power, Govt. of India. For EESL, Edina has become a steadfast vehicle for technology and skill transfer from UK to India.
The acquisition has resulted in an active pipeline of 100 MW of trigeneration projects in India worth INR 1000cr which will support the country’s need for more sustainable cooling solutions. The Covid-19 driven economic disruption has brought the energy transition into sharp focus.
The government is working towards increasing the share of gas to 15% in the energy mix, and gas-based CHP solutions will remain pivotal to this expansion. The overall unconstrained market size for co-gen and tri-gen solutions in India is currently pegged at 15 GW. The benefits of tapping this potential are manifold, including optimization of India’s burgeoning cooling needs.
Further, by wide-scale deployment of gas-based solutions, EESL looks to pave the way for grid flexibility and integration of intermittent power. This bodes well with India’s renewed target of integrating 450 GW of renewable capacity by 2030.