EESL & World Bank to Organise INSPIRE 2018 for Promoting Innovation in Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint-venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, and the World Bank are organising the third edition of the three-day International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency (INSPIRE-2018) from 11^th to 13^th November in New Delhi. The three-day conference will be held in collaboration with the World Resources Institute-India (WRI), Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI).

INSPIRE 2018 will be a unique platform bringing together policy-makers, influencers, innovators, thought leaders, researchers, leading energy-efficient companies, government agencies, business leaders and other stakeholders. The sessions at the conference will witness deliberations on key energy policies, market transformation strategies, and sustainable business models that could reshape the Indian energy efficiency market, aligned and consistent with global best practices.

Hon’ble Minister (I/C) of Power, New & Renewable Energy, Govt. of India Shri R.K Singh will inaugurate the event on 11^th November, 2018. The three-day event will include panel discussions on e-mobility, energy storage, innovative financing, marketing mechanisms and energy efficient technologies. The discussions will range from finding strategies to address bottlenecks in the Indian power market to implementing regulatory requirements for creating the market pull for emerging technologies and solutions.

In the run up to INSPIRE 2018, EESL, in association with WRI, had organised #InnovatetoINSPIRE, a first-of-its-kind energy innovation challenge in India to invite ideas for scalable solutions in the realm of sustainable energy development.  The #InnovateToINSPIRE challenge is a central feature of INSPIRE 2018 and the winners will be felicitated at a special ceremony during the event.

The jury for the challenge comprises eminent experts including Mr. R V Shahi, Former Power Secretary & Chairman & Managing Director Energy Infratech Private Limited; Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, The Energy & Resources Institute; Dr. V.S. Arunachalam, Chairman & Founder, Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP); Dr. Mridula Dixit, Principal Research Scientist, CSTEP; Mr. Gireesh Pradhan, Ex-Chairman, CERC; Mr. Brian Motherway, Head of the Energy Efficiency Division, International Energy Agency (IEA); Mr. R. Sukumar, Editor-in-Chief, Hindustan Times; Mr. Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor, Autocar India; Dr. Nikit Abhyankar, Senior Scientific Engineering Associate, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL); Dr. Steven Fawkes, Managing Partner, EnergyPro Ltd; Mr. Ajeeth Narayan, Managing Director, Investec India; Mr. Pradeep Bhargava, CEO, GladMinds Technologies Pvt Ltd; Mr. Amit Kapur, Partner, J. Sagar Associates; Mr Priyavrat Bhati, Centre for Science and Environment, and Prof. UB Desai, Director-IIT Hyderabad.

The winners of the #InnovateToINSPIRE challenge will also receive funding of INR 5 lakh each, along with mentorship from sector experts to bring their solutions to the market.

Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL, said, “To sustain India’s emerging ‘energy leadership’ and tap into the potential of clean energy and energy efficiency, it is important to involve experts, academia, industry and policy decision makers and foster cross-stakeholder partnerships. Platforms like INSPIRE offers such opportunities to deliberate on synergies, readiness and opportunities in areas that will help facilitate faster adoption of new energy efficient and clean energy technologies in India.”

Some of the key dignitaries who will attend the three-day conference include Mr. Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director -India, Asian Development Bank (ADB); Dr. Junaid K. Ahmad, Country Director -India, The World Bank (WB); Mr. Manish Bapna, Executive Vice President & Managing Director, WRI; Dr. O.P. Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, WRI – India; Dr. Brian Motherway, International Energy Agency; among others.

As part of the endeavor to showcase EESL’s projects and schemes, an exhibition will be organised at the event to help participants closely understand our innovative business models and programmes. The shortlisted participants of the #InnovatetoINSPIRE challenge will also be given an opportunity to showcase their solutions at the exhibition.