ReNew Power Inks Pact to Buy AI & ML Startup Climate Connect

With an aim to access energy management services, Gurugram-headquartered renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) ReNew Power has signed a definitive pact to acquire Regent Climate Connect Knowledge Solutions Pvt Ltd (Climate Connect), a specialist in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

Startup Climate Connect was co-founded by Nitin Tanwar and Sanand Sule, alumni of the University of Cambridge, UK, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai, India respectively, with a shared vision to reduce energy costs and modernize power grids using AI-and-ML.

The move is expected to not only add to ReNew’s digital capabilities but also allow it to offer a suite of digital product offerings to customers across the energy value chain.

Commenting on the acquisition, Sumant Sinha, CMD of ReNew Power, said that “I am thrilled to welcome Climate Connect into our fold to make India’s power markets more efficient through next-generation artificial intelligence and machine learning-enabled technologies. The first wave of growth in the renewable energy industry came through the addition of physical assets on the ground, the next wave will come through the development of digital products that help optimize power flow from generators to distribution companies to customers.”

Sinha further added “as distribution companies look to tighten operations, find efficiencies, and reduce AT&C losses, digitalization will play a key role and Climate Connect is well-positioned to service this important market.”

However, the company is mulling to operate Climate Connect as an independent subsidiary that continues to focus on building a global team, world-class data integrity and software development processes, as well as business development activities.

“It has been an exciting journey for the Climate Connect team and we believe that the company’s acquisition by ReNew Power will help us create long term value for our existing distribution utility and IPP customers and provide us the much-needed scale for the next leg of our journey,” said Nitin Tanwar, CEO and Co-founder of Climate Connect.

On tie-up with the country’s leading IPP, Sanand Sule, CTO and Co-founder of Climate Connect, said that “ReNew is India’s largest and most well-respected renewable energy company and we look forward to leveraging each other’s strengths to create maximum value for energy consumers in India. Together, we can pursue our shared vision for India’s energy future.”

Meanwhile, this acquisition is expected to strengthen Gurugram-based IPP’s ongoing digital and analytics initiative which aims to leverage its data, to optimize decision making across business operations.

Recently, ReNew Power has won the SECI’s 400 MW bid for Round-The-Clock (RTC) supply of 100 per cent renewable energy (RE) power with storage that has discovered a levelised tariff of Rs 3.52/kWh for 15 years.