The ZENERGY Podcast: Energy Leadership, Finance, and Technology

Pramod Deo is India’s longest serving electricity regulator and former chair of the central electricity regulatory commission.  As India’s longest serving regulator, Dr. Deo has been a pioneer in enacting policies that help improve the integration of renewable energy into the Indian energy mix.  In this conversation, I ask Dr. Deo about how the Indian electricity system is structured and what the key challenges are for the system moving forward.

​​In this episode, we also listen to Sushanta Chatterjee, who is the chief regulatory officer of the central electricity regulatory commission, and has been serving for the last 7 years.  We focus our discussion on the present policies CERC is working on to ensure the smooth integration of renewable energy sources.

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Topics covered in this podcast:

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Dr. Pramod Deo

A brief introduction of Dr. Deo’s involvement in the energy sector of India

Can you talk about how the Indian electricity system is structured?

How has the congestion problem been dealt with, especially in terms of green corridors?

Which ministries manage what, in terms of how the grid is structured and operated?

The extent to which distribution companies are privatized in India

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Dr. Sushanta Chatterjee

What are the key costs of renewable energy integration onto the grid?

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Dr. Pramod Deo

Breakdown of the subsidization policy and impacts on the DISCOM cash flow

Primary reasons for why Discoms are not cash flow positive

Are you optimistic the distribution challenges in India will improve?

Baldev Singh Sran is the recent Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, which is Punjab’s state-run and only distribution company.  In his 2-year eventful stint, Mr. Sran brought down the transmission and distribution losses and worked to use resources of private thermal plants for banking of power in winters, for the state to draw in summers. In this interview, we discuss Mr. Sran’s successful undertaking, as well as clarify the concepts of fixed charge and variable charges for thermal power plants. In addition, Mr. Sran provides his views on how to improve the health of distribution companies and also the challenges associated with RE integration as penetration levels increase. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Mr. Sran!

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Topics covered in this podcast:

​A brief introduction of Mr. Sran and his involvement in the Indian energy sector

How did Mr. Sran manage to create a surplus of power during the summer season?

What is the average cost of supply of power in Punjab?

What is the fixed charge versus the variable rate for thermal power plants?

What were some of the key challenges with the grid integration of renewable energy from the distribution and system level perspectives?

Clarifying the concepts of stranded capacity charge and fixed charge in grid integration

Is ramping down the solar or the thermal plant a cost to the distribution company?

Why are Indian distribution companies in low financial health and what are some possible solutions?

One quick note - this was one of my very first recordings - so the audio quality is not as good as it should be (recorded via phone). Please refer to the brilliant case study below to understand much of what we discussed in case you are unable to comprehend some of our conversation. Thank you! 

Gaurav Mehta is the founder of Dharma Life and also a leading member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum.  To date, Dharma Life has created a network of more than 16000 rural entrepreneurs, more than 75% of whom are women, and have an established presence in over 4000 villages across 13 states. In this conversation, we explore the Dharma Life business model and also Mr. Mehta's journey in this space. Mr. Mehta provides details on the Dharma Life entrepreneurship development program, its positive impacts and its five key pillars. We also hear from Anjali Garg, who contributed to developing the Dharma Life training program. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Mr. Mehta and Ms. Garg!

Transcript - case study link:  https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/818b4a30-e122-4ea6-8858-51607a74f65b/Distributing+Light+and+Livelihoods+-+IFC+Dharma+Life+Case+Study.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=n2ZHcHa

[2:34] A Brief Introduction of Mr. Mehta’s background

[5:25] Mr. Mehta's motivation behind getting involved in the non-profit space and then ultimately pursuing the social entrepreneurship path

[8:27] After arriving in India, how did Mr. Mehta approach the initial process to figure out what model to employ in the rural context?

[9:02] The five key pillars of the Dharma Life model

[13:48] What has been the key to get to scaling and recruiting so many village entrepreneurs?

[14:38] Mr. Mehta discusses how Dharma Life has developed its entrepreneurship development program

[17:02] Ms. Garg of IFC Lighting Asia-India discusses Dharma life's journey and how its training model has proven to be so effective

[23:49] How is the compensation structured for the village entrepreneurs employed by Dharma Life

[24:29] Mr. Mehta discusses the most rewarding aspects of building Dharma Life over the past decade

Piyush Jaju & Vinay Jaju

Piyush and Vinay Jaju are brothers and the founders of ONergy Solar, which has won multiple awards for its work in the rural solar space. Mr. Piyush Jaju was a former investment banker and Mr. Vinay Jaju formerly worked for GE in Australia—and the combination of their experiences ultimately led to the idea of ONergy Solar. In this episode we explore the challenges that ONergy has had to overcome over the past decade and how these two brothers are able to continue to evolve in this entrepreneurial journey of theirs.  Furthermore, Mr. Piyush Jaju discusses their competitive advantage and how they are able to constantly ability to adapt to meet the needs of an evolving customer base. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Mr. Piyush and Vinay Jaju!

Topics covered in this podcast:

Piyush Jaju

[1:50] What led Mr. Piyush Jaju to founding ONergy Solar and SwitchOn?

[3:27] What does Mr. Piyush Jaju believe the key characteristics of a social entrepreneur to be?

[5:30] What are key learnings extracted from his experience leading ONergy over the past decade?

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Vinay Jaju

[6:35] What led Mr. Vinay Jaju into the social entrepreneurial path and how was he able to develop an understanding of his purpose in life?

[9:12] What did the initial process look like for starting ONergy solar?

[10:10] What is ONergy Solar's competitive advantage?

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Piyush Jaju

[11:14] How did the process of developing the ONergy model occur?

[13:03] ONergy Solar business model: What are renewable energy centers exactly?

[15:05] ONergy's franchising model

[17:15] Why are small energy entrepreneurship models so commonly employed in rural areas?

[18:47] What are some of the challenges in training these entrepreneurs?

[22:10] How has ONergy solar adapted and evolved its model over the past decade

[26:05] What does the internal decision making process look like when deciding to pivot a model

[27:30] How does Mr. Piyush Jaju see solar roof top developing over the next few years?

In this episode I will be speaking with Arunabha Ghosh, the founder and CEO of the Council on Energy Environment and Water (CEEW), which has been anointed as South Asia’s leading energy and environment think-tank. Dr. Ghosh was also instrumental in the formulation of the International Solar Alliance and Clean Energy Access network, and in this episode, Dr. Ghosh discusses his beliefs on how the US can help partner with India for the global development of renewable energy.  Dr. Ghosh also touches upon his belief on how to attract long-term debt financing to the rural energy market and what the future energy landscape looks like. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Ghosh!

Topics covered in this podcast:

[2:00] How has the book Meditations by Marcus Aurelius helped Dr. Ghosh in his journey?

[5:30] What are some of his self-reflection practices?

[7:26] What were the objectives of the Clean Energy Access Network?

[09:02] How did the process came about to help organize all the companies across rural India?

[15:15] The role of the intermediator as an aggregator and how to attract financing into the rural energy sector

[21:21] What role can the US play in partnering with India specifically in the renewable energy space?

C. P. Poonacha, is the Head of Commercal Operations at DLF Group and the Managing Director of DLF Power and Services Limited. The DLF Group is India's largest real estate company and in this conversation, Mr. Poonacha discusses DLF’s real estate expansion plans and how renewable energy will be integrated. Further, Mr. Poonacha shows what variables need to be considered, in order for customers to more willingly and easily adopt solar energy into their porftolios.  Hope you enjoy my conversation with Mr. Poonacha!

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Topics covered in this podcast:

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[1:50] Mr. Poonacha introduces himself and speaks about his background

[3:34] Context around the DLF Group and how the business is structured

[7:25] The co-generation power plants of Cyber City

[12:15] Does the DLF group plan to add more than its current 3 megawatts of solar power?

[15:32] What have been some of the key macro challenges for integrating solar into DLFs portfolio?

[17:45] Background on the annual banking of power policy and how it varies across states

[22:09] What can the government do to help solve these macro hurdles?

[23:31] What are DLF’s expansion and solar integration plans for the future?

[28:38] Advice to the younger generation from Mr. Poonacha, who has extensive experience!

Piyush Mathur

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Piyush Mathur is the recent CEO and long-running CFO of Simpa Energy. Mr. Mathur has been attributed to helping Simpa scale and expand to 22 more districts in 3 states, employing 700 full-time staff and 3000 village level  entrepreneurs. Simpa is well-known for its unique usage of technology, which we will explore in this conversation with Mr. Mathur. In this  episode, Mr. Mathur also explains the key decision components which one must evaluate prior to scaling into a new area and what he believes to be the future of the energy sector. ​

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Topics covered in this podcast:

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[1:55] Piyush provides insight into the story of how he connected with Simpa Energy

[4:52] What are some of the core components of the Simpa model from the customer point of view, as well as, the sales channel?

[8:42] What happens directly after agreement between Simpa’s sale agent and a customer?

[12:52] The costs of the solar systems

[13:42] Technical details of the solar systems

[14:33] What is the challenge in convincing rural customers to adopt Simpa's system?

[15:45] What’s the situation of the customers before adopting Simpa systems? Do they experience power cuts?

[17:30] What is the payback period for these customers generally?

[18:09] The role of technology in enabling Simpa to scale its operations

[20:55] The key decision-making criteria on whether Simpa scales and expands into new areas

[23:00] Mr. Mathur reflects on his experience and provides insight to recent college graduates

[25:28] What does Mr. Mathur believe the future of solar to be?

Anjali Garg is the manager of the IFC’s Lighting Asia India Program.  The IFC Lighting Asia India initiative, through helping portfolio companies scale their operations, has been a key catalyzer of the rural energy access ecosystem in India. Ms. Garg has helped spearhead these efforts and in this interview, we will explore the development of the rural energy market over the past decade, and the work the IFC has engaged in, in this space. I would like to give a special thanks to Ms. Garg, who has been absolutely instrumental in enabling this interview series.

In case interested - transcript link here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/19ar_PY1uvRqUM9oD-jX5-wAPv7q8C4oL/view?usp=sharing 

[1:47] Ms. Garg introduces her background and what led her into the energy space?

[4:14] How has the energy access market developed over the past decade?

[7:08] The IFC's consumer awareness - Suryoday - campaign and the team's key learnings

[12:51] Breakdown of what a consumer awareness campaign looks like in the rural context

[15:48] How does the IFC team approach the expansion process when helping its portfolio companies? What are the first executional steps?

[22:15] How did the IFC team facilitate the microfinancing partnerships for Devidayal Solar in Rajasthan?

[25:07] Ms. Garg reflects on the most rewarding and fulfilling aspects of her professional journey

Kamal Lath is the managing director and former CFO of D.Light, which just recently reached the 100 million rural product milestone. Mr. Lath was instrumental in helping D.Light raise 100 million dollars in funding during a difficult time, providing thus an important inflection for D.Light in its mission. In this episode Mr. Lath discusses the company's journey and many challenges they had to overcome to reach their goals.  Mr. Lath concludes by providing his views on the decentralized energy landscape and the potential it has to move forward.  Hope you enjoy my conversation with Mr. Lath!

In case interested - transcript link here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xm5nZC013x65vPBnsi-9jtP_oRVX4wTi/view?usp=sharing 

Topics covered in this podcast:

[2:02] What was Mr. Lath's experience like engaging in the Harvard Executive MBA Program?

[5:02] Mr. Lath's background and how he joined D.light as a CFO in 2015

[10:04] How was such a significant amount of capital raised, what lessons have been learned from this experience?

[16:37] What is the pay-as-you-go model and how effective is it?

[21:15] How did D.light manage to build trust with customers?

[25:38] Mr. Lath's views on decentralized solar across emerging markets

[26:05] What piece of advice would Mr. Lath give to his younger self?

Tushar Devidayal is the founder of Devidayal Solar, which provides innovative cooling solutions to the last mile. Mr. Devidayal was the former CEO of Devidayal Chemicals which was one of the top ten pesticide and chemical processing companies in India. In this episode, we will explore Mr. Devidayal's journey, and his motivations behind wanting to launch a solar company, after having such a successful career in the corporate space. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Mr. Devidayal!

Topics covered in this podcast:

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[1:50] Mr. Devidayal provides background into a unique challenge that the company experienced

[3:58] Mr. Devidayal's background and what led him into the wonderful world of solar energy

[7:45] Mrs. Devidayal gives insight into what led her husband into social entrepreneurship

[9:26] The rural power situation in India - have power cuts drastically reduced?

[10:30] How has Devidayal Solar evolved over time from a product standpoint?

[12:45] What’s involved in Devidayal's flagship solar cooling product? What are the primary components?

[14:00] Mr. Mishra talks about Devidayal's distribution channels

[15:02] What’s the primary challenge in convincing rural customers?

[18:06] How the IFC Light Asia-India initiative help facilitate financing

[20:00] How has growing up in an entrepreneurial family impacted Mr. Devidayal's journey

[22:26] What drives Mr. Devidayal today as a social entrepreneur?