IIT Delhi Reduces its Carbon Footprint by More than 50%

New Delhi: At the stroke of midnight of 1st April 2021, IIT Delhi, an Institution of Eminence, achieved another milestone by becoming the first Central Government funded Technical Institute to reduce its carbon footprint by more than 50%! This was made possible by the virtue of the recent bilateral power purchase contract made by IIT Delhi with a hydro power generator in the state of Himachal Pradesh for 2 MW.
Open access provisions in Electricity Act 2003 have made it possible to buy power from the generators of their choice through bilateral contracts or energy exchange, for large consumers of power like IIT Delhi. IIT Delhi made use of these provisions to its advantage by involving PTC India Ltd. as a trader to identify a source of ‘green’ power. Buying 2 MW of power exclusively from ‘green’ generator is equivalent to off-setting about 14000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
IIT Delhi already has 2.7 MWp (Megawatts-peak) of rooftop solar PV installation. With the addition of 2 MW of hydro power in the kitty, IIT Delhi’s power purchase portfolio has 4.7 MW of green power as against contract demand of around 8.5 MW with the local utility that essentially serves academic and hostel areas. With this, IIT Delhi shares its responsibility in achieving the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target as part of climate change pledge by the Government of India during the Paris agreement.
Speaking about the milestone, Prof V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi said, “Availing green power through open access is another important initiative that we have taken in recent times to share our responsibility towards clean climate. IIT Delhi has always shown a pathway and provided leadership for new initiatives like these. Through many such proactive actions, we are making a good progress in achieving the target of making our campus – smart, sustainable and green. The Institute has plans to expand the green power purchase portfolio in the near future.”
Dr. Abhijit Abhyankar, Associate Dean (Infrastructure) and Professor, Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi said, “It is expected that IIT Delhi would do substantial cost saving with green power procurement. The Institute also wishes to expand this initiative by exploring further cost saving opportunities provided by the energy exchanges in India.”
Availing open access to purchase green power entailed adopting a procedure laid down by state and central electricity regulatory commissions for obtaining approvals from local utility, various load dispatch centres, installing open access meters, etc.
Dr. Abhyankar added, “IIT Delhi has created a template for educational institutes who wish to avail this facility.”
IIT Delhi has always strived hard to make its over 300-acre campus green and slash the carbon footprint. In July 2019, the Institute had introduced electric rickshaws for the community to commute around the campus. Recently, it also added electric carts to ferry people from visitors’ parking to the Institute area.
Being a residential campus, IIT Delhi has also designed and developed solutions to help manage solid-waste in an easy, environment-friendly, cost-effective and sustainable way. Further, to make optimal use of water resources, the Institute has set up 1.5 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) through which horticulture needs of the campus is taken care of.