India Tech Report

Tag: BESS

  • Battery sovereignty: Stuti Kakkar, Co-Founder of MEINE Electric, on India’s ALBM plan

    Battery sovereignty: Stuti Kakkar, Co-Founder of MEINE Electric, on India’s ALBM plan

    In this episode, Stuti Kakkar, co-founder of MEINE Electric, a battery energy storage tech startup, unpacks the government’s proposed Approved List of Battery Manufacturers (ALBM) that is reportedly in the works as part of its ambitious $38 billion push to deploy 47 gigawatts of battery storage.

    Similar to the solar industry’s ALMM framework, this list aims to mandate localised supply chains for government projects, reducing a heavy reliance on imports, particularly from China, which currently controls over 90 percent of the supply chain. Stuti explains why this move is a game-changer for hardware startups.

    While traditional lithium-ion batteries face domestic mineral shortages, alternative chemistries like Iron-Air can be up to 95 percent indigenous from day zero, she says.

    Stuti also touches upon how these policy shifts provide the demand visibility for hardware-centric startups, which is needed to scale India’s deep-tech ecosystem.

  • EVs and beyond: Apoorv Shaligram on barriers to adoption

    EVs and beyond: Apoorv Shaligram on barriers to adoption

    Barriers to not just EV adoption, but beyond, in terms of widespread use of larger electric batteries the same way we’ve adopted smartphones, for example. What factors are holding adoption back?
    Apoorv Shaligram, founder and CEO at e-TRNL Energy in Bengaluru, offers a quick point here. He identifies convenience and safety as the primary limiters for electric battery tech adoption in India.
    Check out the related post for the full conversation with Apoorv, who with his fellow founder Uttam Sen and their team, is innovating new cell architectures to make cells, batteries and their applications safer, more reliable and better alternatives to fossil fuel.

  • Point: MEINE Electric’s founders on innovating their batteries for scale

    Point: MEINE Electric’s founders on innovating their batteries for scale

    Listen to the point

    MEINE Electric is an Indian deep-tech startup in Chennai, developing iron-air battery systems designed for long-duration energy storage of 16 to 24 hours. Founders Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakar hope that these batteries will help accelerate India’s transition to net zero carbon emissions.

    They use a process of controlled reversible rusting to create a cost-effective, sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries and pumped hydro storage. By utilizing abundant materials like iron, air, and water, they aim to provide 100 percent renewable energy reliability for energy-intensive industries such as mining and data centres.

    Their proprietary innovations include fast-charging capabilities and a unique gas-diffusion electrode that is compatible with high-volume manufacturing. The venture has secured pre-seed funding and plans to showcase its first product pilot later this year. Ultimately, they envision building a renewable energy ecosystem to stabilize the grid as global power demands shift toward green sources.

    You can catch the full conversation right here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a quick point on how the founders are innovating to develop their product for scale.

  • Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar on iron-air battery innovations at MEINE Electric

    Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar on iron-air battery innovations at MEINE Electric

    In this episode, I’m joined by Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar, school friends turned co-founders at MEINE Electric, to talk about their innovations in developing iron-air battery energy storage systems (BESS) for long duration energy storage (LDES).

    Renewable energy in India faces a fundamental problem of timing. Solar panels and wind turbines produce electricity when nature dictates, not necessarily when industrial factories require it. For the green transition to succeed, power must be stored for the long hours when the sun is down or the wind is still. While lithium-ion batteries serve short durations, they remain too costly for day-long storage.

    Priyansh and Stuti are innovating in the area of controlled, reversible rusting, with the aim of providing energy storage for 16 to 24 hours at prices lower than with current options such as pumped hydro storage and of course lithium-ion batteries. Their approach uses materials abundantly available — iron, air, and water — to avoid the complicated supply chains associated with rarer metals.

    “At the core of it, it’s just reversible rusting. We all know that iron rusts — it’s not a reaction that’s unknown to humanity — but to do it in a controlled fashion at a greater efficiency so it acts as a battery is where our innovation and the whole magic lies.”

    Stuti Kakkar and Priyansh Mohan

    In this episode, we get a peek into the engineering innovations behind their technology and some of the challenges that remain in the way of building deep tech companies from India. Backed by Rebalance, Antler, Venture Catalysts, gradCapital, and Anna Incubator, Stuti and Priyansh have recently raised a pre-seed investment in their venture.

    They expect to showcase a pilot-ready version of their first product as early as later this year.

  • Coming up: Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar on their energy storage innovations at MEINE Electric

    Coming up: Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar on their energy storage innovations at MEINE Electric

    Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar, founders of MEINE Electric in Chennai, are developing an Iron-air battery energy storage system that they hope will help reduce curtailment of renewables-based power.
    Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar, founders of MEINE Electric in Chennai, are developing an Iron-air battery energy storage system that they hope will help reduce curtailment of renewables-based power.
    Listen to the preview

    Renewable energy in India faces a fundamental problem of timing. Solar panels and wind turbines produce electricity when nature dictates, not necessarily when industrial factories require it. For the green transition to succeed, power must be stored for the long hours when the sun is down or the wind is still. While lithium-ion batteries serve short durations, they remain too costly for day-long storage.

    Coming up on Feb. 10, in my next episode of Conversations at India Tech Report, I speak with Priyansh Mohan and Stuti Kakkar, friends from school turned co-founders – at MEINE Electric, to talk about their innovations in developing iron-air batteries for longer duration storage.

    By controlling the process of reversible rusting, the duo aims to provide energy storage for 16 to 24 hours at a fraction of current prices. Their approach uses abundant materials — iron, air, and water — to avoid the complicated supply chains associated with rarer metals.

    In this episode, we get a peek into the engineering innovations behind their technology and some of the challenges that remain in the way of building deep tech companies from India. Backed by Rebalance, Antler, Venture Catalysts and gradCapital, Stuti and Priyansh have raised a pre-seed funding recently.

    They are working to release a pilot-ready version of their first product as early as later this year.

    You can catch the full conversation right here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a 90-second preview.