In a pioneering partnership in the subcontinent, the Indian Institute of Technology Jammu (IIT Jammu), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the global leader in cooling utilities, Tabreed India, have launched an innovation lab and start-up incubator to rapidly advance the development and deployment of cutting-edge, climate-smart cooling solutions.
The inauguration of the lab, located at the IIT Jammu campus, comes on the heels of COP28, and is part of IFC’s TechEmerge Sustainable Cooling Innovation program, which is implemented in partnership with UK Aid and Tabreed India. Through a unique and an independent approach, the lab will leverage IFC’s global reach and Tabreed’s unmatched scale in deploying technology and OEM agnostic cooling solutions such as AI/IOT-solutions, nanotechnologies, and solar and renewable energy solutions for hotels, shopping malls, and other developments, data centres, cold chains, transport, and more. The new lab will provide state-of-the-art reusable environments to pilot and verify new energy-efficient, cost-effective cooling technologies that lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Sudheer Perla, Managing Director, Tabreed Asia said, “Tabreed India is proud to partner with IIT Jammu and further advance the innovation ecosystem in sustainable cooling. This partnership will help meet the fast-growing commercial demand in India and shorten the adoption curve by demonstrating the commercial viability of new sustainable cooling technologies and business models. This will encompass Made-in-India innovations and new solutions from across the world.”
Dr Satya Sekhar Bhogilla, Assistant Professor, IIT Jammu said, “India’s Cooling Action Plan aims to provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits. In this context, the partnership between IIT Jammu, IFC and Tabreed aims to set up a Cooling Innovation lab (CIL). The CIL provides testbeds for the newly developed heat transfer fluids and control algorithms and focuses on future advanced cooling by harnessing the full potential of renewable energy and water conservation.”
The lab will act as a much-needed catalyst to bridge gaps in the cooling market. The solutions will be subject to rigorous testing and evaluation, and the conducive and controlled environment established -at IIT Jammu will ensure they are market-ready, deployable in a real-world context, and, most importantly, accessible and affordable for large scale adoption.
IFC’s TechEmerge program has already conducted more than 60 sustainable cooling pilots in India and across the world. The program does this by carefully matching promising innovators across the world with top local companies in emerging markets, and providing funding for field tests and support to bring climate-smart cooling solutions to scale in emerging markets, where they are needed most. So far, TechEmerge innovators have raised more than $35 million in financing, while over $2 million in commercial contracts are currently under negotiation.
About Tabreed India:
Tabreed India Private Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tabreed Asia Central Cooling Company, a 75-25 joint venture between National Central Cooling Company PJSC (Tabreed UAE) and World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC). Tabreed is actively engaging with several leading real estate developers and institutional investors across the country for implementing district cooling or cooling as a service. Tabreed has been awarded a 32-year concession to develop Asia’s largest district cooling scheme of 125,000 RT for Hyderabad Pharma City in Telangana and signed a concession with Tata Realty to provide cooling as a service (CAAS) for their Grade A commercial campus in Gurugram for 6,600 RT. With strong design, engineering and development capabilities, Tabreed India continues to develop local supply chain and O&M capabilities to ensure global best practices could seamlessly be implemented in the country.
About IIT Jammu:
IIT Jammu, established in 2016, is recognized as an “Institute of National Importance” under the “Institutes of Technology Act” of 1961. IIT is an autonomous public higher education Institute funded by the Government of India, and functions under the governance of the IIT Council.
About IFC
IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2023, IFC committed a record $43.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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