Tamil Nadu's Energy Transition Journey: Lessons and Opportunities

The state level workshop “Tamil Nadu's Energy Transition Journey: Lessons and Opportunities” took place in Chennai on January 23, 2024. The event successfully convened representatives from the government, private sector, researchers, civil society organizations, and energy sector experts. The workshop served as a platform to reflect reflected on Tamil Nadu's energy transition, facilitating an exchange of ideas and gathering insights on challenges and potential opportunities for sustainable energy future.

Vikram Kapur, I.A.S. Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Director, Anna Administrative Staff College and Director General of Training, delivered an insightful keynote address.

This was followed by panel discussion on “Reflections on Tamil Nadu’s Journey in Energy Transition” with the following panelists: Muthusamy Palanisamy , Former Director Engineering, Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC), Sankara Narayanan, Former General Manager, Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA), Rahul Balaji, Advocate, Madras High Court, Venkatachalam Ayyar Advisor, Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), Sustainable Chennai Forum, Toine Van Megen Co-Founder, Auroville Consulting and Sandhya S. Lead – Energy Transitions, Energy Program, WRI India .

The next panel discussion on “Charting Tamil Nadu’s Roadmap to a Sustainable Energy Future” brought together Sudha Ramen , I.F.S., Member Secretary, State Planning Commission, G. Sundarrajan Poovulagin Nanbargal, Prof. KURIAN JOSEPH , Director, Centre for Climate Change and Disaster Management (CCCDM), Anna University, Aarti Khosla , Director, Climate Trends , Martin Scherfler , Co-Founder, Auroville Consulting and Deepak Krishnan , Deputy Director, Energy Program, WRI India.

This event was part of a broader initiative - the Sustainable Energy Transformation, Tamil Nadu, which is a collaboration with Auroville Consulting, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG). This initiative aims to facilitate higher clean energy deployment in Tamil Nadu by working with stakeholders to find sustainable and equitable solutions.