The lofty ideal of empowering women has inspired a non-resident entrepreneur to set up a consultancy-cum-project management firm back home in Kerala by bringing women in key positions to drive the message for fast-tracking the adoption and use of sustainable or renewable energy.

The firm, Vydyuthi Energy Services, specialises in consulting, training, energy audits and project management in the key focus areas like energy efficiency, renewable energy, e-mobility, carbon accounting and climate change, says Anoop Babu, the entrepreneur.

Babu seeks to draw from his experience of implementing solar photovoltaic (PV) panel installation projects across the globe for several years now. Kerala, he says, is a pioneer in driving renewable energy with the Niti Ayog ranking it as #1 purveyor of the UN Sustainability Development Goals.

Experience in Middle-East

The Middle-East has been mostly the hunting ground for Babu where has developed renewable energy projects with a cumulative capacity of 2 GW (solar, wind, biomass, thermal and battery storage) in the fast-growing markets of the UAE by mainstreaming the latest technologies and innovations.

Vydyuthi Energy Services is the first authorised body in Kerala to provide certified technical training in major green energy domains along with the CII-ITC Centre for Excellence for Sustainable Development, Delhi. The training is open to professionals, students, businesses, consumers, and other communities. Vydyuthi can also be a technical and industrial partner of schools and engineering colleges for various green projects.

Women empowerment principles

It is also one of the first companies from the state signed up by the UN for the Women Empowerment Principles. In India, only 170 companies have been signed up for this initiative of which 64 companies are from the private sector. Vydyuthi has become the 65th company on the list, Babu said.

Apart from mother and co-founder Indira Babu, the rest of the team at the helm of Vydyuthi includes Sudha Kumari, a retired engineer, who led the Energy Efficiency Department of the Kerala State Electricity Board, as Head of Business; Vani Vijay, a research expert, as a working partner; and Kokila Vijayakumar, as Head of Operations.

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