CARBONLITE CHRONICLES:
QUARTERLY UPDATE FROM THE ENERGY CONSORTIUM
JULY 2026
THE ROAD AHEAD
From the CEOs Desk
Building on our active public engagement and thought leadership across our professional platforms, this quarter began with the official release of the Path to Decarbonization Special Issue 2, which delivers critical frameworks, industry insights, and scalable technological roadmaps necessary for achieving net-zero goals. Also we launched our comprehensive Annual Report for 2026 underscoring our key accomplishments and dedicated approach to bridging academia, industry, and policy to foster a competitive, climate-resilient green economy during the past year.
On the research and technology front, this past quarter, the Energy Consortium announced the 2026 TRENDsetter Grant Awards honouring industry-aligned research and innovation for energy transition and decarbonization. 15 faculty members at IIT Madras received the TRENDsetter Grant in core focus areas of Biomass & Plastics, (Valorization & Derivative Chemicals), Sustainable Energy & Resources, Digitalization & AI, and CO₂ Capture Technologies. The awards were a central highlight during the 5th edition of the Industry Members Annual Meet / Industry Convening 2026 held June 25–27, 2026.
This quarter also saw us initiate a number of new initiatives that encourage and enable start-ups to bring their technology and innovation prowess to tackle challenges for future grids in Europe (done in collaboration with E.ON and Infosys), for green hydrogen acceleration (with Xynteo’s Energy Leap) and for the oil and gas sector (with MC2 + Ignite).
Nikhil S Tambe, PhD
CEO – The Energy Consortium
Adjunct Faculty – Dept of Applied Mechanics & Biomedical Engineering
IIT Madras
New Strategic Partnerships
IIT Madras and DTU Collaboration
The Office of Global Engagement, IIT Madras, is delighted to highlight a new milestone in strengthening research and innovation collaboration between India and Denmark.
An MoU has been signed between DTU – Technical University of Denmark and IIT Madras, paving the way for deeper cooperation in scientific research, innovation, and skills development.
The MoU marks the first step towards the “Audhumbla” Project, an ambitious initiative envisioned to establish an innovation corridor connecting India and Denmark.
The TNEB MoU with IIT Madras
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has signed an MoU with Indian Institute of Technology, Madras to provide a flexible and overarching framework that helps deepen mutual engagement and pursue high-impact research, advisory, and capacity-building projects in areas of mutual interest in the power and energy sector.
Under this MoU, IIT Madras will act as a “Knowledge and Technical Partner” to TNEB and its subsidiaries — TNPDCL, TANTRANSCO, TNPGCL and TNGECL — for projects of importance at the State/national level.
Fostering a Thriving Energy Startup Ecosystem
The Energy Consortium at IIT Madras continues to strengthen India’s energy innovation ecosystem by connecting promising startups with industry, research expertise and commercial opportunities. Through collaborations in initiatives such as the E.ON Innovation Challenge, MC Square Plus IGNITE and the Great Hydrogen Challenge, the Consortium is creating pathways for emerging innovators to validate, scale and commercialise breakthrough technologies. These initiatives reflect its commitment to nurturing entrepreneurship, accelerating industry-academia collaboration and transforming innovative ideas into impactful, real-world energy solutions.
Powering Conversations
Team Schneider Electric visits the Campus
We were happy to have the Schneider Electric group led by Sandhya Devi Varanasi and Soumya Gopinathan at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras on Sep 10 & 11 and to engage in research and innovation discussions centered around various energy transition topics such as power electronics, WBG devices, power systems in general, as well as BESS and recycling tech.
Technip Energies Team and CTO Wei Cai visit to the campus.
We are delighted to announce the continuation of Technip Energies as the founding member of The Energy Consortium – IIT Madras for another three years! Janani Mittal will continue to serve as the Industry Advisory Board member.
The highlight was the engaging visit to the co-funded pilot scale facilities established by Prof Vinu Ravikrishnan and the X2Fuels and Energy Private Limited startup team at the Discovery campus of IIT Madras and exploring mutual interests on various focus topics.
The Energy Consortium - IIT Madras, hosted a CXO roundtable with DTU
At the centre of the discussion was the vision for a dedicated Innovation Hub for Sustainable Energy that will build on the momentum of the past five years of the Green Strategic Partnership.
3rd edition of the IECS 2026, held at IIT, Madras
The 3rd edition of the International Conference on Energy Conversion and Storage, the IECS 2026, was held at IIT, Madras. We are proud to be affiliated with the conference that was co-organized this year in collaboration with University of St Andrews. , UK and Ming Chi University of Technology, Taiwan.
Celebrating People
Prof. Dhiman Chatterjee awarded for Excellence in Teaching
Prof. Dhiman Chatterjee, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, and affiliated faculty of The Energy Consortium, was recently recognised with the 2026 Srimathi Marti Annapurna Gurunath Award for Excellence in Teaching.
He was also the Chief Guest at IIT Madras’ Teachers’ Day Celebration, presided over by Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras.
Eminent lecture: Prof Kaushik Das, DTU
𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 featuring Prof. Kaushik Das, Associate Professor at DTU Wind and Energy Systems and Scientific Director, Hybrids and Storage, DTEC was organized at IIT Madras.
Prof. Das shared insights on 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐲𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 and their role in the evolving clean energy landscape.
Conclusion of The Energy Consortium Summer Internship Program
The Energy Consortium Summer Internship Program provides students with an opportunity to work with leading faculty experts in the concerned fields and gain first-hand knowledge.
The 2026 cohort finished their summer internship at IIT Madras and during their time had had the opportunity to :
🔹 Work on cutting-edge energy research
🔹 Undertake goal-oriented mini-projects with expert mentorship
🔹 Build a deeper understanding of energy generation, storage, distribution, and sustainability
On the Drawing Board
Accelerating Net Zero - The Leadership Series Publication
Coming Soon | Perspectives That Shape the Future
Accelerating Net Zero: The Leadership Series, an upcoming publication by the Energy Consortium, IIT Madras, brings together compelling perspectives from industry leaders, distinguished academicians and policymakers shaping the global energy transition.
Featuring thought-provoking insights, emerging opportunities and strategic priorities, this publication promises to spark conversations that matter.
SPECIAL MENTION
The Energy Consortium-IIT Madras Faculty Drives Green Hydrogen Innovation in Key Indo-Danish Project
We’re pleased to announce a major achievement for The Energy Consortium- IIT Madras and our affiliated faculty! Prof. Shanti Swarup has been selected for a pivotal Green Hydrogen Research Project under the 2024 Indo-Danish bilateral research call. This initiative, part of the strategic Green Strategic Partnership between India and Denmark, aims to accelerate the deployment of cutting-edge hydrogen technologies.
Out of 15 joint proposals, Prof. Swarup, in collaboration with Prof. Kaushik Das of DTU – Technical University of Denmark, will be a core part of the “Strategic Green Hydrogen Integration Towards Energy Transition and Localisation Demand to Deployment (SHIELD)” project. This significant effort is focused on converting renewable electricity into green fuels for clean transport and a decarbonized industry.
This selection highlights our commitment to leading advanced energy research and our crucial role in fostering international collaboration for a sustainable future.
Wind Energy Research Gets a Boost: New Centre Focuses on Wind Power Innovation
The Energy Consortium – IIT Madras fosters collaboration across all energy-related disciplines. Our expertise spans carbon capture, renewable energy integration, green hydrogen production, next-generation energy storage, distributed energy management for microgrids etc.
The Jaisri and Venkat Rangan Wind Energy CoRE, led by Prof. Chandramouli Padmanabhan is poised to revolutionize wind energy. This new centre tackles the full spectrum of wind power, from rooftop turbines bringing clean energy to remote locations to large-scale offshore wind farms. The CoRE’s focus includes both onshore and offshore wind energy, to develop cutting-edge technologies that maximize energy generation and minimize environmental impact.
Wind energy is a critical sector in the global pursuit of net zero emissions. The Jaisri and Venkat Rangan Wind Energy CoRE is committed to developing innovative solutions that propel us towards a sustainable future.
As per the charter of the consortium, a fair portion of the industry membership funding is intended for exploratory and collaborative research that enables the Energy Consortium to become one of the key technology hubs. The Technology Research ENgineering and Development setter (TRENDSetter) program was established to identify areas aligned with the long-range research initiatives of the industry and to build capability within the consortium. In its 3rd year of grant awards the TRENDSetter continues to have the Track 2 that recognizes promising high potential novel ideas from early career research faculty, but we intend to fine tune the Track 1 grant so that our objective 1) will be to fund proposals that are directly related to the core activities of the energy consortium and 2) those involving development of larger-scale pilots, containerized or modularized for demonstration of scale-up technology. For 2025, a newer area in Alternate Fuels that can, similar to the Carbon Capture Container, attract follow-on funding from government agencies and industry partners is been considered.
We are pleased to announce the following awardees for 2025
Track 1 – Pilot Demonstrators:
Prof. Varunkumar S, Mechanical Engineering
Track 2 – Early Career Faculty:
Prof. T. Palaniselvam, Chemistry
Prof. Sagar Sourav, Chemical Engineering
Prof. Richa Karmakar, Biotechnology
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