We left our hotel at 4:45AM
this morning to embark on a day of sightseeing in New Delhi. We were
feeling lucky, so we took the 7:15AM flight out of Mumbai on King Fisher
Airlines. We arrived at Delhi International Airport two hours later ready
to take on the day. We toured Delhi’s historic sites including India
Gate, Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb and others. They
were by all accounts breathtaking.
For Team Energy 2 the
highlight of the day might just have come during our lunch stop at the DLF
Promenade, a major mall in New Delhi. The entire class had lunch at the
very swanky “Vega”, which served authentic Indian cuisine. In the middle
of the meal, the restaurant lost power not once, not twice, but three times
(see photo of Mark “where did my dessert go” O Mahony).
We were seeing
first-hand data that seemed to be supporting our hypothesis. Namely,
India’s power grid is unreliable. This is a major mall, in a major city
on a day that is 70 degrees. Of all days to lose power, this would seem
an unlikely use, place and condition for it to occur. We continue to meet
with generators, customers and industry experts, but at the end of the day the
eyes don’t lie. India is facing a number of big challenges and the
country’s energy security policy is front & center in that debate.
- Robert McCullough
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