A Brighter Future For India With clean Energy

We are living in an age where mobile phones, the Internet, and content streaming over the Web have become ubiquitous for a good many people. For others, however, these are still only luxuries they can only dream about.

1.2 billion people worldwide still do not have access to electricity and nearly one-third—or 400 million—live in India . And yet the demand for energy continues to expand.Last year, the government launched the “Make in India” initiative to boost manufacturing capacity.

This brings about another major hurdle which is to increase energy capacity without compromising air quality. India ranked 174th out of 178 countries on air pollution in 2014 . In Delhi alone, air pollution kills 3,000 children every year.

This widening gap between supply and demand for energy combined with the country’s alarming state of air quality means that it is critical for India to expand its power supply in an environmentally friendly manner.

Last year, one of India’s largest integrated power companies became the first in the country to incorporate a natural ester dielectric fluid into its electrical transformers system.

The vegetable-based fluid, Cargill’s Envirotemp™ FR3™ transformer oil is biodegradable, non-toxic and non-hazardous in soil and water. As it is made from a renewable resource, the fluid is carbon neutral and results in 56 times less carbon emissions than mineral oil . This helps to provide a more environmentally friendly power source for over 500,000 residential and industrial customers. Expect this number to grow, as the FR3 fluid is expected to penetrate 5-7 percent in the Indian market over the next 5 years.

“The Indian market is a very exciting market for Cargill,” said Dave Roesser, global general manager of dielectric fluids. “We are working with various Indian utilities and OEMs toimplement the technology.”

To date, FR3 fluid has been installed in over 750,000 transformers in power and distribution transformers insix continents. On top of its green benefits, the fluidprovides improved fire safety for densely populated areas within the power service area.Petroleum based oils used in this application have a fire point of 160 degrees centigrade, while FR3 fluid’s fire point is 360 degrees centigrade. This dramatically reduces the chances of a transformer catching fire. And because the FR3 fluid has a high temperature capability, transformers filled with FR3 fluid can handle up to 20% increased load capability or extend the insulation life 5-8 times longer than mineral oil. This enables utilities to design smaller more efficient transformers without sacrificing reliability resulting in a lower total cost of ownership.