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CaaS pushed in India by
Smart Joules with BASE support
Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy
(BASE) provided Smart Joules with
financial and technical support to
while minimising the impact on climate
change of the much-needed cooling
solutions.” In this context, BASE offered
develop a strong business model, a
support to Smart Joules, an Energy
contractual framework, and a pricing model
Service Company based in New Delhi, to
to help bring CaaS to the Indian market.
develop the Cooling as a Service (CaaS)
India’s demand for cooling is
model for India.
increasing rapidly and is consuming
Smart Joules has previous experience in
significant amounts of electricity. In
the hospital sector with a different model
2016, space cooling in Indian buildings
based on shared energy savings. Over
consumed 91 TWh. If India’s energy
consumption for space cooling
represented a country on its own, it would
their five-year operating history, Smart
Joules built capabilities and expertise to
produce the most efficient and lowest
CaaS
Cooling as a service again finds a suitable solution, this time in India.
be the 34th most energy-demanding
cost central air conditioning through a
nation on the planet. This consumption is
set to triple by 2050.
India has more than 3 000 cooling
degree days, a measure representing the
number of degrees that a day’s average
temperature is above the threshold at
which buildings need to be cooled (above
18°C). This is among the highest in the
world. Air conditioning currently accounts
for about around 40–60% of peak power
demand in summers in the major Indian
cities of Mumbai and New Delhi.
THE SOLUTION
“There is a clear need for innovative
financial solutions for Indian business and
building owners to access clean and
efficient cooling,” explained Thomas
Motmans, Sustainable Energy Finance
Specialist at BASE. “This can enable these
businesses to reduce their operating costs
combination of optimum system design,
equipment selection, and continuous
operational optimisation with the help of
their IoT platform technology.
Smart Joules then turned to K-CEP and
BASE in 2019 to receive support for the
development of the pay-per-use business
model CaaS, as it better reflects the needs
of the market. According to Arjun Gupta,
CEO at Smart Joules, the CaaS model will
allow Smart Joules to multiply their impact
beyond the hospital sector and fuel their
future growth.
“Cooling as a Service aligns the
incentives between ourselves and our
customers, setting strong foundations for
long-term strategic partnerships,” said
Gupta “We operate the cooling system and
take all performance risks. The customers
pay for the service per unit of cooling in a
transparent price structure, and don’t need
to worry about owning, maintaining and
operating an asset anymore.”
BASE provided Smart Joules with
financial and technical support to
develop a strong CaaS business model,
a contractual framework and a pricing
model to bring CaaS to the Indian
market. Since then, Smart Joules has
approached several sectors with the
CaaS business model (under the name
‘JouleCOOL’), including hospitals, IT
parks, pharmaceutical companies,
owner-occupied office buildings, and
cinema theatre chains. Gupta said: “We
have received overwhelming interest in
the model from senior management in
companies with very large air conditioning
footprints across the country.”
Smart Joules is currently developing
the first CaaS projects across sectors.
“We believe this model will become
our dominant engine for growth once
success is proven through these initial
projects,” said Gupta. Target clients
have noted reduced operating costs
and capital conservation as the main
reasons for their interest in the CaaS
model, with enhanced levels of reliability,
predictability, simplicity and sustainability
as additional benefits.
Smart Joules has not only been
able to generate interest for this model
among large end users, but also among
the investment community. They have
recently closed their first round of equity
investment and are expecting to close an
additional round from recognised venture
funds. “We are thankful to BASE for their
support at a critical juncture and their
continued advisory support and other
efforts to help make our CaaS model
successful,” concluded Gupta. CLA
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