Introducing Sustainable Solutions for a Greener Future!
In the face of serious climate change and resource shortage concerns, Empereal Energy and Services emerges as a transformational force in renewable energy and water.
Empereal Energy and Services, co-founded by a visionary leader and entrepreneur, is committed to revolutionizing the renewable energy industry. With over 15 years of tenure, it has assisted communities around the world with affordable, clean electricity and safe drinking water. As Co-founder and Managing Director, Manoj Divakaran’s dedication to open innovation and sustainable practices has fueled innumerable efforts.
Empereal’s co-founders realized the crucial need for infrastructure to assist enterprises in emerging areas, particularly in the Middle East, Africa, and South America. This insight inspired them to create novel, cost-effective solutions for solar energy and water desalination.
Their groundbreaking projects, including India’s first Linear Fresnel-based solar thermal plant and seawater desalination facility, have positioned Empereal as a leader in architectural solar integration. With a focus on sustainability and community impact, he continues to drive initiatives that empower individuals and enhance quality of life through renewable energy solutions.
Here are the interview highlights:
Can you please introduce yourself and give a brief introduction to your company and its inception story?
I have over 35 years of track record as a leader and entrepreneur in Technology, Financial Markets, Renewable Energy, and Water, dealing with the mission-critical areas of Banking, Financial Trading Services, Power Generation, and Water Desalination.
I am currently recognized as a thought leader in the renewable energy and water industries and am a strong proponent of Open Innovation. I have successfully incubated various innovative ventures and projects in the renewable energy and water sectors, with a special focus on architectural solar integration into iconic buildings to promote a sustainable Net-Zero future. I have mentored many start-ups and assisted existing innovative industries to expand into new markets.
Both myself and my co-founder, Arun Subramony, were exposed to the challenges of finding adequate infrastructure to expand businesses in our corporate lives across the Middle East Africa and South America.
Access to affordable, clean energy and pure drinking water is critical for communities across the world to survive, improve their quality of life, and participate in and contribute to the ever-growing global economy and progress. This caused a deep motivation to find innovative and cost-effective solutions for generating solar energy and clean drinking water.
Having led numerous global innovation initiatives in corporations like Thomson Reuters and GE, we started with Research and Development with a strong focus on developing the right technologies to create renewable energy and water from every project. The initial focus was on setting up the first Linear Fresnel-based solar thermal plant and the first seawater desalination plant in India. These projects spurred us to establish ourselves as a leader in innovative solutions for solar energy.
Can you share a personal story or experience that sparked your interest in this field?
My responsibilities while with Thomson Reuters involved growing the communication and technology footprint in Africa, which required us to constantly innovate to obtain the right levels of technical infrastructure for our requirements like power, data communications, data centers, etc.
This made me realize the huge disparity in the availability of power and other infrastructure across emerging markets and the impact it has on communities that strive to realize their potential. Along with my co-founder, Arun Subramony, this sparked my interest in creating innovative, cost-effective, and community-sized products and projects to create clean energy and pure water.
This has blossomed into a wide range of solutions in our portfolio, ranging from solar thermal solutions to pioneering architectural BIPV solutions and, most recently, hydrogen.
Describe a project or initiative you’ve been involved with that aims to promote sustainability or reduce environmental impact. What was your role, and what were the outcomes?
One of the most important milestones in the region’s sustainability journey has been the success of Dubai Expo 2020. Its focus on sustainability and the successful implementation of such architecturally exceptional buildings with high levels of green building certifications and the integration of solar into the architectural intent were game changers.
My company, Empereal, and I are very thankful for the opportunity to play a key role in designing and implementing the integration of solar into so many iconic buildings at Expo 2020. We got a chance to implement very innovative and ground-breaking solar concepts in these projects.
How do you approach collaborating with cross-functional teams, such as engineers, policymakers, and community stakeholders, to drive sustainable energy initiatives forward?
Everybody has a role to play in addressing the challenges of climate change and sustainability. Listening to the different perspectives and approaches to understand and find solutions to the problems on a macro and local level is very important.
Keeping an open mind and learning from the various approaches of others while sharing your experience and expertise is crucial to ensuring that there is alignment of efforts and initiatives. Communication is key, and breaking down holistic messages into actionable items is essential in this aspect.
What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the sustainable energy industry today, and how do you think it can be addressed?
Sustainable practices are the need of the hour in every aspect of our business, economic activities, and life practices. Still, it is not widely understood in terms of the best ways that each individual, organization, community, and government can contribute to achieving the goals. The messages about sustainability are either too technical and complex or too fancy to be practical and get everyone to collaborate and participate.
Every change will encounter some resistance, and while we have come a long way in inculcating sustainability in many aspects of our lives, there is a lot more to be done. Using different forums and appropriate types of messaging to get the entire global society to understand and participate in sustainable practices is essential.
From an industry perspective, it is important to bring collective voices together to ensure the industry continues to attract the best talent and fulfills its objectives to usher in a cleaner and more sustainable future.
How do you think the role of the individual consumer can impact the adoption of sustainable energy solutions? What strategies would you suggest to engage and educate the public?
Tackling climate change needs initiatives at all levels of society. Governments enact policies and targets and support them with legal frameworks and financial, policy, and educational measures.
Reducing waste, recycling, and reusing resources are key areas where everyone can contribute. Making meaningful incremental adjustments to our current lifestyle helps not only address the challenges but also improve the well-being of the community and future generations.
Describe your experience with project management and your approach to ensuring the successful completion of sustainable energy projects within budget and timeline constraints.
Delivering projects on time and as intended within the budget requires excellent project management at all stages of the project, from design and engineering to procurement and implementation. It is important to ensure sustainability is enshrined in all aspects of the project. In the solar and construction industries, it is often crucial to be ready to plan and deliver under various site constraints and deadlines.
Key aspects of project management like proactive stakeholder communication, forward-looking risk assessments, look-ahead planning of material and resources, uncompromising focus on health and safety, and ensuring the right skill levels of the resources are key focus areas for Empereal in delivering its projects successfully on time and within budget.
What do you consider to be the most promising emerging technology or innovation in the sustainable energy space, and why?
Energy storage via emerging battery storage and hydrogen is the most important technological innovation in the sustainable energy space. This transforms intermittent renewable energy sources into reliable and available-on-demand energy, and this accelerates the adoption of renewable energy in all aspects of our lives.
The development of energy storage is essential for the decarbonization of all aspects of modern life and ushering in a sustainable future. It also allows communities in all areas to improve their quality of life, irrespective of whether they are connected to a reliable electricity grid.
How do you envision your role contributing to the overall mission and goals of our sustainable energy company? What unique skills or perspectives would you bring to our team?
As founder and leader of Empereal, my primary role is to realize our vision of accelerating the transformation of the construction and energy industries to be sustainable and help with the decarbonization efforts that are ongoing in various sectors. Managing the growth and aspirations of our team members and continuously delivering innovative and appropriate solutions to our clients and the marketplace is my focus.
The ability to keep improving our expertise, skill sets, and networks and constantly applying them to solve complex design, engineering, and implementation challenges is one of the most remarkable aspects of my contribution to the team and our customers.
