Episode 1 - Chatting with Awadhesh Kumar Jha of Fortum Charge and Drive India

Chapters :

00:00 - Introduction

02:18 - Awadhesh’s prior experiences

06:15 - Fortum’s businesses and history

15:58 - Fortum’s Charge and Drive EV Charging app

23:55 - Fortum’s Future plans to setup DC Fast Chargers

32:58 - DC001 and 3W charging

We spoke about :

• How he started his journey and ended up helping kickstart the EV infrastructure in India with Fortum.

• Fortum’s existing businesses

• Existing EV business and future expansion plans

• Advantages and pitfalls of postpaid charging payment collection + new non wallet non account based solution to collect payments

• Franchise business model as a charge point operator (CPO)

• Foray into 3W logistics business

Errata :

1. Fortum won the bid to set up a 600MW solar plant in Karnataka and not Rajasthan.

2. Updated “70 megawatt, 100 megawatt, 250 megawatt size of plant”

Show notes :

1. Blog and infographics link - https://expwithevs.substack.com/p/01-blog-chatting-with-awadhesh-fortum

2. Supported by ActiveBuildings - Get your indoor air quality tested at your home or office starting at INR 699 only. Applicable in metro cities in India.

3. Awadhesh on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/awadhesh-kumar-jha-0697a28/) and Twitter(https://twitter.com/yoursawadhesh).

4. Me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyansmurarka/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ExpWithEVs).

5. ExpWithEVs blog post analyzing the charging infra in India -

   Let's talk about : EV Apps on your phone

6. DPR - Detailed Project Report

7. Fortum - https://www.fortum.in

8. Fortum Charge and Drive India - https://www.fortum.in/services/vehicle-charging/information-about-us

9. Fortum completes transaction to acquire Uniper - https://www.fortum.com/media/2020/03/fortum-closes-transaction-become-majority-owner-uniper

10. Press releases about solar tenders - https://www.fortum.in/media/2022/03/fortum-has-won-right-build-200-mw-solar-capacity-india and https://www.fortum.in/media/2022/02/fortum-has-won-right-build-600-mw-solar-capacity-india

11. Fortum and Log9 partnership - https://www.saurenergy.com/solar-energy-news/log-9-materials-partners-with-fortum-india-to-develop-ev-charging-infra

P.S.: This podcast was recorded on 2nd Sept 2022.