In a recent episode of Moonshots with Peter Diamandis, Dave Blundin makes a very interesting comment in the context of building data centers and the new power projects required to run them.
“Every mountain with a lake next to it has already been bought… for pumped hydro power storage.”
(Watch 31:00–31:40 mins here: Moonshots Podcast)
I was most pleased to hear this, because I knew exactly that the idea came from our very own Telugu biddas, Anil and Mahesh, founders of Greenko.
The Kurnool Project
Greenko were the first in the world to prove this model in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. They built the world’s first pumped storage power plant in the private sector. By integrating it with wind and solar projects, they again for the very first time made renewable energy available 24/7, 365 days a year.
Genius Meets Execution
We often think of innovation as inventing something new, say a gadget. However, this wasn’t about new technology. It was about business concept innovation. Pumped storage existed. Wind and solar projects existed. What was new and their real genius was the integration into one project and offering a solution of green energy being available not as intermittent power, but round the clock. Anil and Mahesh took what was already in front of everyone and made it work together. Their achievement is a lesson where genius meets entrepreneurial execution.
A Global Ripple Effect
It is most heartening to note that their idea resonated far beyond India. From the above podcast, it looks like entrepreneurs and companies around the world are now buying land near mountains and lakes to set up such projects .
Compute is the New Oil
It is no longer data, but compute that is the new oil. There is a mad rush for chips, data centers, and power projects. What Anil and Mahesh started in Kurnool is now reshaping how the world thinks about energy, sustainability, and the future of compute itself.
I had the privilege of working with them during their first decade. To see them grow from ambitious entrepreneurs to global pioneers whose work is inspiring others and shaping the future of the world is a moment of pride not just for me but for India itself.
It may be true that the mountains may not come to you, and you may have to go them. What Anil and Mahesh did instead was to go them and put them to work. The rest of the world is now following their footsteps.
People often complain that India does not produce products that the world consumes. Well you are wrong, here is a business concept innovation that the world is consuming.
Hari’s Curries
A Buffet of Reflections