A workshop on the themes of effective use of biomass, biofuels, and general environmental technologies was held on Monday, June 23 at the head offices of The Energy Research Institute (TERI) in the city of Delhi, India. Jointly sponsored by TERI and CRIEPI, participants from TERI included Director General R.K. Pachauri and more than 10 others, while six people from CRIEPI participated, led by President Ryoichi Shirato. The two institutions agreed to promote research exchanges on the workshop themes and in other areas.

Next, over a three-day period from June 25 to June 27, a workshop was held at the head offices of the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) in Bangalore, India. Twelve people from CRIEPI participated, led by President Ryoichi Shirato. A diversity of themes were covered, including power generation, power transmission, technologies for demand-side sectors, and topics in the environmental field. The opening-day seminar was filled to overflowing, with around 100 participants from CPRI and many other people and manufacturers involved in the electrical power industry in India. There were four participants from Japan in addition to CRIEPI, representing the International Electric Research Exchange (IERE) (including one each from the Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc., and the Chubu Electric Power Company, Inc., and two from the IERE Secretariat). After three days of spirited discussion, which also included tours of the CPRI headquarters facilities and the UHV facility at the Hyderabad branch office, CRIEPI and CPRI agreed to launch studies toward the signing of a comprehensive cooperative agreement in the future. After the workshop was over, President Shirato and a group led by Shigeru Yokoyama, head of the Nuclear Technology Research Laboratory, visited the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) in Mumbai, where they engaged in discussions with S.K. Jain, chairman and managing director of NPCIL, and Srikumar Banerjee, director of BARC.

President Shirato and TERI Director General R.K. Pachauri

Opening ceremonies for the workshop with CPRI. Participants include (from left to right) V.S. Verma of the Ministry of Power (head of the CPRI Evaluation Committee), President Shirato, and CPRI Director P.K. Kognolkar (Director General designate).