GAIL To Invest Rs 5,000 Crore For 1 GWh of RE Portfolio

India’s government-owned natural gas corporation, GAIL Limited has announced to foray into Renewable Energy (RE) sector with targeting a 1 GWh RE capacity by investing around Rs. 5,000 Crores for setting up compressed biogas as well as ethanol plants.

As the corporation is stepping up to establish its business beyond natural gas, GAIL will be laying pipeline infrastructure to connect consumption centers to gas sources and spend as much as Rs 4,000 crore on renewable energy, according to GAIL’s Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Manoj Jain.

GAIL now wants to leverage its position to go greener in line with the vision of the government and the Prime Minister to cut carbon emissions and pollution, informed the Chairman.

Along with biogas, GAIL also plans to set up ethanol units that can convert agriculture waste or sugarcane into less polluting fuel that can be doped in petrol, helping cut India’s import dependence, he said.

According to the Chairman of GAIL, while the renewable energy push would cost Rs 4,000 crore, setting up at least two compressed biogas plants and one ethanol factory would entail an investment of about Rs 800-1,000 crores.

India being the 3rd largest importer of crude oil, imports 85 percent of its crude oil needs, is stepping up efforts to explore new forms of energy to clean up the skies and reduce dependence on imported fuels. “We have 120 MW of renewable energy capacity which we want to scale up to 1GW in next 3-4 years,” said the Chairman of GAIL.

Consequently, GAIL will also bid for a 400 MW solar power capacity being auctioned by SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India) in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.

“We are open to acquisitions and will look at any asset that makes commercial sense. We had almost got the IL&FS project,” he said.

Additionally, GAIL has signed up with state-run power gear maker BHEL for a renewable energy foray. The tie-up looks to leverage the competitive strengths of both companies. GAIL will be the project developer and BHEL will be a project manager and EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contractor.

GAIL is setting up its first compressed biogas (CBG) plant in Ranchi at a cost of Rs 200-300 crore. The facility will produce five tonnes of CBG per day and approximately 25 tonnes of bio-manure using municipal waste. It has floated an expression of interest (EoI) seeking partners for the setting up of CBG plants. Additionally, it also plans to set up an ethanol manufacturing unit.

The move by GAIL, which commands a 75 percent market share in gas transmission and more than 50 percent share in gas trading in India, is seen as part of the government’s vision to prepare for the energy transition process, under which the share of gas in the energy mix is sought to be raised to 15 percent by 2030, from the current 6.2 percent.