NLC India Aims To Add 10 GW Renewable Energy By 2030

NLC India Limited, a Navratna Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Coal, Government of India, marked its 10th year of renewable energy generation in 2024. The company embarked on its renewable energy journey on September 28, 2015, by commissioning a 10 MW solar photovoltaic power plant in Neyveli. Primarily a lignite-based power-generating company, NLC has ventured into renewable energy in recent years, adding 1,380 MW of solar power plants and 51 MW of wind power plants.

NLC India Limited (NLCIL) is one of the few Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in the country to generate 1 GW of renewable energy. Its corporate plan envisions expanding its renewable energy capacity to 10,000 MW by 2030. To achieve this goal, NLC India has established two new subsidiaries: NLC India Renewables Ltd (NIRL), focused on asset monetization, and NLC India Green Energy Ltd (NIGEL), leading clean energy initiatives. Plans are on the anvil to possibly merge and list the green energy subsidiary separately on the stock markets.

NLC Transition From Coal To Renewable Energy 

The company has generated 1,234 crore units of green energy, effectively preventing the emission of 1 crore tonnes of carbon dioxide, contributing to the provision of affordable and sustainable power, and enhancing the quality of life for millions.

Significant projects are underway in Neyveli, Barsingsar (Rajasthan), Gujarat, and Assam. Notably, on August 28, 2024, NLCIL signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Telangana state DISCOMs for 200 MW of solar energy at a competitive price under the Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) scheme.

Under the guidance of Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G. Kishan Reddy, NLCIL is actively pursuing projects in solar and wind power, energy storage systems (ESS), green hydrogen, pumped storage hydro projects, lignite-to-methanol conversion, mine overburden-to-sand initiatives, and critical mineral exploration.

Even as it has emerged as one of the few firms that have done better than expected on the green energy front, the firm’s core business of highly polluting  lignite based power generation ensures that its own net zero targets remain difficult to reach by 2050 even, and that will remain a key issue for the firm.