NTPC’s 3 GW Renewable Plus Storage Tender Plan Signals Major Hybrid Push

Agency reports have quoted a senior official at NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd. (NREL) as saying that the firm will float tenders for a 3 GW renewable project by February 2022. The news follows a flurry of announcements regarding the power majors renewable arm, from plans to hive it off to the search for a strategic investor, and eventually list it publicly by October 2022. Even the 3 GW renewable energy project will come with a battery storage system worth about Rs 15,000 crore it was reported. The project is likely to be a hybrid project with a mix of solar and wind, and battery storage to enable RTC (Round the clock) supplies.

The announcement makes it clear that the national power generator will continue to push to maintain its pre-eminent role in the new shift to renewable energy. That covers every aspect from solar, to the newest star, Green Hydrogen.

NREL, ever since its incorporation in October 2020 as the vehicle for NTPC’s renewable energy business, has been in hectic moves to ramp up, as it seeks to convert NTPC’s target of having 45% of its total capacity in renewable mode by 2032. That means a target of 60 GW of renewable energy by 2032. More than the total solar capacity India will have by the end of this year.

NREL currently has a renewable project portfolio of 3,850 MW, of which 970-MW projects are under construction and 2,880-MW projects have been won and are in different phases of implementation.

With a current installed capacity of close to 68 GW across the group, the NTPC group will be a key pillar of the push for renewables. Keep in mind that multiple other energy PSU’s that have also taken on ambitious renewable energy targets are also counting on formal tie-ups and JV’s with NTPC to move ahead on their plans. They need NTPC for both its experience in the power sector, as well as its competency in the renewables space, an area most of them lack in. With a balance sheet size that can deliver at over Rs 1 lac crore in turnover and heading to Rs 14,000 crore plus in profits this year, NTPC has been one of the few PSU’s to show it has not lost the ability to grab opportunity when it sees it.