Re-Invest 2024- Firms Parade 480 GW Capacity Addition Plans

At the fourth edition of Re-invest 2024, you might be tempted to believe that India’s renewable energy targets are as good as met. At least, going by the line up of firms queuing up to make their commitments public. In a spectacle suitably titled ‘Shapath Patra’ or agreements signed at the event, firms made the commitments for India as well as specifically in Gujarat.

Leading the roster was public sector firms including SECI (10,000 MW), NTPC (41,300 MW), SJVN (15,500 MW). The notable entry of course is SECI’s 10,000 MW target as a developer, after serving as the nodal agency for long.

Among private sector players, Reliance led the way with a 100,000 MW commitment to 2030, besides a manufacturing capacity of 20 GW of integrated solar   and 20 GW equivalent of glass making as well.

ReNew has committed 40,000 MW, Adani Green Energy 38,300 MW, and Hero Future Energies 28,250 MW. ReNew has also promised to invest to produce 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually to support the nation’s goal of installing 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030. This will be powered by 25GW of renewable energy. This represents 20% of India’s projected capacity of 5 million tonnes of Green Hydrogen per annum.

On the manufacturing front too, the company will also establish solar manufacturing facilities to support 6 GW ingot/wafer capacity, 6 GW solar cell production, and 10 GW of solar modules, creating approximately 5,000 jobs. It already has a 2.2 GW module manufacturing up and running, while a similar sized cell manufacturing set up is expected to start later this month.

Re-Invest 2024- Commitments Flood In 

Company	Commitment (In MW)
Reliance	100000
NTPC	41300
ReNew	40000
Adani Green	38300
Hero Future Energies	28250
Axis Energy Ventures	27900
Serentica Renewables	26000
Avaada	25300
Ampin Energy	21000
Greenko	20000
SJVN Green Energy	15500
Tata Power Renewable	15234
SECI	10000
Zelestra	9850
NHPC	9558
TOTAL	428192

To the above list of 428 GW , add another 50 GW from other ‘smaller’ players, and you have a total of almost 478 GW of commitments, over and above the 200 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity India has already installed. Fortunately, the usual ‘MOU’ discount of 85% on commitments versus  actuals will not apply at Re-Invest 2024, as most of these firms have actually got serious, committed plans in place, other than Reliance which always keeps its plans close to its chest. The fact that Reliance has a disproportionate share of the commitments is key, therefore.

However, add to these numbers the momentum on PM SuryaGhar, and also PMKUSUM now, and one can safely add another 25 GW to the total, comfortably taking the country’s FRESH capacity additions to over 500 GW, or possibly 700 GW by 2030. At a 75-80% achievement rate that seems most likely, or between 525 and 560 GW by 2030. Considering that Green Hydrogen linked renewable capacities will be in addition to these, the numbers seem doable. Or so one wishes.