NTPC to cut stake in renewable energy arm, hunt for strategic investors – EQ Mag Pro
Plans to list NREL next FY, hold global roadshows for strategic investors
State-owned NTPC will reduce its stake in its newly formed renewable energy arm below 50 per cent as it plans to go public in the next fiscal year.
NTPC-Renewable Energy, formed in October 2020, will lead the company’s plan to construct 60 gigawatt (Gw) of renewable energy projects in this decade.
In the coming months, India’s largest power generation company will begin “global roadshows” to find a strategic investor in NREL, according to executives.
“We would be open to all kinds of investors – energy utilities, financing companies, domestic, and international energy players — as long as they have financing backing that matches our ambition of 60 Gw,” said a senior executive.
According to a senior executive, the plan was to list NREL during the next fiscal year, “preferably before October 2022”.
The mega solar power park in Khavda, Gujarat, where NTPC will set up 5 Gw of solar power capacity, is one of the key renewable energy projects that the company is currently working on. It is also in the process of inviting expression of interest for setting up a 15-Gw solar cell and module manufacturing facility.
It will soon issue a tender for 3 Gw energy storage, which will be “technology and location-agnostic”, said an executive. The company recently announced setting up ‘India’s first Green Hydrogen based Energy Storage Project’ at its Simhadri power plant in Andhra Pradesh.
Gurdeep Singh, chairman and managing director of NTPC, had said in June that NREL would be listed soon. “We should not focus on one way of raising funds. We want to soon go public for raising funds,” he had said, adding the company would add 7-8 Gw renewable energy every year.
Apart from solar and wind power projects, NTPC was looking to invest in green hydrogen and green methanol that are cleaner fuels produced at renewable energy-powered units. According to sources, the company would start a pilot of producing green hydrogen at its Vindhaychal thermal power unit in Madhya Pradesh.
NTPC builds renewable projects under two heads – EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) mode, where it participates in tenders floated by the Centre and states and constructs on its own. It has constructed 1.2 Gw of solar and wind projects. The other is developer mode, where it awards renewable projects to private companies and procures power to sell to states. Under the developer mode, 4 Gw projects are operational and tenders for close to 3 Gw will be finalised soon.
NTPC is planning to take its three subsidiary companies public to meet the Centre’s asset monetisation target of Rs 15,000 crore.
Apart from NREL, the other two companies are NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO). As part of the same plan, NTPC will also exit from its joint venture with steel major SAIL – NTPC-SAILPower Company.
The current total installed capacity of NTPC stands at 66 Gw. Of this, thermal (coal + gas) is 61 Gw, hydro 3.7 Gw, solar is 1 Gw, and the balance is wind.
Source: business-standard
