Bullish on solar, not keen on FDRE: NTPC CMD Gurdeep Singh

NTPC Green Energy

NTPC Green will primarily invest in solar capacities to reach its 60 GW renewable energy target, which it plans to achieve two years in advance by 2030, said NTPC Ltd CMD Gurdeep Singh.

“We are more bullish on solar than wind energy. This is because solar is available throughout the year, about 340 days a year. On the other hand, wind is available in some parts of the country and only during a few months in a year. Hence, it has been decided that 90 percent of our renewable capacities will be solar, while only 10 percent will be wind,” Singh said during an interaction with reporters in Delhi.

He further said going forward, the company will primarily do solar projects with battery energy storage. Moneycontrol on November 19 reported on the government’s push to Central and state public sector undertakings to include battery storage capacities in tenders meant for solar projects.

However, Singh said NTPC Green Ltd (NGEL) is not keen on taking up firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) or round-the-clock (RTC) renewable energy projects. “We are not after FDRE and RTC-RE. We feel it is not our job as power generators to commit to certain terms of power supply and then pay penalty if there is any default in the stipulated hours of supply. Distribution companies aggregate power and give it to the end consumer,” he said.

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FDRE provides round-the-clock power supply through energy storage by imposing certain dispatch stipulations, failing which often attracts penalty. It supports the discoms in meeting renewable purchase obligation (RPO) and energy storage obligation (ESO).

NGEL is mostly looking at tie-ups with CPSUs and states for off take of its renewable energy. So far, it has made agreements with states or entities of the state governments in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and so on for land and off-take of RE. Among CPSUs, NGEL is tying up with Indian Oil, ONGC, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and so on.

“Our target is to have 60 GW of RE capacity by 2032, which we will achieve by 2030. Of that 60 GW, 19 GW will come up by FY27. By the end of this financial year, NGEL will have RE capacity of 6,000 MW. By March FY26, it will be 11,000 MW (11 GW),” Singh said.

The company would require about Rs 5 lakh crore to achieve 60 GW of RE capacity in total. As of September 2024, the company had an impressive portfolio comprising 3,220 MW of operational solar power projects and 100 MW of wind projects spread across six states.

NGEL’s Rs 10,000-crore mega IPO opened for subscription on November 19, and will close on November 22. The IPO, the largest by a PSU firm in the renewable energy space, aims to capitalise on India’s ambitious clean energy goals, offering investors a stake in the country's clean energy transition.

NGEL is the largest renewable energy public sector enterprise in India by operational capacity, excluding hydro.