Greenko & Serentica’s signed a 1.5GWh Green Energy Deal
Serentica Renewables, a developer focused on low-carbon energy solutions, has signed a ground-breaking green energy deal with Greenko Group, its counterpart in India, for 1.5 GWh of pumped hydro energy storage (PHES).
This deal marks the first-ever contract for capacity from standalone energy storage facilities. The PHES plants, located in Andra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, will enable Serentica Renewables to provide dispatchable renewable energy to industrial electricity customers.
Serentica Renewables, which has received substantial investment commitments of US$650 million from global investment group KKR, primarily targets the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment.
The company aims to offer sustainable energy solutions to energy-intensive industries facing challenges in reducing emissions. With a portfolio of 4GW renewable energy projects, Serentica Renewables recently announced 1.25GW of renewable energy supply deals with multiple industrial customers, in addition to the 580MW of contracts already signed.
Greenko Group, on the other hand, has an installed base of over 7.3GW in solar, wind, and hydroelectric renewables projects across 15 states in India. The company is actively developing a targeted 50GWh of PHES as part of its “Energy Storage Cloud Platform.” Greenko collaborates directly with corporate off-takers such as Arcellor Mittal and Adani and secured a tender with NTPC, an Indian state-owned power producer, for a 500MW/3,000MWh PHES plant. The winning bid cost at US$58/MWh for once daily-cycled operations, with costs potentially dropping to as low as US$29/MWh for multi-cycled applications.
Greenko and Serentica expressed their intention to jointly offer 24/7 round-the-clock (RTC) renewable energy several months ago. Leveraging Greenko’s pumped hydro plants and Serentica’s wind power and solar PV assets, the companies signed an agreement in November 2022. Serentica Renewables recently announced that customers can expect more than 95% renewable energy supplied, with an 85% assurance per 15-minute block of time, thanks to the 6-hour duration storage resources provided by the two PHES plants.
Serentica Renewables is a subsidiary of UK-Indian mining group Vedanta Resources, owned by Twinstar Overseas, which also possesses Sterlite Power, an India-focused power transmission developer.
While specific commissioning dates for the closed loop PHES in Pinnapuram, Andra Pradesh, and Gandhi Sagyar, Madha Pradesh were not disclosed, the concept of RTC renewable energy contracts, particularly for industrial customers in India, was a focal point at the Energy Storage Summit Asia 2023 held in Singapore.
Notable developments in this space include tenders from NTPC’s renewables and energy trading subsidiaries, as well as the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). Additionally, ReNew Power secured a US$1 billion financing deal for RTC projects, reported to be the largest of its kind in the sector. Although much attention has been given to PHES-enabled offerings, NTPC Renewable Energy has recently launched a 2GWh tender for pumped hydro projects, and ReNew Power’s focus has been on a combination of renewable energy and battery energy storage system (BESS) technologies.