India’s Renewable Energy Target Creates $500 Billion Opportunity: ReNew CEO
According to Sumant Sinha, Chief Executive Officer of ReNew Energy Global Plc, India’s energy transition plans offer a $500 billion investment opportunity for companies through the end of the decade, as the country seeks a record expansion in clean power.
The country, the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has set a goal of nearly tripling its non-fossil generation capacity by 2030. To achieve that goal, the government intends to auction 50 gigatonnes of wind, solar, and hybrid projects each year, providing a massive opportunity for companies like ReNew, Sinha told during in an interview Wednesday.
In addition to building wind and solar power projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is looking for investments in domestic solar panel manufacturing to help India become self-sufficient.
The government has also launched an initiative to make India a global hub for the production of green hydrogen in order to tap a market for the decarbonization of difficult-to-abate industries.
ReNew intends to invest across the entire decarbonization value chain. With approximately 8 gigatonnes of operational capacity, the company is one of India’s leading renewables producers, and it is currently constructing a 4-gigatonne-per-year solar module manufacturing plant, which will be operational this year.
According to Sinha. The company is conducting feasibility studies for a green hydrogen plant in Egypt and is looking into other geographies for similar projects.
Although the government’s plan to levy import taxes on cells and modules will cause “temporary disruption” in supplies.
Sinha says this will enable India to compete with China in supplying solar modules.
Last year, India wants to make more of its own solar parts and buy less from China So it made solar parts from China more expensive to buy. So India imposed a 40% import tax on modules and a 25% tax on cells in order to encourage investment in domestic manufacturing of these components and reduce reliance on China.
Border tensions between the two countries have fueled calls in India to limit trade with China. India and China are not getting along well, so India wants to trade less with China.
The world’s most populous country faces a steep uphill battle to complete its energy transition project. Despite significant advances in renewable energy, India continues to rely on coal for roughly three-quarters of its power generation and will do so for many years to come.