NTPC plans ₹5 trillion capex for green energy push by 2030

New Delhi: India’s biggest power generation utility is eyeing a jump in investments in the green energy space to ₹5 trillion by 2030, according to two people with knowledge of the development. The earlier plan was to invest about ₹1 trillion by FY27.

The investments would be made under state-owned NTPC Ltd’s renewable energy arm, NTPC Green Energy Ltd (NGEL), which is set to launch its ₹10,000 crore initial public offering (IPO) on Tuesday.

The monies would go toward building capacities in renewable power generation (solar and wind), green hydrogen, green ammonia, green methanol, ethanol, sustainable aviation fuel, green urea and energy storage capacities, including both battery storage and pump storage projects (PSPs).

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“Our target is to add 60GW of renewable energy projects by 2032, which we should achieve by 2030,” one of the two people mentioned above said on condition of anonymity. “That will require an investment of about ₹3.25 trillion. The rest would be for green hydrogen, other green molecules, battery and PSP. The overall investment in green would be about ₹5 trillion.”

The second person cited above said that the company’s IPO has witnessed strong subscription by anchor investors. Nearly ₹4,000 crore has been kept aside for these investors, this person said.

Queries sent to NTPC remained unanswered till press time.

NGEL would be the first among the public sector green energy companies to be listed on the exchanges as a slew of green IPOs line up from state-run companies.

NTPC Green’s plans

On the renewable energy front, NGEL is looking at going ahead with large plants, such as hybrid solar-wind parks, such as one it is building in Khavda, Gujarat, of 7GW. The company has also signed joint venture (JV) agreements with Rajasthan for 25GW of renewable energy projects and Maharashtra for 20GW of green projects.

The second person cited above said NGEL is in talks with other states including Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh for setting up similar JVs. “With Odisha, the talks are largely for joint venture in the floating solar space,” the person added.

Currently, NGEL has a capacity of about 6GW and aims to reach 19GW by FY27. About 90% of the planned 60GW by 2030 would comprise solar power capacity.

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Speaking to Mint on Friday, NTPC chairman and managing director Gurdeep Singh said: “We are forging alliances with the state governments, where they are facilitating the land to take up large-scale renewable projects. In that sense, we are positioned better than many other players.”

Apart from renewable energy generation, NTPC is taking big steps in the overall energy and green molecule space with its foray into green hydrogen, green ammonia, sustainable aviation fuel, green methanol, ethanol, green urea and energy storage systems.

The foundation stone for a green hydrogen hub in Pudimadaka, Andhra Pradesh, is expected to be laid this month and operations are likely to start within the next three years, according to the first person cited above, who added that the green hydrogen hub, which will also include renewable energy generation capacity, would entail an investment of about ₹1.85 trillion.

More JVs

On Monday, NGEL and ONGC Green Ltd, a subsidiary of ONGC, incorporated a joint venture—ONGC NTPC Green Pvt. Ltd (ONGPL)—for exploring and setting up renewable energy projects and assets both through greenfield development and acquisitions. ONGPL will also assess the feasibility and establishment of offshore wind projects, among other related activities.

Further, NETRA, the research and development (R&D) centre of NTPC, is setting up a 1-tonne-per-day seawater-to-green hydrogen plant at NTPC Simhadri near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, the company said in a statement. For seawater processing, NTPC has implemented a low-carbon desalination plant utilizing waste heat from the thermal power plant flue gas, enabling low-cost conversion of seawater into hydrogen-grade water, the statement added.

Producing 1kg of hydrogen typically requires 12–13kg of purified water. Given the water scarcity in our country, the Centre is pushing for the development and demonstration of technologies that would enable hydrogen production from low-grade water sources, such as seawater and wastewater.

To be sure, NTPC has a total power generation capacity of over 76GW, out of which 70GW is thermal, with coal contributing 62GW and the rest being gas-based power. Green power comprises 6GW of its portfolio.

Investments piling in

The renewable energy industry in India has been seeing a spate of investments in recent times, with the Adani group planning to invest about $35 billion over the next five years to set up large-scale solar, wind and hybrid plants across different parts of the country, Adani Green Energy executive director Sagar Adani said on Monday.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd also has major plans in the new energy space such as green hydrogen and solar module manufacturing. The company has outlined a plan to invest ₹75,000 crore for its manufacturing business where solar module and battery manufacturing would be key.

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On 11 November, Mint reported that foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows in the non-conventional energy sector surged in the first three of months of this financial year, making it the 10th-largest FDI destination of all time, underscoring rising global interest in India’s green energy initiatives. Total FDI in non-conventional energy stood at $1.04 billion in Q1 FY25, 35% higher on-year.