See, the major challenges, in my opinion, are two. One is transmission. Transmission infrastructure is unable to keep pace with the growth of renewables. Transmission is still aligned with the old thermal power system where the power plant took four-to-five years to come up. However, this is green energy. The projects here are completed very fast. They take roughly about two years or so. So, timely creation of transmission infrastructure is becoming a major constraint for us.

The second problem that the renewable energy sector faces is land availability. Particularly, suitable land availability. There is plenty of land available. But finding land where there is potential for RE generation is a problem. But of late, we have discovered new areas. For example, the Great Rann of Kutch here in Gujarat. The whole desert of Rajasthan. The area of Ladakh. These are all areas which are most suitable for renewable energy. And fortunately, there are no habitations over there. They have sparse population and they cannot be put to any other use. So, these areas are very huge chunks of land and are in a position to fulfill our renewable energy needs for as long as 2047.

See, what we do is we try to assess the requirement of DISCOMs (power distribution companies). We essentially look at how we can couple a number of things to make a much more stable energy available to DISCOMs at the cheapest price. There is a fundamental difference between thermal energy and renewable energy. Thermal energy you can provide on demand, whereas, renewable energy can’t be provided on demand. You can provide it as and when it is available. So, the new system requirement is of storage. But that increases the cost. So, our whole endeavour is about how we can bring down the cost of energy. That is why all the new products, whether it is RTC, hybrid, peak power, FDRE, or battery and solar energy, we assess the requirements of DISCOMs and act accordingly.

Just a day ago, we completed our tender for battery energy storage and the rates which we have got are at par with what the Gujarat government has got. We have got slightly higher rates. Gujarat got Rs 3.76 lakh per MW per month. Whereas, we have got Rs 3.81 lakh per megawatt per month. That is a difference of about Rs 5,000 per MW. But the difference is Gujarat is providing land. We are asking the successful bidder to arrange the land.

Actually, the problem is that we have suddenly increased our capacity addition from roughly 15 GW of RE to 50 GW a year. Now, we cannot expect that states are in a position to absorb that kind of energy immediately. However, the necessity to meet RPO targets is gradually sinking in and states are realising that they can no longer be aloof. RPO targets are with them and if they do not comply, there will be penalty. So, as states are realising it, PPAs are getting signed. So, it is a temporary hiccup. These will be signed very quickly.

That figure is not to be read together, combined. PPAs or PSAs have not been signed for about 15 to 20 GW, not 29 GW. So, the 15-20 GW figure is an overall figure for which PPAs or PSAs are yet to be signed. But these will be done soon.

See, I would say both RE generation and RE integration into the grid cannot come until transmission and evacuation facilities are available. So, these are delayed. Our projects are also delayed because of delays in transmission systems.

Also, with the quantum of renewable energy getting into the grid, battery is one of the requirements and we are bringing in the battery component as well. I would not say battery, but the storage component. Battery happens to be the cheapest storage component. Currently, the renewables comprise roughly about 23 to 24 percent of the total generation. By 2030, it is supposed to reach about 45 percent as per the RPO trajectory, which will take care of roughly about 500 GW of renewable energy that we are planning to put in place by then.

Roughly, 20 GW. And we will also be starting construction of our own RE projects. We hope to start about 1,200 MW of our own RE projects. In the next two years, they will be completed.

What about standalone battery storage tenders which states were very excited about?

For standalone battery storage, we have just recently completed a tender where I told you the rate we got. Yes, states have been very enthusiastic about it. But, going forward, I think we would prefer that states go for standalone battery systems on their own because the returns for SECI are very, very low. So, I would prefer that the state themselves do it. Unless the state asks us to do it, then we will of course do it. Because we don’t just look at returns. We are more of a facilitator of renewable energy.

We hope to complete this tender in the next two months. We are waiting to see what kind of response we get from developers. Then the next 500 MW offshore wind project tender would also come for Tamil Nadu coast within this financial year. And we will aim to complete the second tender within this FY as well.

We have already become a Navratna company. No other company, no other PSU has been able to do it in such a short timeframe. Our growth is currently roughly about 30 percent per year in terms of PAT (Profit After Tax). This we hope to continue, not only continue but increase it further. How much we can do will depend on how innovative we are, how much we are able to take our stakeholders with us, but hopefully our growth should accelerate. An important development, going forward, would be that we will be changing the nature of our business. From currently just bidding out RE projects, we will be now putting up a lot of our own projects. Roughly, about 10 GW by 2035. Now we will be starting the process of participating in bids.

And we will also help C&I (Commercial & Industrial) customers to put up their own projects. So, we will be taking up PMC (Project Management Consultancy) work in a big way.