ReNew Power commissions Gujarat’s first wind-solar hybrid project

• Gujarat's first wind-solar hybrid project is expected to mitigate total of ~150,000 tCO2e (carbon) emissions each year
• Second phase will see an additional installation of 16.68 MW for the same unit

Gurugram: ReNew Power announced on Tuesday that it has commissioned Gujarat's first wind-solar hybrid project at the Chlor-Alkali unit of Grasim Industries Limited in Vilayat, Bharuch, in southern Gujarat. The first phase of the hybrid project, with 17.6 MW commercial-scale wind-solar, commenced operations last week and is expected to generate ~80 million units (MU) of renewable energy every year, mitigating ~75,000 tCO2e (carbon emissions) annually, said the company in a statement.

Gujarat's first wind-solar hybrid project: 16.68 MW to be commissioned in FY23

The partnership will expand further with an additional 16.68 MW, which will be commissioned in the next financial year (FY23), as part of the second phase, said ReNew Power. The project is being developed by ReNew Green Solutions (RGS), the B2B arm of ReNew Power. Both the parties have entered into a 25-year PPA, which will see the project supply power for the plant at Vilayat, Bharuch, via an Open Access mechanism.

Once both the phases are commissioned with a combined capacity of 34.28 MW, the partnership is expected to generate a total of approximately 160 MU of renewable electricity annually, mitigating a cumulative ~150,000 tCO2e (carbon emission) a year (source: tCO2e value calculated as per CEA database version 16), said the statement.

Both phases together have a total investment of Rs 3.82 billion (~$51 million) through an equity partnership. 

ReNew to develop 250 MW wind-solar hybrid projects in Gujarat

Commenting on the project, Mayank Bansal, Chief Commercial Officer, ReNew Power, said, "As India strives to achieve net zero by 2070, large-scale adoption of renewables by corporate India is key. With corporates increasingly harnessing renewable energy, ReNew aims to develop around 250 MW of wind solar hybrid projects in Gujarat for commercial and industrial consumers, like we have just done at Vilayat, Bharuch."

Gujarat is one of the states that has aggressively supported corporate adoption of clean energy. It notified its solar policy in 2009 and was the first state to announce a hybrid policy in 2018. It has made hybrid plants attractive for investments by corporates by providing incentives such as a waiver on electricity duty and creating an enabling environment for corporates to tie up with renewable energy developers to meet captive power requirements. Hybrid power projects offer higher energy for a given capacity (ie, more units/MW), compared to standalone solar or wind projects, and help overcome any variability in renewable energy power supply. 

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