REC would like to fund 30-40% of 94 GW coal-based capacity in pipeline: CMD

New Delhi: State-run REC Limited has plans to fund 30-40 percent of the 94 GW coal-based capacity that is expected to come up by 2032, said its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Vivek Kumar Dewangan during a recent investors’ call. “… the government of India has decided that this renewable energy is intermittent in nature and we don’t have natural gas resources. So the base load will come from coal-based capacity. Additional coal-based capacity will be required in brownfield projects only. For that, about 94 gigawatt capacity has been identified to be brought in by the year 2032,” the CMD told investors.

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“We will be able to share about 30 to 40 percent of this coal-based capacity. Additional capacity will be coming in the next eight years,” he added.

By 2030, 50-55% of REC’s AUM will come from coal, distribution, 30% from RE: CMD

The REC CMD said that by the year 2030, the PSU aims to double its Asset Under Management (AUM) to USD 125 billion. “Thirty percent of it will come from renewable energy segment. Around 15 to 20 percent will come from non-power infrastructure logistics. And 50 to 55 percent of asset management will come from the conventional coal-based generation capacity, distribution and transmission sector,” said the CMD.

DISCOMs will provide good biz opportunity for 10-12 yrs: REC CMD

Stressing that the viability of the power distribution sector has been improving with the implementation of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) and Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, the REC CMD said that the sector will provide a good business opportunity for the next 10-12 years.

“The overall power sector is on an upward swing. Last year power demand increased by 8 percent and in the current financial year in the last month in April power demand has increased by 11 percent. With the introduction of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme and Late Payment Surcharge rules by the Ministry of Power, a lot of improvement in the distribution sector is clearly visible. The AT&C losses came down by 5 percent in FY23 and for FY24, the final figure should be known by the end of June. We see a huge improvement in AT&C losses. Government department dues are getting paid in time. This is overall increasing the operational and financial efficiency of distribution companies,” said the CMD.

RDSS scheme will be followed up by modernisation scheme: REC CMD

After the RDSS gets over in the next two-to-three years, the government will be implementing the modernisation scheme, said the REC CMD. “After the RDSS period is over and the modernisation is over in the next four-to-five years, the country will still require a lot of CAPEX for upgrading the infrastructure because distribution infrastructure, all the poles, wires, the distribution transformer are quite old, 40 to 50 years old,” said Dewangan.

“So, there will be a need for continuous upgradation of distribution infrastructure. We do see a business potential… the distribution sector will be providing a good business opportunity in next 10-to-12 years,” the REC CMD told investors.

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