Renew eyes transmission projects worth $2-billion

R enew Power, expanding across the energy sector supply chain, says it is aiming for double-digit market share in the transmission sector.

Renew recently started participating in transmission project tenders. The firm hopes to grab around ~2 billion worth projects in the segment. Estimates say the central and state governments will give out projects worth $20 billion (~1.4 trillion). Promoted by Goldman Sachs, it started a ‘New Ventures’ division to explore opportunities in energy storage, power transmission, solar and wind-solar hybrid projects.

In August, it had bid for transmission projects worth ~1,500 crore but won none. Company executives say getting into transmission was a natural progression — with their extensive network of generation projects, it is cost-effective to build own transmission. “We will target double-digit market share in power transmission in the coming three to five years. This translates to participating in 40-50 per cent of the transmission projects which are offered,” Ajay Bhardwaj, its president, transmission, told Business Standard.

The projects Renew had participated in were part of the Green Energy Corridors (GEC, an alternative transmission system for RE projects) plan of the Centre. The latest tranche was in western Indian states. The first phase of GEC was constructed by state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India and the second one is now being awarded through competitive bidding to private companies.

Bhardwaj said GEC fits well with the location of Renew’s solar and wind power projects and will help connect with the national grid. “We will look at all states where we have projects or are building current capacity. These are the same states where the renewable capacity is and the Centre is planning Green Corridors,” he said. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan are some of these. Regarding shifting of the company’s focus to newer areas, Bhardwaj said the core business would remain renewable energy (RE) generation. “Wind and solar will remain the mainstay. We are a technology-driven company and adopt new opportunities that come in this space.” Renew would be utilising inhouse expertise on transmission projects for now and source tech locally. Projects in this segment were till recently awarded at the national level, for connecting two or more regions.

With saturation in the national grid and rising power demand at state level, the Centre is tilting the focus towards system strengthening inside states. The other focus is connecting Re-rich regions; the plan is to install 175 Gw of solar and power projects by 2022.