Central PSU under the power ministry NHPC Ltd has created a wholly-owned subsidiary for undertaking the renewable energy business.
In a stock exchange filing, NHPC said that it has created a wholly-owned subsidiary “NHPC Renewable Energy Ltd” for the development of renewable energy, small hydropower and green hydrogen projects. The certificate of incorporation was received on February 18, 2022.
As far as renewable energy projects go, NHPC currently has operational capacity of 100 mw arising from a 50-mw wind power project at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, and a 50-mw solar project in Tamil Nadu.
Apart from this, NHPC has around 7,200 mw of renewable energy projects under various stages of implementation, and across several modes of ownership. The total capital outlay of these projects is an estimated Rs.15,770 crore (see table). This entire project pipeline is expected to commission in phases, by FY24.
All the renewable energy projects that NHPC is pursuing on ownership basis (either standalone or JV) are exclusively solar power projects.
Capex
NHPC has planned capital expenditure of Rs.5,428 crore for the current year, FY22. This will be 52 per cent higher than the actual capex of Rs.3,568 crore undertaken in FY21. For FY23, NHPC has outlined capex of Rs.5,862 crore.
Overall Capacity
Including renewable energy and hydropower, NHPC, as of December 31, 2021, had 24 operational projects with an aggregate capacity of 7,071 mw. This included 20 self-owned hydropower projects with capacity 5,451 mw and two self-owned renewable projects aggregating 100 mw. The remaining capacity of 1,520 mw came from two projects owned by its subsidiary NHDC Ltd – a joint venture between NHPC (51 per cent) and Government of Madhya Pradesh (49 per cent).
Share in hydropower
During the first nine months (April to December) of FY22, India generated 985 billion kwh of electricity from all sources. Of this, hydropower represented 126 billion kwh, implying a share of 13 per cent. Of this hydropower generation, NHPC had a share of 17 per cent with actual generation of 20.987 billion kwh (excluding contribution of joint ventures/subsidiaries).
