Tata Power plans Rs 75k-cr capex push in green energy: Chandrasekaran

Company advances net-zero carbon target by five years, saying will achieve it by 2045

Tata Power would spend Rs 75,000 crore in the next five years to expand the capacity of its renewable energy business, Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Thursday.

An amount of Rs 10,000 crore would be spent in 2022-23 (FY23) to take the total capital expenditure (capex) during the financial year to Rs 14,000 crore, Chandrasekaran said at the company’s 103rd annual general meeting, which was held virtually.

Chandrasekaran, also the chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, said Tata Power was taking a “pragmatic” approach to achieving its renewable energy targets and had added 707 megawatts (MW) of renewable capacity in 2021-22 (FY22).

“This has increased our clean and green portfolio to 34 per cent of total capacity and the company aims to raise this to 60 per cent in the next five years,” he told shareholders.

Tata Power is pushing its renewable energy business at a time when its rivals -- the Adani group and Reliance Industries (RIL) -- are also ramping up their clean energy portfolio amid India's plans to shift to green fuels from fossil fuels.

RIL had last June committed Rs 75,000 crore for renewable energy  over three years and declared a three-pronged strategy involving solar power, hydrogen production, e-fuels, and energy storage under its “New Energy and New Materials” division. It would also set up a platform for renewable energy project finance to source long-term global capital for investment in these sectors.

Adani Enterprises had in September last year said it would invest $20 billion (Rs 1.48 trillion) over 10 years in the renewable-energy supply chain, including power generation, manufacturing, transmission and distribution.

Tata Power is the first company in the sector to declare a net-carbon-zero target.  Tata Power Managing Director Praveer Sinha had told Business Standard last year that the company would move away from investing in coal-based power units and be net-zero in terms of carbon emissions by 2050.

The company has now advanced its net-zero carbon target by five years to 2045. It is aiming for 100 per cent water-neutral and zero waste by 2030.

Chandrasekaran on Thursday said the company was setting up a 4 Gw solar cell and module manufacturing capacity in Tamil Nadu at an investment of Rs 3,000 crore, a memorandum of understanding that was signed last week with the state government. The company also had a Rs 13,000-crore engineering, procurement, and construction order book for solar energy, he said.  

“The company is equally focused on growing consumer-centric and new-age energy solutions including solar rooftop, electric vehicle chargers, solar pumps, smart meters and energy management solutions,” he said.

Chandrasekaran said the company had entered into a strategic partnership, creating a renewable energy platform that had received an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.