Flagship green energy event put off again

Lack of sponsors, interest from industry led to the postponement of RE-Invest

The annual renewable energy event RE-Invest, which was launched with aplomb in 2015, has been postponed for the third time, indefinitely now. Industry insiders and government officials said lack of sponsors and interest from the industry led to the postponement of the event.

The response from the clean energy industry is due to the fact that most renewable energy companies are nowhere close to meeting their committed targets for capacity addition, according to government officials.

RE-Invest was India’s first investment congregation for the renewable energy industry held in February 2015. Against the government's target of 175,000 MW of clean energy by 2022, the participants had committed 275,000 MW of renewable capacity. Close to 319 private companies, domestic and foreign, participated in the event along with 15 PSUs, which committed 15,000 MW. State-owned thermal power giant NTPC led the pack with 10,000 MW.

 

The second version was supposed to be held in February 2016 but was postponed to November. Then it was shifted to February 2017 to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Now, even that has been shelved with no likely date and venue.

Some of the companies that committed large amounts to projects are nowhere near their targets. US clean energy giant SunEdison, for instance, committed 15,200 MW (solar and wind) but has till now installed 470 MW. The lesser known Axis Energy group, which committed 12,500 MW, has installed 100 MW in a wind energy project in Andhra Pradesh. One of the leading Indian renewable energy companies, ReNew Power, has installed 1,200 MW out of its committed 11,500 MW.

Industry executives, however, said the sponsorship fees sought by the government and the CII were high and “arbitrary”. The CII is the the organiser of the event. Another industry association FICCI was the  exhibition coordinator.

“Coordinators of the event  wrote to us asking how much sponsorship would we offer. There was no choice. All leading companies received similar mails. No denial was issued but no one agreed either,” said a senior industry executive requesting anonymity.

The CII denied any problems regarding sponsorship and financing. “It is a government event. It will not stall over lack of sponsorship. The companies are hesitant because their commitments are not moving on schedule,” said a CII functionary.

The CII spokesperson said another meeting would be held on January 4 to discuss the way forward for the event as the secretary and other officials had changed in the ministry of new and renewable energy. “The ministry will take an update from us regarding the preparations and maybe suggest a new date,” the spokesperson added.

The secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy could not be reached for an immediate comment.