70% of our projects are fully green: Sterlite Power MD Pratik Agarwal

The per unit cost we are looking at is very feasible and this could be a reality in 3-5 years, said MD Agarwal

Pratik Agarwal, managing director of Sterlite Power, says his firm is actively working towards greening the grid through power trans­mission projects. It is now working on the ambitious idea of inter-country power grids, on which US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry reached out for collaboration. In an interview, Agarwal tells Shreya Jai about his meeting with Kerry, Sterlite’s largescale projects, and its entry into the energy storage business. Edited excerpts:
 
You had a discussion with Kerry during his visit. Can you tell us what contributions were expected from the power transmission sector?
 
Kerry, his team, and the US Embassy have been tracking our work on interconnectors. This is a less spoken about idea but one of the most powerful tools for renewable energy penetration around the world. The US and UK are already doing it and it is time for India to take it up as well. The focus of the meeting was India’s 450 Gw renewable energy target — discussions focussed on financing, better planning for transmission, connecting large grids with each other, and energy storage.

 

Can you elaborate on the interconnector project that Sterlite Power is working on?
 
The interconnector project is currently in the conceptual stage. In 10 years’ time, there will be 750 Gw of power (com­bined with thermal) that can’t be consumed during the after­noon (low demand hours). The answer is the idea ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ project announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where one can transfer surplus power to countries on the other side, where the sun is not up and they can consume our green power, and similarly, they can supply their green power to us during evening or night (high dema­nd hours). This is in the very early stages, but we are talking about connecting the Indian grid with large ones in West Asia and Africa. We are condu­cting feasibility studies. This is a large project and will require multiple countries and inves­tors to come together. The per unit cost we are looking at is very feasible and this could be a reality in 3-5 years.

 
 What other projects has Sterlite Power taken up to green the grid?
 
Already 80-90 per cent of our projects in India and Brazil are catering to greening the grid. The largest green energy corr­idor project ever auctioned in India – Lakadia Vadodara  – will connect a part of a 30 Gw solar power project being planned in the Kutch region. In Mumbai, we are building a critical line for the city to import solar and wind power from Gujarat. There is an additional line bringing 1,000-2,000 Mw of power to the city.
 
In Brazil, we have comm­iss­ioned one project to cater to the wind industry, one we are commissioning is connecting Brazil’s largest solar power region to Sao Paulo, the largest consumer.

About 70 per cent of our projects are 100 per cent green as they are directly connected to a wind or solar farm or enabling it.
 
At present how many projects are under construction and what is the capex?
 
 We currently have five proj­ects, including the Lakadia Vadodara project, which is being built from Bhuj to Vado­dara, covering 350 km crossing the Kutch sea creek. There is a VNLTL project that will conn­ect four states in western and northeastern India. The Goa Tamnar project will increase power availability in Goa and open its access to western and southern grids. KTL and UKTL will increase power availability in the heart of Maharashtra and Kerala, respectively. Total capital expenditure for these projects is Rs 9,000 crore. We have six live projects in Brazil worth Rs 4,000-4,500 crore due to be commissioned by next year and some in two years.

 
Do you plan to venture into energy storage?
 
We are very keen and well equipped to enter energy storage. That is a core part of our growth strategy and we have already put in quotes on tenders in the US for largescale standalone energy storage systems. Sooner or later, Indian grids would also have to invest in this.