Sterlite Power forms RE firm for projects serving commercial clients

Serentica Renewables will supply 600 MW to Vedanta Group, set up energy storage capacity in three states

Sterlite Power, a private power transmission provider owned by the Vedanta Group, is launching a sister company to build renewable energy projects serving commercial and industrial consumers (C&I).

Serentica Renewables will build 1.5 Gigawatt (Gw) of solar, wind and energy storage capacity in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. 'Business Standard' reported in July that Sterlite will form a new platform for providing green energy to industrial consumers. 
 

Pratik Agarwal, Sterlite Power's managing director and spokesperson for Serentica, said close to 600 Mw of the round-the-clock green power would be supplied to Vedanta Group as part of the “company’s (Vedanta’s) decarbonisation strategy”.

“In the medium term, we wish to scale up the capacity to 5 Gw of renewable energy capacity with energy storage technologies. We are aiming to produce 15 billion units of clean energy annually and displace 20 million tonnes of CO2 emissions,” Agarwal said.

The initial 1.5 GW capacity will be commissioned in 24 months, subject to statutory approvals, said a statement by the company. “Serentica will also participate selectively in Government tenders subject to the project having synergies with its overall focus of providing direct green energy solutions to commercial and industrial customers,” it said.

Sterlite owns a 26 per cent market share in India’s power transmission business, the highest among private companies. It also manufactures high power conductors, extra-high voltage cables, and optical ground wire.

Agarwal said the group’s experience in transmission and project planning would help Serentica supply green power at competitive rates.

“We can go to high-risk sites where no one else will as we have in- house expertise to set up transmission networks in all kinds of terrains. Land is not a constraint for the sector but land with no transmission connectivity is. We will not face that challenge. C&I customers want green energy along with grid connectivity which Serentica can provide,” said Agarwal.

Serentica Renewables is 100 per cent owned by Twinstar Overseas Limited (TSOL), which also owns controlling stakes in Sterlite Power Transmission Limited & Sterlite Technologies Ltd. TSOL is a company of the Vedanta Group.

Agarwal said Serentica’s financing would follow the conventional debt-equity ratio with major equity coming from the Group. “There would be Group’s resources in the company, but not from Sterlite. The Group has access to several third-party equity providers so that would be explored in due time,” he said.

Serentica will set up its own projects and it will not take the route of an aggregator of green energy projects.