India's first renewable energy summit to see 166 Gw of solar investment willingness

Bridge to India however said that for a large number of commitments on the list, not much thought has gone into arriving at the stated numbers

In the build-up to the government-sponsored renewable energy investment summit, RE-Invest 2015, the participating companies have provided non-binding investment indication of 166 gigawatt (Gw) solar power generation capacity and five Gw per year of solar manufacturing capacity.

In its latest report, Bridge to India — a leading consultancy firm monitoring investment in Indian renewable energy space — has compiled the noted investments which are likely to come in from active private solar developers. The major ones are that have indicated significant plans include Essel Infra Projects (12 Gw), Azure Power (11 Gw), SunEdison (10 Gw), Welspun (8.7 Gw), Renew Power (seven Gw) and First Solar (five Gw). Ambitious plans have also been submitted by large Indian conventional power companies such as Adani Power (six Gw) and Reliance Power (six Gw).

Among global companies, Canada-based project developer Sky Power Global has committed to 9.9 Gw and a lesser known company, CPEC, which had earlier commissioned a project under the Gujarat Solar Policy, has also indicated its plans for developing nine Gw of capacity. Amongst public sector companies, significant interest has come from NTPC (3.3 Gw), NEEPCO (2.5 Gw), Coal India (one Gw) and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (one Gw). In total, 140 developers have made project development commitments.

On the manufacturing side, three existing Indian players have indicated their ambitious plans: Vikram Solar (2.3 Gw/year), Waaree Energies (two Gw/year) and Emmvee Photovoltaic (750 Mw/year). On the finance front, L&T Finance indicated it wants to finance 6.5 Gw and Yes Bank five Gw of renewable.

According to Bridge to India, for a large number of commitments on the list, not much thought has gone into arriving at the stated numbers.

“The exercise serves mainly as a measure of the companies’ ambitions, rather than of specific, actionable strategies. On the other hand, there will be many more investors, developers, financiers and manufacturers in the Indian solar market than those who have here stated their intentions,” said the report.

The report noted that overall, the mood in the Indian solar market is upbeat and even if a fraction of these intentions stand the test of time, it is good news for the sector. However, what is needed much more than intentions to build solar power are intentions to buy solar power at viable tariffs and with solid power purchase agreements.