ReNew Power to build Rs 22,000 crore RE facility in Andhra Pradesh

Green energy major ReNew Power is set to unveil a ₹22,000 crore renewable project at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh on Friday. Touted as the largest renewable energy (RE) complex at a single location in India, the facility will have a generation capacity of around 2.5 gigawatt (Gw) and will include a battery energy storage system (BESS) of 1 gigawatt hour (GWh) in two phases.

 

A government source said State Industries Minister Nara Lokesh would attend the groundbreaking ceremony on May 16. The company did not respond to questions from Business Standard.

 

This will be one of the first major investments in the RE sector since the launch of Andhra Pradesh’s Integrated Clean Energy Policy in October 2024, which fast-tracked approvals and lined up new incentives.

 

The first phase of the project, with an investment of ₹14,000 crore, will comprise 500 megawatt (Mw) each of solar and wind energy, along with a 1 GWh BESS. The second phase will involve an additional ₹8,000 crore, including 500 Mw each of solar and wind energy. 

 

Since the policy’s rollout, Andhra Pradesh has attracted investment proposals worth around ₹4 trillion from both domestic and international players.

 

“This is the largest RE project in India at a single location, over multiple phases. This investment signifies the re-entry of RE majors to the state after a five-year hiatus. Moreover, it is the re-entry of ReNew, which had one of the largest capacities (777 Mw), affected by power-purchase agreement cancellations under the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government,” said the official said.

 

According to a white paper on the state’s power sector, no renewable capacity was added in Andhra Pradesh between 2019 and 2024.

 

Major investments lined up since the new government took charge include Tata Power (₹49,000 crore), multiple projects by NTPC Green (₹2.08 trillion), Vedanta’s Serentica (₹50,000 crore), SAEL Industries (₹6,000 crore), and Brookfield (₹50,000 crore), among others. The policy in October mainly targeted large-scale promotion of RE, pumped storage power, green hydrogen, and its derivatives through the optimum utilisation of available resources.

 

According to a Central Electricity Authority road map, of the 500 Gw generation capacity target from non-fossil fuel resources by 2030, 86 Gw of RE potential is in South India. Of this, around 51 Gw has been identified in Andhra Pradesh — Anantapur (20 Gw), Kurnool (23 Gw), and Kadapa (8 Gw).

 

“Based on the favourable developments, ReNew is committed to making significantly larger investments in AP and contributing to the decarbonisation efforts by the state as well as the nation,” Sumant Sinha, chairman and chief executive officer of ReNew, told Business Standard recently, without divulging further details.

 

“The state government has come out with very progressive policies and streamlined processes to enable the development of large-scale clean energy capacities,” he had said.