India asks RE agencies to secure buyers for stranded power projects

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India's power ministry has asked the country's renewable energy implementation agencies (REIA) to explore signing power purchase agreements with clean energy developers for projects without a buyer, according to a ministry document reviewed by Reuters.

About 50 gigawatts of clean energy projects have been unable to come online due to unfinished transmission lines and legal and regulatory delays, Reuters reported in August, resulting in state power utilities delaying signing purchase agreements.

REIAs are intermediaries that act as traders, aggregating power from various generators and selling it to the buyer.

Typically, power purchase agreements are signed between an REIA and a developer based on agreements signed between the REIA and the end-buyer.

According to the document, the ministry has directed REIAs to sign agreements directly with the developer, bypassing the buyer-side agreement, or, alternatively, cancel the tenders as a last resort.

The ministry issued the directive following a high-level meeting chaired by India's Power Secretary on October 17. The meeting included officials from power generating firms NTPC, NHPC, SJVN as well as the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), all designated as REIAs.

The power ministry and the REIAs did not immediately respond to Reuters' email seeking comment.

The agencies have been asked to act by November 30.

STRANDED PROJECTS

The decisions come as India attempts to streamline its renewable energy procurement framework and address bottlenecks in project execution as part of the country's push to double its non-fossil fuel power capacity to 500 GW by 2030.

Of the 93 GW of renewable capacity tendered since fiscal year 2024, about 42 GW are without buyers, according to data shared during the meeting, the document showed.

NHPC had 15.8 GW of projects, the highest number of clean energy projects without a buyer, while NTPC had 12.4 GW worth stranded clean energy projects.

SJVN had 10 GW, and SECI had 3.9 GW, as per the document.

SECI, the largest REIA in the country, had already cancelled tenders for projects unlikely to secure buyers, according to the document.