State on track for 10 GW capacity additions in renewable energy

Soumik Dutta | NT

Bengaluru: Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited, the nodal agency of the state government has formulated a renewable energy development policy 2022-2027 for the state. The said policy envisages development of an additional 10 GW of renewable energy, including 1 GW of solar rooftop, from solar, wind, hybrid, waste to energy, biomass, and co-generation, with or without storage systems.

As on March 2022, Karnataka has 15.91 GW of installed capacity of renewable energy. It lost the numero uno solar spot to Rajasthan in Q3 end 2021, where Rajasthan edged past by having 8.2 GW of cumulative solar installations, compared to Karnataka’s 7.7 GW. The key market areas that the policy focussed on are green energy corridors, renewable energy parks and a combination of all renewable energy sources, including, mini and small hydropower plants.

Already Karnataka has an operational solar park in Pavagada with an installed capacity of 2,050 MW, one of the largest in India. The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has identified solar parks in Chittradurga, Bellary and Devangere districts in the state. At an investor summit, Karnataka got total proposals worth Rs 8 lakh crore.

To increase their presence in the state, Adani and JSW groups announced that they would each invest Rs 1 trillion in Karnataka to be spread over five years. Adani Ports and SEZ CEO Karan Adani said that the investments lined up by his group would be made in sectors like renewable energy, cement and airports as well as edible oils, over the next seven year.

According to company officials, the Vedanta Group pledged Rs 80,000 crore for investments in renewable energy, gold, and iron ore mining. The future is hybrid in renewable energy. Customers no longer need to have just plain vanilla wind or solar. Customers demand affordable, green and reliable power. Karnataka is one of the few states that has both solar and wind potential,” Pratik Agarwal, managing director of the Vedanta Group said.

He added that the state also offers attractive locations for pumped hydro storage, being an important component of the 24- hour value chain. ReNew Power, ABC Cleantech and ACME Solar claimed they would each bring in Rs 50,000 crore to Karnataka. Sterlite Power also stated that it would invest Rs 50,000 in the state.

Ayana Renewable Power Pvt Ltd (Ayana) is scaling up its presence in Karnataka by setting up projects totalling 2 gigawatts (GWs) with an investment of Rs 12,000 crore. The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is a majority stakeholder in the Bengaluru-based Ayana.

British International Investment and EverSource Capital-managed Green Growth Equity Fund are other shareholders in the company. Azure power has signed EOI for total 1,700 MW projects including solar, wind and hybrid worth Rs 13k cr.The Karnataka government expects an investment of Rs 2.5 lakh crore in the renewable energy sector by 2023.

Karnataka is leading in the production of renewable energy, and there is a need to address ways to store this energy; the energy storage sector needs equal importance and investment planning in order to achieve the ambitious target set for RE.