EDF wants India to play important role in its strategy of becoming carbon neutral by 2050

EDF has an ambitious target of doubling renewable installed capacity worldwide by 2030 to 50 GW and has identified renewable energy, smart metering, smart cities, transmission and distribution, and nuclear power as key growth areas in India

Mumbai: French electric utility company Électricité de France (EDF) expects India to play an important role in its global strategy of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. It is in the process of scaling up solar and wind power generation capacity in India to 2 gigawatts by 2022 and is scouting for acquisition opportunities in hydro power, EDF’s India head told ET.

EDF has an ambitious target of doubling renewable installed capacity worldwide by 2030 to 50 GW and has identified renewable energy, smart metering, smart cities, transmission and distribution, and nuclear power as key growth areas in India.

“We are open to solar and wind acquisitions, if they match our group’s philosophy, and are technically and commercially sound. We are also looking for brownfield acquisition in hydro power now. The hydropower capacity will be over and above the 2 gw that we are aiming for solar and wind capacity,” said Harmanjit Nagi, EDF India Director.

EDF which took over the contract to build India’s largest nuclear power project comprising six atomic power reactors totalling around 10 gw after the original contractor Areva went bankrupt, is in discussions with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) over the techno-commercial offer that was submitted in December 2018.

Commenting on the projects, which has been much delayed due to local protests and over unresolved issues over sovereign guarantee, Nagi said, “We are slowly and steadily going in the right direction. NPCIL is working on the techno- commercial offer. We are engaging with them closely and hope that this will finally be converted into a binding agreement in the coming months.”

The project aims to localize the first two reactors to up to 20% and increase the share of locally manufactured gears to 60% for the last two.

EDF is currently implementing one of the largest advanced metering infrastructure projects in India that entails installing five million smart meters across the country. The company is also upbeat about India’s smart city plans.

“We see huge potential in smart metering, smart cities, and smart lighting projects. The way power distribution companies are adapting to smart technologies, I think it will open a lot of doors for us and we are hopeful that we will have the first mover’s advantage,” Nagi said.

With an eye on new technological innovations, EDF has launched a start-up challenge dedicated to low-carbon energy solutions, with the aim to support Indian entrepreneurs and find future business partners. The winner of this challenge, named EDF Pulse, will bag $20,000.

“Apart from the financial support, the idea is to give them comprehensive support to help the startup move from the project phase to the commercial rollout…if some of these projects take off, we are open to further investments as well,” Nagi said.

EDF has so far held the startup challenge in France, UK, Brazil and Africa. The company has an internal incubator that has already invested Euros 60 million in supporting 17 startups.

Source: energy.economictimes.indiatimes