Tata Power to sell green energy to group companies, MNCs: Praveer Sinha – EQ
In Short : Tata Power plans to sell green energy to its group companies and multinational corporations (MNCs), according to Praveer Sinha. This initiative underscores the company’s commitment to promoting renewable energy adoption within its ecosystem and among corporate partners, contributing to India’s sustainable energy transition and carbon reduction goals.
In Detail : Tata Power, the power generation, transmission, and distribution company of the Tata Group – is engaged in active discussions with group companies to supply green energy solutions to meet their energy demand. The company, which has decided to only invest in renewable energy (RE) projects, is also in talks with various commercial and industrial (C&I) customers to provide customised green energy solutions.
Speaking with Business Standard over a telephone call, Praveer Sinha, MD and CEO Tata Power, said they would provide integrated green energy solutions to C&I customers. “There are a large number of companies who want to replace their existing energy supply with RE. We are in discussion with large companies including multinationals. We are also in active discussions with companies within the Tata Group, including the new ones which are coming up,” Sinha said.
The company will look at the ‘group captive’ route within the Tata Group. “Even for non-Tata companies, we are exploring this mode so that our customers can avoid the cross-subsidy surcharges,” Sinha said.
The Union Ministry of Power recently amended the ‘group captive’ regulations, stating that a captive power user in a group captive structure must hold a minimum of 26 per cent stake in the captive generating plant. A captive power plant is set up mostly by C&I users for their electricity usage, given their high demand and specific supply requirements. The amended rules paved the way for companies to set up group captive plants through their subsidiaries. This helped them avoid the charges that the state-owned power distribution companies (discoms) levied on captive users.
Sinha said their expertise in the transmission and distribution segment would also come in handy in their offering. “We are all across the supply chain. We are in solar, battery, pumped hydro, transmission and distribution. We cannot just supply green energy, we can also offer energy planning and load management solutions to C&I customers. We are not just an energy solutions company, we are an energy management company. This is our USP,” said Sinha in response to a question on how they will stand apart with almost all energy companies becoming suppliers to the C&I segment.
He added the company would also offer carbon credit on their green power sale to the companies that require it.
This paper recently reported, that there is a spurt among the C&I segment of electricity consumers to tie up green energy through open access and/or group captive after the rule amendment by the Centre. Each of the big conglomerates in India has adopted its strategies to source green power, outside the grid.
