EQ In Exclusive Conversation With Mr. Pankaj Dhingra, CEO & Mr. J.S. Bhatia, Head(Solar business) At BVG Clean Energy Ltd.

Green Hydrogen can lead India’s Transition to Clean Energy

Interview with Mr. Pankaj Dhingra, CEO in BVG Clean Energy Limited and Director in BVG India Limited

What are the company’s key operational areas? What services does it offer in the clean energy space?

BVG, Bharat Vikas Group was incorporated by Mr. H. R. Gaikwad in 1997 with only 8 persons. Presently, BVG Group, is India’s largest integrated services group with 80,000+ employees serving 750+ government and private clients in 22 states of India.

BVG Clean Energy was established to help our planet in lowering the carbon emissions and fight against climate change. We have a young and experienced team in project management, engineering and design, business development, SCM and O&M. At present, we are undertaking EPC of utility-scale and rooftop solar power plants in India as well as internationally. We are also present in the solar water pumps and conversion of plastic to fuel space. We are targeting major IPPs, developers and investors, who are investing their capital to reap better ROIs of the projects with high quality and timely delivery of the projects. BVG Clean is targeting 1GW+ of solar EPC projects within year 2021-22.

Our turnover averaged at 20 billion (approx.) for the past three years and we are financially stable to execute the solar projects which allow timely completion of the projects to avoid time and cost overruns.

How do you think Green hydrogen is important for India’s RE targets

Green hydrogen is very critical to meet India’s target of 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. This target is extremely ambitious and achievable. Due to surplus generation of renewables in peak-generation hours, with further addition of renewables to its power grid, India will face a ‘duck curve’. To utilize cheap solar power, currently at INR 1.99/kWh, we need to find other uses of solar power during its generation hours. Through the scaling up of green hydrogen from renewables, we will require a significant amount of renewable energy capacity addition to help India march towards its 450 GW target.

Electricity typically accounts for 70% of the production cost of green hydrogen. Hence, surplus electricity from India’s renewable plants can augment green hydrogen economics. This will also protect the grid and make more reliable & stable.

Which industries will have more access of Green Hydrogen

Wind and solar energy can provide the electricity to power homes and electric cars, but green hydrogen could be an ideal power source for energy-intensive industries like refining, steel, cement, heavy mobility and industrial heating. India is the world’s third-largest emitter, with 3.6 gigatonnes of Co2 equivalent across sectors, and green hydrogen will have to play a role in our development energy transition in India.

What should India do to build a global-scale green hydrogen industry?

More than 25 nations have set up roadmaps for green hydrogen, including mandates and financial incentives to accelerate the transition to it. In India, as per my understanding, we should go this way:

• Clear ambitious targets for green hydrogen and electrolyzer capacity by 2030 on similar lines as renewables.
• Mandate blending a certain percentage of green hydrogen with grey hydrogen for existing applications like oil refining and fertilizers, depending on the viability gap, and mandate new greenfield capacities of hydrogen applications like oil refining and fertilizers to use only green hydrogen from a future cut-off date (to avoid long term lock-ins).
• Well planned aim to build a vibrant hydrogen products export industry, such as green steel, using a phased manufacturing programme.
• I think, India should form a regional alliance with South Korea, Japan and Singapore to export green hydrogen from coastal India to help them reach their net-zero ambitions.
• Capital cost contributes around 30% of green hydrogen costs, and dollar-linked contracts for procurement of hydrogen should be explored in relevant demand sectors, as is done for oil and gas.
• And lastly India should plan to roll out a production-linked incentive scheme for electrolyzer manufacturing to address the huge global supply bottleneck.

India, with limited local hydrocarbon resources and huge renewable potential, can become a major producer of green hydrogen on account of its low solar price also will build a global-scale green hydrogen industry in India.

Interview with Mr. J.S. Bhatia, Head(Solar business) in BVG Clean Energy Limited

What are the BVG key strengths in Solar EPC Business?

Our main USP is ‘Trust’ as we have delivered the projects with highest standards for HSE and quality in time to our clients. Our core strength is group diversification of business verticals, a pan-India presence, manpower and a company with strong financials, that provide us a competitive edge over others and make us pro-actively handle local liasoning and address bottlenecks. This makes BVG team deliver the projects within time and with quality.

BVG Clean Energy has successfully completed a 110 MWp clean energy project at Tirunavelli, Tamilnadu for NLC India Ltd in the shortest possible duration. This project was inaugurated by the Honorable Prime Minister and was dedicated to the nation. BVG has executed more than 200 MW+ of EPC projects. Further 600 MW+ projects are in pipeline and more than 1 GW of EPC projects are under discussion with leading developers.

We are executing a 200 MW solar-wind hybrid EPC project in South-East Asia and a 30 MW project EPC in Africa under IPP mode. We have planned to expand our team to execute minimum 1 GW EPC in FY21-22.

What are the company’s future plans?

With the government focusing on local manufacturing of solar power equipment as part of its strategy to make an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, Indian solar equipment manufacturers need to scale up capacities to meet demand of solar modules in India. Thus, BVG clean is also planning to go for manufacturing of cell and modules with latest technologies like mono PERC, half-cut, bifacial etc. We will have a production line of minimum 500 MW+ and will scale it up to 1 to 1.5 GW according to the future demand. BVG will use multi-busbar technology, adopt the 210 mm silicon wafer, non-destructive cutting and high-density interconnect technologies which together allow us to exceed 500 W+ power output and more than 21 per cent module efficiency.

Apart from above businesses, BVG is also thinking of foraying into segments like li-ion cell and battery manufacturing, energy storage solutions for solar plants and automobile industry as well as organic waste to good quality manure and CNG.