NTPC Renewables Report Card: The State of The PSU’s Renewable Efforts

India’s national generator, NTPC, works for and is under the ownership of the Ministry of Power, Government of India. It is engaged in the generation of electricity and allied activities. The company is positioned at the helm of the Indian power sector and is the largest power producer in the country. NTPC is also actively involved in aiding the Indian Energy Transition to Renewables. As a professionally run firm, it has been but natural for the government to trust it with key initiatives in the renewables sector, be it lend its expertise on projects, contracts, or even undertake to take on the onus of building a significant chink of India’s renewable capacity. With NTPC controlling almost 17% of India’s total generation capacity, it has also been expected to lead the shift to renewables internally from thermal

Its most significant step has been setting the goal to generate 60GW capacity through Renewable Energy (RE) sources by 2032. This would constitute nearly 45 per cent of its overall power generation capacity. But beyond that, NTPC has been leading efforts to evaluate new technologies for energy storage, green hydrogen production and more.

NTPC has become the world’s first Energy major to declare its Energy Compact goals. Recently it has collaborated with Niti Aayog to achieve the ‘net zero’ targets. This report card will shed light on the existing renewable projects and capacity, while also accounting for the measures and initiatives being taken by NTPC toward expanding its energy through renewables.

Current Stats

As on 30 September 2022, NTPC currently boasts a commercial capacity of 57639 MW on a standalone basis and 70254 MW for the Group. In total, the NTPC group generated 204 Billion Units, about a 15 per cent increase from 177 BU in the first half of FY22. Further, its standalone gross generation in the first half of FY23 was 176 BU compared to 151 BU in the same period last year, registering a growth of about 16 per cent.

Further, the PLF of coal stations of NTPC at 72.27 per cent remained substantially above the national average of 64.46 per cent during the first half of FY23. NTPC registered the highest-ever coal production of 8.76 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) in the same period FY23 with a growth of over 58 per cent against 5.54 MMT in H1 FY22. The PSU recently added the Chatti Bariatu mine to its coal production capacity on 29 September 2022.

Expanding Renewables

NTPC has diversified into producing energy through cleaner and greener sources such as hydro, wind and solar. In addition, the company also explored a variety of business areas including fuel cells, e-mobility, green hydrogen solutions and waste-to-energy. In the first half of FY23, out of 1952 MW of commercial capacity that the PSU added to its portfolio 672 MW has come from renewable sources.

The PSU has already established its presence in Renewables having already commissioned 2524 MW of RE projects under EPC mode till the end of the second quarter of FY23. Precisely, 5348 MW capacities of RE projects, including ongoing projects of NTPC REL, are under construction. In addition, bids for 650 MW more have been won and are waiting for being awarded. NTPC also has over 4.9 GW of renewable energy capacity under tendering process which will further bolster the green energy portfolio of India’s largest power producer. NTPC is steadily lowering its carbon footprint by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the installation of renewable energy projects in its existing stations as well as putting up green field RE projects.

The Company has planned 262 MW floating solar on over 1300 acres of its reservoir area by installing over 9,50,000 PV modules at its various stations out of which 242 Mega Watt has been commissioned. This includes the country’s largest floating solar of 100 MW at Ramagundam in Telangana, 92 MW at Kayamkulam in Kerala, and 25 MW each at Simhadri, Andhra Pradesh and Kawas in Gujarat. The projects would be instrumental in reducing over half a million tons of CO2 emissions on an annual basis.

Further, NTPC is well on its way to the development of a Solar Park of 4.75 GW in Gujarat with further plans for the development of another 21 GW UMREPP in various stages.

Statewise Commissioned Projects

NTPC has established its renewable presence in several states of India from the state of Rajasthan to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. With over 950 MW capacity, Rajasthan is one of the biggest solar destinations, housing some of the biggest projects, such as Bhadla (260 MW), Fatehgarh (296 MW), and Sambhu ki Bhurj I and II (250 MW and 150 MW). Other major solar locations include Uttar Pradesh with over 455 MW solar capacity, Madhya Pradesh (over 300 MW), and Andhra Pradesh (over 270 MW).

Rojmal (50 MW) Wind Project and VSTPS small Hydro projects are other commissioned RE projects by NTPC.

Statewise Projects Under Implementation

Some of the major NTPC projects under implementation are Nokhra, Devikot, Sambhu Ki Bhurj, Fatehpur and Anta in Rajasthan; Ettayapuram in Tamil Nadu; Kawas (Ground-mounted and Floating Solar) in Gujarat; Rihand in Uttar Pradesh; and, Solapur in Maharashtra.

Other Key Initiatives – MoUs, Agreements, etc.

NTPC has started accepting proposals from developers to supply round‐the‐clock power from solar, hydro, wind, hybrid, and energy storage plants. Furthermore, the company and its subsidiaries have undergone several important agreements and MoUs in the renewable sector.

NTPC Renewable Energy Limited (NTPC REL), NTPC’s subsidiary, has incorporated Green Valley Renewable Energy Limited, as its subsidiary in a 51:49 JV with DVC. The main objective behind this agreement is to develop, operate and maintain Renewable Energy Park and Projects in reservoirs and land owned by DVC.

REL has signed an MoU with the Government of Rajasthan for the Development of 10 GW Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPP) in Rajasthan. REL signed another MoU with National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) to collaborate in the field of Renewable Energy Green Chemicals and mutually explore opportunities for the supply of 90 MW RE RTC (Round The Clock) power in phases and synthesizing 50 TPD Green Ammonia for captive use for the production of Industrial products by NFL. This marks the first of its kind novel initiative by two leading CPSEs toward reducing GHG emissions. NTPC had earlier announced its Green Hydrogen initiatives and plan to build the country’s first pilot projects for synthesizing green methanol, setting up a Green Hydrogen filling station, Green hydrogen blending into PNG and Green energy storage project.

NPTC signed a series of signed MOUs with GE Gas Power, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., and Siemens. The objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of hydrogen (H2) co-firing blended with natural gas in gas turbines installed at various NTPC gas plants, exploring the pathways to reduce CO2 emissions from gas power plants.

To assess the cooperation opportunities in the Renewables, NTPC also signed an MoU with Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) for cooperation in the renewable energy sector.