Indian oil companies collaborate to form SPVs for renewable energy projects

Major oil companies in India like Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corp (ICO) are planning to launch new companies dedicated to renewable energy.

The collaboration is supported by GAIL, Engineers India Ltd (EIL), Solar Energy Corp of India (SECI) and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). The collaboration plans to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to undertake big electricity grid-connected projects.

Another SPV led by IOC will be set up for off-grid projects. It will include participation of companies like Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) besides SECI and IREDA.

Renewable energy India

Commenting on this collaboration oil secretary for the Government of India Vivek Rae said the collaboration aims at leveraging the financial and managerial strength of the companies to scale up renewable energy projects and manage the complexities of small projects.

The government is looking at ultra mega projects of up to 500 MW at a cost of Rs 6-7 crore per MW. After completing the feasibility studies, the two SPVs are likely to be incorporated by August 15.
The move is likely to boost the renewable energy industry in India. India has huge potential for both solar and wind. Several high-capacity projects are now being implemented in India, especially in states like Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Through JNNSM Phase 2 projects, India hopes to install 10 GW of solar power. Thanks to the new policies, the solar industry in India is witnessing falling price for solar power. Chinese imports of solar panels have helped the industry remain competitive in terms of price. The domestic manufacturing segment is also getting uplift through the domestic content requirements (DCR) and other incentives aimed to support local content.

In a major initiative recently, six PSUs in India has formed a joint venture (JV) company to construct an ultra mega solar power project in Rajasthan, which is expected to be the largest solar power plant in the world.

The 4000 MW proposed project has participation from six PSUs including Solar Energy Corporation of India (23 percent), Power Grid Corporation of India (16 percent), SJVN, Sambhar Salt Ltd. (SSL- 16 percent) and Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL -3 percent) to implement the first phase of the project.

India has been ranked the fifth in wind energy installations with over 20,000 MW of capacity installed at the end of 2013, according to information available at Global Wind Statistics.

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