Currently, major fossil fuel companies in India, including Reliance, Adani Group, and the Tatas, are shifting their focus towards renewable energy with ambitious plans as such the Indian renewable energy sector is set to undergo significant changes.
However, this has left smaller startups like — Mittal’s Avaada Energy, Renew Power, and Suzlon – to compete for a share in India’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions in its economy which increases the level of competition for startups.
Reliance plans to have at least 100GW of renewable energy by 2030, while Adani Green Energy aims to increase their capacity to 45GW by 2030, which is five times their current capacity.
However, startups are managing to maintain their position or compete effectively.
Avaada has set a goal to have a total capacity of 11GW by 2026, which will involve building the world’s biggest solar power plant with a capacity of 1.25GW in Bikaner, Rajasthan. The plant is expected to be finished in 2022. It is in the final stages of commissioning with approximately 700MW.
Some of the 4GW of projects currently being built will be completed by March 2024, while the rest will be finished by March 2025. Mittal stated that their goal is to achieve around 11 gigawatts of projects by 2026.
Avaada recently won the largest portion of a 3GW tender in India, led by NHPC, to establish solar power projects. The average price for the projects was approximately Rs 2.53 per kilowatt hour.
Mittal aims to increase its capacity by almost three times in the next three years and then triple it again by 2030, reaching a renewable energy output of 30GW, which would contribute approximately 7% towards the national renewables goal.
Avaada is also expanding its business into different sectors including green hydrogen and green ammonia, as well as venturing into solar equipment manufacturing. They have secured $1.0 billion in funding to support green hydrogen and ammonia projects and have partnered with Brookfield Renewables for funding in the green hydrogen sector.
Additionally, Avaada is constructing a solar manufacturing plant as part of the government’s Production Linked Incentive initiative.
Reference- Mercom India, Economic Times, Business Standard, Business Insider