NTPC doubles up on renewable target Plans 60 GW capacity by 2032

Coal Insights Bureau

NTPC has ramped up its long term Renewable Energy capacity target to 60GW by 2032 from earlier 32GW.

NTPC plans to set up 15GW of RE capacity by FY24 and could also look at plans for potential acquisition of RE assets.

“NTPC has strong commitment to Renewable Energy and would be targeting 60 GW by 2032. The board has already approved a business plan in this regard,” Finance Director A K Gautam told analysts during a conference call.

The group has already commissioned 1,350 MW of RE project under EPC mode while 2,883 MW of solar projects of NTPC are presently under implementation.

Additionally, 3,290 MW are at various stages of tendering, Gautam said.

NTPC is at an advantageous position in executing RE projects as it can arrange lowcost finances, Gautam said.

From 1 GW in FY21, NTPC’s RE capacity would touch 3 GW in the current year, which will go up to 8 GW in FY23 and then to 15 GW in FY24, Gautam said.

Also, NTPC expects to get some priority when tenders are called, he said.

NTPC is looking at tender opportunities for RE projects worth about 5,000 MW in coming days.

“While this may seem ambitious (implying 5-5.5 GW per year of RE additions over the next 11 years), NTPC has taken steps to improve its renewables footprint with 3GW of renewable capacities are under construction and expected to be commissioned over the next two years,” a report by Motilal Oswal said.

NTPC has emerged as the lowest bidder for 1.4 GW of competitively bid out renewable projects and has 3 GW of renewable capacities under construction.

Capacity touches 64,490 MW

NTPC’s standalone capacity has touched 51,721MW and 64,490 MW for the group as on March 31.

After running for 54 years, operation of 460 MW Talcher plant was discontinued with effect from March 31.

Target for FY22

The company plans to commission 4.6 GW of thermal (2.4GW in standalone) in FY22 with another 5.2 GW to be commissioned in FY23.

In the January-March quarter, NTPC commercialised 2 GW of plants led by Gadarwara (800 MW), Meja (660 MW), and Kameng (300 MW).

Additionally, a 250 MW unit at Barauni is set to be commissioned soon following a full load trial run recently.

Capex plans

Capex plan for FY22 has been estimated at `23,736 crore on a standalone basis. The capex plan takes into account any probable acquisition that NTPC might do in the RE space, Gautam said.

NTPC incurred a capex of `20,338 crore in FY21 on a standalone basis and 33,981 crore on the group level.

Coal production and consumption

NTPC’s captive coal production went up by more than a million ton in the January-March quarter reaching 3.708 million tons (mt), up from 2.595 mt mined in the corresponding quarter of FY20.

Its coal consumption during the quarter dropped to 45.68 mt from 47.86 mt.

Domestic coal consumption dropped to 45.37 mt from 47.01 mt while imports fell to 0.31 mt from 0.85 mt.