NALCO to invest $100 mln in renewable energy

Another government-owned aluminium producer in India has announced grand plans to increase investment in the renewable energy sector.

Following a government push to increase investment in renewable energy and meet renewable energy procurement targets, the National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has announced plans to invest INR 700 crore (over $100 million) towards development and implementation of renewable energy projects this year.

The company already has some renewable energy assets, mostly in the form of wind energy projects, and is now planning to add utility-scale as well as rooftop solar power projects to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity consumption.

NALCO currently has an operational wind energy capacity of 98 MW from wind energy projects in the states of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The company is reportedly planning to set up two more large-scale wind energy projects. It also operates 260 kW of rooftop solar power capacity at its corporate office in the state of Odisha. The company, like many other public-sector companies in the country, is looking to develop large-scale solar power projects.

Electricity generated from these projects will be accounted for against the Renewable Purchase Obligation mandated by the government. India aims to have at least 15 per cent of its total electricity consumption coming from renewable energy sources by 2022, including 8 per cent from solar energy only.

The Indian government has directed several public sector companies and entities, like Coal India, the Indian Railways, the Indian armed forces, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, NTPC, NHPC, and several others, to contribute towards the solar power capacity target of 100 GW by March 2022 and also meet its renewable energy procurement targets.