State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) intends to set up 240 MW of renewable power capacity at the cost of Rs 1,600 crore during the current year, a senior company executive said.
"We will soon be setting up solar and wind power facilities. We have plans to set up 240 MW of solar and wind energy farms in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs 1,600 crore," said Sukhmal Kumar Jain, director (marketing) at BPCL. Approximately 50 MW solar projects are already under construction at BPCL's facilities.
The company is targeting a captive requirement for its refineries first, which is about 350 MW. Jain added that BPCL is exploring organic and in-organic opportunities as well as planning to bid for industry tenders going forward.
"We undertook multiple solar projects of smaller size to gain experience. We are now confident to take up bigger projects and shall be participating in renewable energy tenders in the future," Jain said. BPCL has committed to offset emissions from refining operations and from the energy it uses by 2040, referred to as Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
It is thus scaling up its renewable energy portfolio from less than 50 MW today to 1 gigawatt by 2025 and 10 gigawatts by 2040. This January, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Rajasthan for setting up the renewable energy power plant. The capacities being built in the short term would be to meet the state-run company’s captive demand, primarily from refineries and a proposed petrochemicals unit. BPCL could also sign power purchase agreements with buyers.
In December 2021, BPCL tied up with the Solar Energy Corporation of India, under the ministry of new and renewable energy, to build 10 GW of renewable capacity by 2040. "There is a lot of scope in our refineries for green hydrogen. We have already taken up a 20 MW green hydrogen project at our Bina refinery. These projects will further contribute to increasing our renewable energy portfolio," added Jain. The company plans to invest Rs 14,000 crore this fiscal to meet its capital expenditure requirement. Of this, it will invest Rs 7,000 crore in expanding operations in the natural gas and retailing segment; Rs 3,000 crore would be invested in refinery turnaround and maintenance and the remaining would be in joint venture investments, the company said.
BPCL's rival Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) has set up a new company to house its alternative energy businesses including biofuel, biogas, green hydrogen, EV mobility and EV batteries among others. Another public sector company, NTPC, had in 2020 formed NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NTPCREL) to accelerate the renewable energy growth of the company and increase the green footprint across the country, offshore and overseas.
IOCL and NTPC Green Energy (a 100% subsidiary of NTPC) have formed a joint venture to develop renewable energy (RE) power plants to meet round the clock power requirements of new projects of Indian Oil refineries in India. Both the companies will hold equal stake in the proposed joint venture. Another state-run entity, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), has also signed an agreement with NTPC Green Energy for development of renewable energy-based power projects. NTPC Green Energy will also supply 400 MW round the clock power to HPCL.
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