Tata Power to invest around Rs 5,000 cr in wind energy by 2017

Ratan Tata-led Tata Power aims to have at least a 25 per cent of its power generation or around 8,000 MW from clean sources by 2017 and will invest around Rs 5,000 crore in wind-energy alone, a top company official said. 

"We have set ourselves a target to achieve 25 per cent of our total generation from clean sources by 2017. These will comprise wind, solar, hydro, geo-thermal and gas. In wind-power alone, we will be investing around Rs 5,000 crore," Tata Power's executive director-strategy & business development, Banmali Agrawala, said in Mumbai. 

The company, which presently has a little over 200 MW of wind capacity, plans to give a strong thrust to wind-energy as "it is the most commercially viable and established form of renewable energy," he said. 

The company is presently in the process of rolling-out 150 MW and an additional 750-800 MW will be added at the rate of around 100-150 MW annually through to 2017. 

It costs around Rs six crore for generating 1 MW of wind-power presently, Agrawala said. 

In solar, the company aims to have 300-400 MW capacity by 2017. The first steps will be taken by end-this year with the commissioning of a 3 MW plant at Mulshi in Maharashtra, he said. 

Tata Power is also all set to sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Gujarat Government for a 25 MW plant to be commissioned by end-2011. 

"This plant will be set up in Mithapur on land owned by Tata Chemicals and we hope to sign the PPA by end-this month," Agrawala said. 

In geo-thermal, Tata Power is already engaged in a 240 MW project in Indonesia in a joint venture with Origin of Australia, which it plans to commission in five-years. 

Tata Power and Origin hold a 47.5 per cent stake each with the balance held by a local company. 

"We are eyeing another 600-700 MW in Indonesia and also other markets with a good geo-thermal potential by 2017. Apart from Indonesia which lends itself to geo-thermal, we feel there is a great potential in Africa and we plan to scout for assets there as well," Agrawala said. 

It costs around $3.5 million to generate 1 MW of power (geo-thermal) and while Agrawala would not give any investment figure, going by the above, it could entail a total investment of between Rs 8,500-9,000 crore for the 600-700 MW. 

"We would like to work with our partner, Origin, not only in Indonesia but also in other markets as well," he said. 

For gas-based power, Tata Power has applied for gas allocation, he said, adding that the company possesses the expertise in this field and has also zeroed-in on potential sites. 

"We are presently fine-tuning our plans here," he said. 

Pricing of gas is still an issue and there needs to be a greater clarity on policies. Once these issues are sorted out, we will go full-steam ahead on gas," Agrawala said. 

On hydro, in which the Tata Group has been present for nearly a century, the company is contemplating bidding for a clutch of projects in Himachal Pradesh, Tata Power's Executive Director-Operations, S Padmanabhan, said. 

Tata Power, which now has a capacity of 447 MW in hydro, is presently engaged in constructing a 114 MW plant in Bhutan in a joint venture with the Bhutanese Government. It is also developing an 800 MW plant in Nepal in a joint venture with Norway's SN Power .