AMPIN Energy Transition is targeting to add 10 gigawatt peak (GWp) of renewable energy capacity in the next few years, spread across various segments including manufacturing of solar cells & modules and storage capacity, the company’s Founder, MD & CEO Pinaki Bhattacharya told FE.
The company has further committed to add 25 GW of RE capacity in line with the government’s target of increasing the country’s non-fossil fuel capacity to 500 GW by the year 2030.
“Currently, our portfolio is about 4 GWp and we intend to take it to 10 GWp. And then recently, we signed a Shapath Patra also, where we said that we will take it to 25 GWp. Also on the manufacturing side we will take our capacity to 5 GW. We will be manufacturing not just solar cells & modules but storage too and will grow our trading business,” Bhattacharya said.
Talking about the company’s plans for expanding its business globally, the MD said that its current focus is in the Indian market as it offers a great opportunity.
The company, which is in the utility as well as the commercial & industrial segment, aims to maintain a balanced business between the two segments.
“We have earmarked 10% of our capital outlay to the manufacturing and other aligned businesses and the remaining 90% will be in (power) generation. Of this 90%, we’ll try to maintain a 50:50 balance between the C&I and the utility segments.”
He said that the company has an equity investment of around $700 million which will create an asset base of $3-$3.5 billion. “We have a lot of interest in equity,” he said.
Bhattacharya highlighted that the company will go for hybrid projects rather than Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy (FDRE) projects as it is more cost effective and viable. He said that while there has been a lot of stimulus given by the government on the manufacturing side of the sector, some policy initiatives on the side of generation involving land acquisition processes, and evacuation system would be welcomed.
“The PPA structures are much better. There is transparency in the bidding process. Open access rules are very well done by the central government and state. So there are a lot of good things in terms of creating the relevant policy framework and analysis but I think what we want them to do is to actually get into manufacturing. Say some PSU is setting up a polysilicon to solar modules manufacturing unit, that will create a pricing that is more competitive,” he said.
When asked about the plans to list the company, Bhattacharya said that they are open to listing and long term plans are there.
“The idea is to make it a sustainable company and listing is one way of doing this. At this point in time, we have a good amount of capital investors for our long term business. So all those discussions are all in terms of getting more people on board.”
In the green hydrogen segment, the company is focusing on distributed green hydrogen where the hydrogen is produced at or near the point of use, typically at a smaller scale, eliminating the cost of transportation and storage. “Once it becomes cheaper and profitable, we will enter the transportation stage as well,” Bhattacharya said.
From: financialexpress
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