By Business India Editorial

ReNew has said that it has signed a deal with Mitsui & Co where the Japanese firm will take a 49 per cent stake in the renewable energy major’s round-the-clock (RTC) project.

The RTC project will consist of three newly built wind farms and one solar plus battery storage farm – 1,300 megawatt (MW) in total plus up to 100 megawatt hour (MWh) battery storage – across Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharashtra, and provide 400 MW electricity to SECI, ReNew Power said in a statement.

The project’s commercial operations are expected to start in the third calendar quarter of 2023. ReNew, through its affiliates, will also undertake EPC, O&M, and project management for the RTC project, it added.

“The 25-year PPA for the project, the first-of-its-kind renewable energy PPA in India, was signed last year with SECI for supplying electricity at Rs2.90 per kilowatt hour (kWh), which will increase by three percent annually for 15 years after which it will stabilise for remaining period of the project,” ReNew said.

ReNew Power Chairman and CEO Sumant Sinha said: “The RTC project, the first-of-its-kind in India, provides the lowest cost and emission-free 24x7 renewable electricity. We are proud to partner with Mitsui, a leading global conglomerate, to support India’s green energy transition and look forward to strengthening this partnership in the future.”

Mitsui’s General Manager-in-charge of infrastructure projects in India, Middle East, and Africa Ryoichiro Uno said: “We view India as an extremely promising market for many reasons, including its high economic growth and strong commitment towards decarbonisation. Through this project, Mitsui will accelerate India’s clean energy transition together with ReNew, and contribute to the project‘s successful development by leveraging our extensive global experience in power project development, as well as our wide-ranging business network across industries.”

India, being the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases globally, made commitments at the Glasgow COP26 summit last year to reach 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based installed capacity by 2030, and to source 50 per cent of all its energy from renewables by then.

The RTC project will feed into this target and support the Government of India’s policy of scaling up the renewable energy sector as part of the country’s historic clean energy transition.