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Can Tata beat Adani in the renewable battle

After a long fight to perch at the top as India's largest thermal power producer, now, a new war is brewing between Tata Power and Adani Power, to become India's largest green energy producer in terms of capacity.   

With the commissioning of a 30 MW solar power plant on a 140 acre area in Palaswade, Maharashtra on Tuesday, Tata Power has now taken its solar power portfolio to 957 MW. In June, Adani Power had commissioned  a 50 MW solar PV project in Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh, to take its solar capacity to 838 MW.

Tata Power's subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy (TPREL) now has a green energy operating capacity of 1487 MW, comprising of 530 MW wind and 957 MW solar capacity, mainly created with the last year acquisition of Welspun's 1140 MW for Rs 10,000 crore. Apart from this,  TPREL is implementing nearly 373 MW of renewable assets and is planning to carve out Tata Power's 380 MW clean energy assets from its books into TPREL. With this, TPREL's portfolio grows to about 2200 MW, making it a leading renewable energy company in India.

According to a recent Tata Power Company presentation, non-fossil based capacities will be 30-40 per cent of the total portfolio in future. About 326 MW of projects in pipeline are to be commissioned in FY18, taking the renewable portfolio to reach 2500 MW, out of 3500 Mw of non-fossil fuel capacity. Tata Power has an installed gross generation capacity of 10643 MW, of which 7463 MW is from thermal power and the rest are a mix of hydro, wind, solar and waste heat.

On the other hand, Adani Power, which is now the largest private thermal power producer in India with an installed capacity of 10,480 MW overtaking Tata Power, is betting big on solar to beef up its green energy portfolio. The company was having a 100 MW solar power Plant in Bhatinda and a 40 MW solar plant at Bitta, Gujarat. Adani Power significantly increased the capacity last year with another 648 MW solar power plant at Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu, which is claimed to be the world's largest solar power plant at a single location.

According to an Adani Power press release, by the end of this year Adani Group will be having above 2000 MW of solar installed capacity, making the company the largest player in India's renewable energy sector. Adani Power, which is targeting to create 20,000 Mw of power genertion capacity by 2020, has announced to add about 10,000 Mw of solar by 2022. It is executing a joint venture integrated solar park with the Rajasthan Government at Bhatida in Rajastan, which will be the largest such facility in India.