Bharat Petroleum targets net zero, 10 GW of renewable energy by 2040

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd plans to scale up its renewable energy portfolio to 10 GW by 2040, said chairman Arun Kumar Singh

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, India's second-largest oil refining and fuel retailing firm, plans to scale up its renewable energy portfolio to 10 GW by 2040 - the year it is targeting net-zero carbon emission, chairman Arun Kumar Singh said on Monday.

Addressing the company's annual shareholders' meeting, he said BPCL is diversifying and expanding into adjacent and alternate businesses, which will not only provide additional revenue streams but also offer a hedge against any decline in the oil and gas business.

"The company has identified six strategic areas - petrochemicals, gas, renewables, new businesses, that is, consumer retailing, e-mobility and upstream - which will serve as pillars of future growth and create sustainable value for all stakeholders, while the core business of refining and marketing of petroleum products continues to provide stability and funding bandwidth," he said.

This is with a view to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040, he added.

In the renewable energy space, BPCL plans to scale up its portfolio from less than 50 megawatts today to 1 gigawatt (GW) by 2025 and 10 GW by 2040.

The firm has also decided to expand its reach and presence in the non-fuel business to offer consumables, durables and services by leveraging its pan-India network of over 20,000 fuel stations and more than 6,200 LPG distributors.

It is also creating highway fast charging corridors to address the range anxiety related to EVs.

On a pilot basis, BPCL has adopted 900 km of the Chennai-Trichy-Madurai highway, where it has set up a recharge facility at every 100 km distance at its retail outlets along both sides of this stretch.

BPCL plans to extend this facility across 200 highway corridors with around 2,000 retail outlets in 2022-23, he said.

The company has planned two new petchem projects at Bina and Kochi refineries.

"Once commissioned, these will increase the share of petrochemicals in the company's product portfolio from around 1 per cent currently to about 8 per cent," he said.

In the city gas distribution segment of the natural gas business, BPCL has further expanded its footprint, acquiring licenses for 8 new Geographical Areas. With this, BPCL has licenses for developing CGD networks in 25 GAs covering 62 districts.

On an overall basis, the company has an interest in a total of 50 GAs covering 105 districts, inclusive of JVs.

In the upstream space, Bharat PetroResources Ltd, a subsidiary of the company, has oil and gas assets from Brazil to Mozambique, he added.