Sterlite Power to launch renewable energy biz, cater to industrial clients

To provide integrated green energy solutions to carbon-intensive industries

Leading private power transmission provider Sterlite Power will launch a renewable energy venture through which it will provide integrated green energy solutions to industrial consumers, Business Standard has learnt. The company, formed in February according to regulatory filings, is likely to see a launch in the coming months, said sources.

Confirming the development, Pratik Agarwal, managing director, Sterlite Power told Business Standard the company is evaluating a separate power generation venture that will focus on energy transition solutions for commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers.

“We are looking at the broader power generation space where a lot of platforms are selling power to utilities, participating in SECI projects, while there are limited players in the C&I segment. It is a significant market for renewable energy,” Agarwal told Business Standard.

He said the new venture would focus on large industries and commercial customers, especially those that have high carbon intensity. The firm aims to provide industrial decarbonisation solutions by providing round-the-clock renewable energy through a combination of solar, wind, energy storage and balancing solutions.

Sources indicated; the renewable arm of Sterlite would design solutions for providing seamless renewable energy coupled with balancing power. The company is looking to also provide forecasting and scheduling systems with access to the green day ahead market. The company would manage connectivity and all necessary approvals and infrastructure and plans to provide a fixed tariff for life of the project, sources said.

Agarwal did not comment on the finer details of the new venture, but said the existing expertise in transmission would help Sterlite provide integrated transmission services as well to these large industrial consumers. “There are many opportunities in the energy transition space. We have an edge in power transmission. Conceptually, large industrial customers would have the kind of demand where there would be need for integrated transmission planning,” he said.

Sterlite, is part of the Vedanta group, has a 26 per cent market share in the transmission segment--the highest among private players. It also makes equipment such as high power conductors, extra-high voltage cables, and optical ground wire.

The company filed draft papers with Sebi for its initial public offering last year in August. It is banking on the large kitty of transmission projects to be offered by the Centre to augment the transmission and distribution (T&D) network across the country and in the states, especially those connecting renewable energy projects/zones.

Agarwal had earlier told this paper that close to 80-90 per cent of the firm’s projects in India and Brazil cater to greening the grid. He had said, out of all its projects, 70 per cent are fully green as they are directly connected to a wind or solar farm or enabling it.

 Sterlite's green power plan

• To launch a renewable energy arm
• To provide integrated energy transition green energy services to industrial and commercial consumers
• To focus on high carbon-intensive industries
• First such power transmission company to venture into green energy