India’s largest power generation company, NTPC Limited, has ventured into wind energy sector in an attempt to significant boost its renewable energy assets.
The public sector company recently floated two tenders for wind energy projects with 50 MW capacity each. As per tender conditions, selected project developers will be free to choose the project location.
NTPC is already has a substantial solar power capacity operational. A total capacity of 110 MW capacity is operational while another 1,200 MW capacity in at various stages of development. Renewable energy capacity currently contributes 2% to the total installed power generation capacity of NTPC.
NTPC Limited plans to invest $10 billion to set up 10 GW of renewable energy capacity over the next 5 years. A large part of this capacity is expected in the form of solar power projects. The company has been asked by several state governments to set up large-scale solar parks.
The company is expected to significant investments in the renewable energy sector over the next few years. Last year, the company announced plans to raise $1 billion for investment in renewable energy projects.
The wind energy tender by NTPC has come at a time when wind energy developers are facing uncertain times. According to sector analysts, and some developers themselves, annual capacity addition in the wind energy sector is expected to see it final bloom this financial year. The Generation-based Incentive, or GBI, is set to expire at the end of the current financial year, on 31 March 2017. Through this incentive developers get Rs 0.50 (US¢0.75) for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated.
Another incentive, accelerated depreciation shall be reduced from 80% to 40%. Through this incentive project developers can claim higher tax deductions on revenue generated from wind energy projects.
