Another heated fiscal year is closing up for India’s renewable energy sector!
FY2016-2017: Greener, Stronger
Cumulative installed capacity as of January 31st, 2017:
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WIND: 28,871.59MW
SOLAR: 9,235.24MW
SMALL HYDRO: 4,341.85MW
BIOPOWER: 8,182MW
WASTE TO POWER: 114.08MW
The Interview: P. Vinay Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, Greenko Group
PULL OUT QUOTE: “We intend to commission close to
360MW of wind, 90MW of hydro and 650MW of solar this
year. This should take us past the 2GW mark.”
Platinum Sponsor of RenewX 2017, Greenko is a mainstream
participant in the growing Indian energy industry and a market
leading owner and operator of clean energy projects in India
utilising a de-risked portfolio of wind, run-of river hydropower,
natural gas and biomass assets totaling to around 900 MW.
Greenko is currently building the largest solar project by a
single IPP at a single location in Andhra Pradesh’ Kurnool
Ultra Megal Solar Park, totalling 500MW. COO P. Vinay Kumar speaks about Greenko’ growth
in the Indian market and assesses the country’s renewable energy market dynamics following
recent biddings in wind and solar.
How do you look at Greenko's operational and financial performance in FY2017 and what are your
targets in FY2018?
It suffices to say that FY2017 has been an eventful year for Greenko. The SunEdison India
portfolio of operating (440MW) and shovel ready projects (1,200MW) was acquired this fiscal,
and a large part of the year was focused on integrating the acquired operating assets into our
existing portfolio and commencing work on the shovel ready projects. We intend to commission
close to 360MW of wind, 90MW of hydro and 650MW of solar this year. This should take us
past the 2GW mark. We still have a considerable pipeline from the SunEdison acquisition to
fuel capacity growth in the next fiscal also. A particularly interesting project that we have
worked on this year is the 500MW solar farm in the Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar park in Andhra
Pradesh. When completed, it will be the single largest solar project ever constructed by a single
IPP in a single location.
What role will inorganic growth play in Greenko's overall expansion in India?
Our wind portfolio has been grown wholly organically. Solar growth has been inorganic so far,
to the extent of operating capacity that has been acquired from SunEdison. Hydro has been a
mix of organic and inorganic growth. We prefer not be dogmatic or formulaic about these
modes. The bottom line is to build a robust portfolio of clean energy assets that performs
efficiently and yields the targeted returns for our investors and we are agnostic to whether that
happens organically or inorganically.
How do you assess the maturity and attractiveness of the country's bond market to finance green
energy?
Companies like CLP and Hero futures have tested the waters in addition to lenders like Yes
Bank, who have floated green bonds. The market is still in its infancy and it can only become
deeper and more mature. I am more worried about the recent aggressive biddings both in solar
and wind bids. At the discovered rates which on the face of it look challenging, we will be
looking at a scenario where we will be having IPPs with a large asset base and weak balance
sheets. This will affect their ratings and consequently their ability to raise funds through bonds
at a reasonable cost. Consequently, the worry is not on the depth of the market but more on
the ability of IPPs to tap them at reasonable costs.
What is your view on putting up wind projects under competitive bidding as oppose to maintaining
the FiT system?
Much as I would like to, it is difficult to come up with a moral argument against bidding and in
favour of perpetuating the FiT system. Bidding route to price discovery has been the norm in
solar right from the inception of the national solar mission. Tariff-based bidding for wind
projects is routine in the US and Europe. It is a relatively new idea for the Indian wind industry
and it would take a while for it to sink in. What we see today is the initial reaction of a perturbed
industry where long standing shibboleths are giving way to the gust of transparency of tariffbased bidding. Wind business today is changing and it has to re-imagine itself in entirely new
ways. The transition to bidding, sunset clause of GBI, the reduction in accelerated depreciation
and the withdrawal of 80IA benefits are causing a churn in the industry and it will take a while
to respond to these changes. I am quite optimistic that competitive bidding will make the wind
equipment supply chain leaner and force IPPs to go back to their drawing boards and take a
de-novo look at their project and equipment costs. This will do a lot of good to the off-takers
and to the industry in general, by weaning it away from the molly coddled comfort of a FiTbased regime.
What is Greenko's approach to technology and what kind of innovation is the company currently
looking at?
We believe in building and operating world-class clean energy assets, using cutting-edge
technology and disruptive innovation through their life cycle. We were the first anchor
customers for GE’s wind turbines in India, by deploying their 1.6MW class wind turbines. We
went ahead with the G97 class fleet offered by Gamesa, which was another first for the
industry. We deploy technology to optimise yield from our assets, increase their yield and make
them financially viable and yielding/exceeding targeted returns.
About P. Vinay Kumar:
P. Vinay Kumar heads the wind and solar business for the Greenko Group as their Chief Operating
officer. For the last 20 years, he has been in senior roles in large EPC firms in the renewable and power
transmission & distribution spaces in India. While heading these firms, Mr. P. Vinay Kumar has executed
large format power, renewable and T&D projects in India and abroad, with project management of large
and complex power projects being his specialty. Before the power sector stint, he was with the Indian
Revenue Service (IRS) where he had a highly decorated stint. While with the government he
spearheaded many transformational IT initiatives for the Ministry of Finance, which have won accolades
and which also enabled the tax administration to transition from an enforcement-oriented approach to a
more enabling and facilitating one.
Vinay Kumar holds a degree in mechanical engineering from IIT – Madras and has a PGDBM from XLRI
Jamshedpur. He is also a Chartered financial analyst (CFA).
***
A Look at the Solar Rooftop Segment
Solar rooftops represent 40% of the government’s solar target by 2022, with a targeted
installation of 40GW, encouraged by central schemes to set up solar rooftop projects on PSUs
buildings, military establishments and canals.
In February 2017, over $75 million (Rs. 508.85 crore) had already been released by the
government for grid-connected rooftop and small solar power plants, out of a total allocation
of $90 million (Rs. 600 crore) this fiscal. The biggest allocation was given to the states of
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi.
While the implementation of net metering remains an issue to fast track the installation of solar
rooftops across India, we spoke to CleanMax Solar Managing Director Kuldeep Jain about the
state and attractiveness of the country’s solar rooftop industry.
The Interview: Kuldeep JAIN, Managing Director, CLEANMAX
SOLAR
How would you describe India's value proposition in the solar rooftop
market?
We are seeing tremendous demand from the private sector, and
initatives like RE100 bring top global companies together in their
commitment to turn 100% renewable since 2014. Such ambition is
much more aggressive than the initiatives by governments around
the world, whose commitment to renewable energy would average 5-13%. India is no
exception to a strong private sector with an increasing demand for green energy solutions like
solar rooftops. Client needs emerging from private Indian conglomerates like Mahindra, Tata,
Godrej or Aditya Birla for such solar rooftop solutions is increasing along with their commitment
to sustainability.
Additionally, because of India's high generation yields and high costs of energy, cheaper solar
power is an appealing opportunity. At the moment, the cost of solar in India is 20-30% cheaper
compared to industrial power supplied by the state grid, and its cost escalation, which averages
2-3% a year, is much lower than the escalation of 6-7% seen from distribution companies
(DISCOMs) over the past decade. In short, solar rooftops offer an opportunity to buy greener
and cheaper power with less cost escalation than grid power.
To what extent do you expect financing to be a challenge in raising the government's solar rooftops
target of 40GW by 2022?
Financing always plays a big part in the development of a renewable energy industry. While
the perception in India is that financing is limited, what we actually lack are bankable projects.
Ensuring the highest quality power purchase agreements (PPA) and having reputable
providers and vendors on board with a strong HSE record plays an important role in attracting
capital. In addition, the speed of projects' implementation is equally important. CleanMax, for
instance, is able to start generating power from its projects within three to four months after
the signing of the PPA, whereas it is not rare to see this period being as long as nine to 15
months in other cases.
As a company, we were not challenged in our capital raising. I believe India's solar rooftop
market is constrained by a lack of bankable projects, not capital.
What kind of policy push do you think is required to facilitate the setting up of 40GW of solar rooftops
by 2022?
The target of setting up 40GW capacity of solar rooftops by 2022 is ambitious but achievable.
It would, however, require the full implementation of net metering with no artificial capacity
constraints on net metering capacities. The implementation of solar investment trusts, in similar
fashion to a real estate investment trust or infrastructure investment trust, would allow a better
pooling of assets and raising of capital into the industry from both local and international
sources. This could replicate similar actions taken in the US to pool assets with transferrable
tax credits. Finally, allowing the continuity of high tax breaks for investments in solar would
greatly help scaling up solar capacities in India.
To Discuss This and More: Join RenewX 2017!
RenewX 2017: UBM India’s Renewable Energy Mission for South India
UBM India, organiser of the Renewable Energy India Expo (REI India) announced the second
edition of RenewX, a two-day renewable energy trade expo on April 7th and 8th, 2017 at the
Hitex, Hyderabad after the stupendous success of its first edition. Through RenewX 2017,
UBM India will provide an industry platform for organizations to capitalize and penetrate into
the lucrative south Indian renewable energy market. The expo will witness a congregation of
South India's green economy community to discuss industry trends, challenges and market
insights including the Indian regulatory framework.
Bringing together manufacturers, EPC contractors, distributors and service providers, RenewX
2017 has over 130 participating exhibitors striving to make a difference in the renewable
energy domain. These notably include Renewable Energy Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd.,
Cleantech Solar Energy, Amplus Energy Solutions Pvt Ltd., Zhuhai Gmee Solar Equipment
Co. Ltd., MachinePulse, Oriano Clean Energy Pvt. Ltd., Avi Solar Energy Pvt. Ltd, Brij
Encapsulants, Phocos India Solar Pvt Ltd., MECO Meters Pvt Ltd., Vision Mechatronics Pvt.
Ltd, Bergen Associates, Premier Solar Systems Pvt. Ltd, Premier Solar Powertech Pvt. Ltd,
Archimedes Green Energys Pvt Ltd., Greenvision Technologies, Surana Solar Ltd., Greentek
India Pvt Ltd, Radite Energy, Solar Idea Pvt Ltd., Nuevosol Energy Pvt. Ltd. and RenewSys
India Pvt Ltd., among others.
This year, the expo will feature special China and Telangana pavilions. The former will see the
participation of leading Chinese exhibitors such as SUNWORLD Tech Corp, Ningbo Osda
Solar Co. Ltd, Ningbo Aike Electronic Technology Co. Ltd., GuangZhou Mango Energy
Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Minjian Alu Co. Ltd., Taizhou Hangning Refrigeration
Equipment Co. Ltd., Baoding Green Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Risun Solar, Ningbo Qixin
Electrical Solar Appliances Co. Ltd., Bright & Universal Technology Co. Ltd., Shanzhen Jing
Fu Yuan Tech. Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Topray Solar Co. Ltd. etc.
RenewX 2017 is supported by central nodal agencies such as the Solar Energy Corporation
of India Limited (SECI), the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA), the
Telangana New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation Ltd (TNREDCL) and the
National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC).
Context: The announcement of the second edition of RenewX comes at a time when
renewables continue to increasingly carve a bigger space in the country's generation sphere,
encouraged by government funding. Green power, for instance, is driving the growth in India's
electricity generation as the total installed solar capacity, including rooftop and off-grid projects,
has crossed 10GW, according to latest government and market data. On a pan-Indian scale,
while Tamil Nadu has the highest installed solar energy capacity, Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana follow closely along with Rajasthan and Gujarat. The renewable energy sector has
recently got a further impetus with the government announcing an ambitious scheme to double
solar power generation capacity under the solar parks scheme to 40,000MW by 2020, with a
Rs 8,100 crores assistance to fund 30% of the initial project cost of developers. In 2017 itself,
India is expected to add new solar capacity of 8-10GW, a growth of 137% over last year, a
recent report by Bridge To India, a green energy-focused consultant, indicated.
One of the highlights of the expo includes a day dedicated, in-depth master class on GridConnected PV Rooftop Systems, to be conducted by the renowned faculty of GSES, an
Australia-based PV Training Institute, and its Managing Director Mr. Dwipen Boruah. The
session aims at filling technical and knowledge gaps in the areas of installation, design and
safety aspects of rooftop systems to ensure optimal performance.
The expo will also hold a two-day conference on "Sourcing the Sun" that will talk about
integrating renewables into business, finding the best solutions and practices that can lead to
increased integration of clean energy into businesses.
Speaking on the announcement, Mr. Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director of UBM India said,
“Providing energy security to all citizens, more specifically through clean energy sources has
been one of the challenges our country is facing despite huge renewable resource availability
and potential. The government's ambitious target of adding 175GW of renewable power in the
country by 2022, has created awareness about renewable energy in the country and will offer
massive investment opportunities across the value chain. Telangana, since its establishment
has been playing an active role in aggressively supporting solar energy. Along with other states
in South India that are also promoting renewable energy, the region holds promise for the
sector with its profitable and favourable government and industrial policies. The sector in the
region has also been benefitted by investments leading to launch of major projects. After our
successful 1st edition in 2015, we are all set for the second edition of RenewX in Hyderabad
that aims to accelerate the growth of Renewable Energy Industry in South India and contribute
to the country's sustainable economic development.”
***
A Look at the Thought-provoking Programme
 DAY ONE: April 7th, 2017
10:30 – 11:00 Networking Tea & Reception
11:00 – 11:45 Opening Ceremony
11:45 – 12:45 Panel
Incentivise, Educate
Discussion,
“Converting Curiosity
into
Demand”,
Engage,
The session will bring forth ideas and deliberate on ways in which to ‘engage, incentivize and
educate’ the customers so that they can integrate renewable in their businesses. It will delve
into what each stakeholder can contribute to ensure the convergence on clean energy.
Listen to multiple perspectives from esteemed panelists including:
• Shri A. Sudhakar Rao, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Telangana New & Renewable
Energy Development Corporation
• Sh. Abhilak Singh, General Manager (TS), IREDA
• SECI speaker
• Singh Garud, Director & Senior Fellow, TERI
• Prof. Lawrence Surendra, co-founder and Chairman, The Sustainability Platform (TSP)
• Joerg Gaebler, Principal Advisor, Indo-German Energy Programme, ComSolar – I – RE –
SolarRooftop
• Prabhat Kumar Mishra, Vice President & Head, Distributed Solar & Off-take, ReNew
Power Ventures
• Gagan Virmani, Co-founder & CEO, MySun
• Manu Karan, Senior Vice President, Business Development, CleanMax Solar
Moderator: P. Vinay Kumar, COO, Greenko Group
12:45 – 13:00 Technical Presentation, “International Perspective on the Indian Solar
Rooftop Marker – Residential/Public/Commercial Sector Analysis”
By Mr. Joerg Gaebler, Principal Advisor, Indo-German Energy Programme, ComSolar – I – RE
– SolarRooftop
14:00 – 14:15 Case study, “Comparative Assessment of Net Metering Policies and
Implementation with a few case studies”
By Prabhat Kumar Mishra, Vice President & Head, Distributed Solar & Off-take, ReNew Power
Ventures
14:15 – 15:15 Sunny Side Up on what the industry leaders have to share on the most pressing
issues in the sector, especially when it comes to solar rooftop.
Panellists:
• Pratyush Kumar Thakur, Chief Operating Officer, Statkraft BLP Solar Solutions
• Mushtaq Ahmed, Founder & Managing Director, Sure Energy Systems
• Navashil Sharma, CEO, InSolare Energy
• Hiten Parekh, Head, Everest Solar
• Anish Rajgopal, Director, Chemtrols Solar
• Siddharth Malik, Managing Director, Megawatt Solutions
Moderator: Sachin G. Jain, Co-founder & CEO, Oriano Solar
15:15 – 15:30 Technical presentation Twin Peak Series; Emerging Technologies in PV
By Mr. Rohit Kumar, Head of Indian Subcontinent, REC
15:30 – 15:45 Technical presentation Innovative Trackers for augmenting power generation
By: Dr. Gundu Sabde – CMD (RelyOn Solar Pvt. Ltd.)
15:45 – 16:00 Technical presentation Smart Monitoring Solution for efficient O&M
By: Vijaykamal Pallod, Assistant Manager, Business Development, Machine Pulse Tech Pvt.
Ltd
16:15 – 17:15 Today or Tomorrow?
A unique session aimed at bringing the volley of questions from projects’ costs to tariffs to
financing, and aiming at answering the nagging question on the mind of customers, ‘today or
tomorrow?’
Panellists:
• Rohit Kumar, Head of Indian Subcontinent, Renewable Energy Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd
• Amit Barve, Vice President, Business Development & Marketing, Enerparc Energy
• Sishir Goel, Vice President, Brij Encapsulants
• Rashi Gupta, Director International Business, Vision Mechatronics
• Rahul Dasan, Director and Chief Executive, Sunshot Technologies
Moderator: Shantanu Agarwal, Bloomberg New Energy Finance

DAY TWO: April 8th, 2017
10:30 – 11:30 Third Party Financing: Game Changer for Achieving the Rooftop Targets?
The session will discuss the key challenges to third party financing and how to overcome these
barriers.
Panelists:
• Sh. Abhilak Singh, General Manager (TS), IREDA
• Anuvrat Joshi, Director, Cleantech Solar
• Sharad Pungalia, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Amplus Solar
• Srinivas Rao Patnana, Director, KPMG
• Alpit Sharma, Principal, GEF Advisors India
Moderator: Vivek Sen, Consultant, Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)
11:30 – 11:45 Presentation, “Financing Renewable Energy Projects in India,
Perceptions by Financing Institutions,” by Nisheeth Srivastava, Sector Specialist – Energy
& GEC Coordinator, KfW
11:50 – 12:05 Technical presentation, “Smart Monitoring Solutions for Solar PV Power
Plants,” by Somashekar T. H., CTO, Avi Solar Energy
12:10 – 13:00 Walking the Double-edged
Management in the Indian Scenario
Sword:
Project
Financing
and
Risk
The session will explore project financing and risk management’s dynamics as the two major
challenges in the expansion of the solar industry.
Panellists:
• Balawant Joshi, Managing Director, Idam Infrastructure Advisory
• Rajnikanth Umakanthan, Managing Director, 3Tier by Visala
• Dinesh J. Kagathi, Head of Renewables, PRDC
• Anchit Gupta, Director of Business Development, Focal Energy
• Yes Bank speaker
Moderator: Ashish Kulkarni, Indian Business Lead, Ricardo Energy & Environment
14:35 – 15:40 The Inflection Point: What to Expect on the Technology Front?
Technical Presentations
15:45 – 16:00 Tea & Closing
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About UBM India: UBM India is India's leading exhibition organizer that provides the industry with platforms that
bring together buyers and sellers from around the world, through a portfolio of exhibitions, content led conferences
& seminars. UBM India hosts over 25 large scale exhibitions and 40 conferences across the country every year;
thereby enabling trade across multiple industry verticals. A UBM Asia Company, UBM India has offices across
Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.
About EYE ON Group: Eye On Group is a leading global content provider of investment information and
communications services for the energy, manufacturing, construction, finance and technology sectors. Extracting
intelligence about the world’s foremost investment opportunities, Eye On provides investors with far-reaching
access to key growth markets.