Indian Oil Corporation will invest INR 1,660.15 crore as equity in a newly set up joint venture with energy major NTPC Ltd for setting up renewable power plants. In June, IOC and NTPC had formed a 50:50 joint venture company, Indian Oil NTPC Green Energy Pvt Ltd, to set up renewable energy projects to meet round-the-clock power requirements of refineries of the oil company.
In a stock exchanging filing, IOC said its Board in a meeting on October 13, “has accorded approval to the investment plan of the joint venture company for setting up of renewable energy power plants and approved the equity contribution of up to INR 1,660.15 crore towards Indian Oil’s share of 50 % in the equity share capital of the JVC.” On June 2, IOC incorporated the joint venture company (JVC) with NTPC Green Energy Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of NTPC Limited).
“Indian Oil NTPC Green Energy Private Limited will develop renewable energy-based power projects (viz. solar PV, wind, any other renewable energy, energy storage or any combination of the same), to meet the round-the-clock power requirements of new projects of Indian Oil Refineries,” the firm had said at that time.
The aim is to generate a minimum capacity of 650 MW of round-the-clock renewable power to fulfil the energy requirements of IOC refineries. NTPC, through its wholly owned subsidiary, NGEL, has set an ambitious target of building a renewable generation portfolio of 60 GW over the next decade to aggressively pursue its green energy business.
Its renewable energy portfolio currently stands at 239 MW, which is being expanded through new wind, solar, hydel and pumped hydro projects. It is collaborating with NTPC to augment its renewable energy capacity by around 2.8 GW. IOC is also solarising 20,705 petrol pumps with an installed capacity of 121 MW. Initiatives in EVs are being intensified by setting up 4,700 charging stations and 66 battery swapping stations. It has collaborated with Israeli start-up Phinergy for a battery joint venture.
IOC has also firmly etched its presence in the nascent green hydrogen ecosystem of the country. The company has a firmed-up collaboration with ReNew Power Private Limited (ReNew) and Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) for green hydrogen business. A 7 kilo-tonnes per annum green hydrogen capacity is under development at the Panipat refinery.
