Tata Power to invest Rs70,000 cr in wind and solar units in Tamil Nadu

Tata Power on Sunday announced plans to set up solar and wind power units of a combined 10 Gigawatt generation capacity in Tamil Nadu, at an estimated cost of Rs70,000 crore. The investment is likely to be made over the next 5-7 years, Praveer Sinha, chief executive officer of Tata Power said.

Addressing the press on the sidelines of the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet (CIM) in Chennai on Monday, Sinha said the company will be making fresh investment in renewable power projects in south and central Tamil Nadu over the next seven years.

“As part of GIM, we are looking at investing Rs70,000 crore. This will happen over a period of time of five to seven years. We are going to set up a 10 GW solar and wind project in Tamil Nadu,” Sinha said.

He said Tata Power will make a formal announcement on the proposal after the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the state government.

The total investment of Rs70,000 crore includes Rs15,000 crore of investment already committed, including operational project as well as those under construction, he said, adding that the fresh investment would be around Rs55,000 crore.

Tata Power is already working on 41 MW of renewable power projects that are expected to be completed in the next one to one-and-a-half years.

Besides, its $,300-cr solar module and cell manufacturing unit in Tirunelveli is expected to be operational in the next two months, he said.

The company already has 41 MW renewable power projects under implementation and is expected to be operational in 12-18 months. Its solar cell and module manufacturing facility setup at the cost of `4,300 crore at Tirunelveli is likely to open in two months.

Sinha said the plant has the potential to employ over 2,500 people and that the company intends to recruit women to fill 50 per cent of the jobs. “We have already taken on board 1,000 women employees for the project,” he said, adding that power generation units will employ 100 people.

Sinha said, Tata Power is also looking at off-shore wind energy units, although plans are at a preliminary stage.

Tata Power has achieved 37 per cent renewable capacity  (3,720 MW out of total installed capacity of 7,877 MW) and has set net zero emission target by 2045, he said.

He said Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited is set to achieve more than 15 GW of green power capacity by 2030, taking Tata Power’s renewable capacity to 70 per cent and to 100 per cent before 2045. 

Tata Power is also looking to increase the number of electric vehicle charging stations it operates from 5,000 at present to 25,000, he added.