Tata Power Solar bags 300 MW plant project from NTPC worth Rs 1,730 cr

Tata Power Solar Systems said on Tuesday it has got a letter of award to build a 300-megawatt plant for state-owned utility major NTPC at an all-inclusive price of Rs 1,730 crore.

This follows a post-reverse auction held on February 21. The commercial operation date for the grid-connected solar photovoltaic project is set for September 2021.

With this project, the order book of Tata Power Solar stands at Rs 8,541 crore, including external and internal orders.

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"It is projects like these which demonstrate the trust in Tata Power's project management and execution skills. This order is a motivation for us to continue focusing on delivering the best to our customers as per their expectations," said Managing Director and CEO Praveer Sinha.

Ashish Khanna, President of Tata Power (Renewables), said Tata Power Solar is proud to consistently win large and challenging grid-based solar EPC contracts from industry-leading public sector undertaking like NTPC.

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"This being a domestic content requirement project, we will be building the project with our own cells and modules," he said in a statement.

Tata Power is India's largest integrated power company and has an installed capacity of 10,763 megawatts together with its subsidiaries and jointly controlled entities.

It has a presence across the entire power value chain -- generation of renewable as well as conventional power including hydro and thermal energy, transmission and distribution, trading and coal and freight logistics.

With renewable energy assets in solar and wind accounting for 30 per cent of the company's portfolio, Tata Power is a leader in clean energy generation.

Tata Power delays shut down of Mundra Power plants, normal ops till Mar 20

Private power producer Tata Power on Wednesday said it will run normal operations at its Mundra Power plants upto March 20, 2020. The company had last week announced a March 11, 2020, deadline to shut down operations at Mundra owing to a lack of compensatory tariff.

"Further to the notices issued by 4000 MW Coastal Gujarat Power (CGPL) for closure of the Mundra Power plant progressively from March 11, 2020, to the five procurer states due to delay in adoption of the High Powered Committee recommendation and entering into supplemental power purchase agreement, a meeting was convened by Union Power Secretary on 9th March 2020," the company said on Wednesday.

Mundra supplies power to Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Punjab.

The statement added,"Given the positive discussions in this meeting and the intent expressed by all parties to arrive at an acceptable solution, CGPL awaits decision by March 20, 2020, and till such time normal operations of the Mundra plant will continue." The company maintained the notice issued to discoms still stands valid.

Tata Power said, "The notices still remain valid and CGPL will consider appropriate decision on the notice of closure based on the outcome of these meetings."

Tata Power plans to increase EV charging stations to 700 by 2021

Tata Power is planning to increase its network of electric vehicle charging stations to 700 by next year,a top company official said.

The company has already installed 100 fast charging stations in various cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad, which it plans to take to 300 by March 2020.

"We are mapping the locations where EVs are launched and we will be setting up charging stations in those cities. Our aim is to take this number to around 700 by next year," company's CEO and Managing Sirector Praveer Sinha said.

The government's decision to lower the GST rate on EVs to five per cent from 12 per cent is expected to make EVs affordable for consumers with additional income-tax deduction.

He said the company is not just focusing on public spaces but will also provide home EV charging stations.

"We will create infrastructure for home charging as well as public charging like at metro stations, shopping malls, theatres and highway, among others," Sinha said.

The company is already in talks with metro rail authorities and municipal corporations for setting up EV charging stations. Besides, it will set up charging stations at Tata Group owned outlets such as Chroma, WestSide, Titan watch showroom, and Indian Hotels, among others.

Tata Power has also signed MoUs for setting up commercial EV charging stations at HPCL, IOCL, and IGL retail outlets.

In Mumbai, the company has already set up 30 station, which it expects to increase to 200 by next year. Company's Head-EV and home automation Sandeep Bangia said from the standard 15 kW stations, the companies may also look at installing charging stations that will adhere to 30-50 kW standards as demand grows.

Tata Power to set up 50 charging stations for electric vehicles in NCR

Tata Power has joined hands with EV cab operator Prakriti E-Mobility to set up 50 charging stations for electric vehicles in a phased manner.

Last month, three Tata Group companies had unveiled a mega plan for the electric mobility space along with group company Tata Motors.

The two companies will jointly set up 30 slow chargers and five fast chargers over a period across the Delhi-NCR, said Prakriti, an app-based EV taxi service provider in the national Capital.

As part of the tie-up, Tata Power will be responsible for designing, procuring, installing and managing the charging stations near the Delhi airport, Gurgaon and north Delhi.

The companies have opened the first fast charger at Jasola area of southeast Delhi on Monday.

The chargers to be installed by Tata Power will primarily be used by Prakriti's EV car fleet, the statement added.

Nimish Trivedi of Prakriti said this partnership will help strengthen his company's plan to rolling out 5,000 EV cabs over the next two years and also boost the overall EV ecosystem.

Ramesh Subramanyam of Tata Power said partnerships like this are key to the journey to be a one-stop integrated charging service provider to all forms of transport and all categories of user.

Tata Power already has a network of over 100 charging points across public, captive, residential and corporate segments addressing different charging standards.

Tata Power profit before tax falls 23% in third quarter due to lower income

Private power producer Tata Power reported a 23 per cent dip in its profit before tax (PBT) for the December 2019-ended quarter owing to lower income. Losses at its Mundra power plant, the company said, were lower for the quarter.

For the October-December 2019 period, Tata Power reported consolidated PBT at Rs 349.08 crore, 23 per cent lower from Rs 456.27 crore reported in the same period a year ago.

The company’s consolidated profit after tax was 12 per cent higher at Rs 246 crore, from Rs 220 crore a year ago.

“This is mainly due to lower losses in Mundra and better operational performance across all businesses,” the company said in its statement on Wednesday.

The Mundra power plant, the company said, saw lower fuel underrecovery in the December quarter.

The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) was at Rs 1,970 crore, compared to Rs 1,820 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Ebitda, the company said, would have been higher by 25 per cent year-on-year in the absence of one-off deferred tax benefit of Rs 272 crore on power purchase agreement signed for Mumbai licence area in the corresponding quarter last year.

Segment-wise, the company said, its solar engineering, procurement and construction business won Rs 4,000 crore worth of projects since September 2019. The order pipeline, the company added, was at Rs 7,700 crore, of which Rs 4,900 crore of order is from outside the group.

Ebitda for renewables was pegged at Rs 515 crore, up by 18 per cent from Rs 436 crore a year ago. “Renewables business continues to grow, with Ebitda increasing by 18 per cent, despite lower solar plant load factors due to extended monsoon,” the company said in its statement.

Tata Power wins distribution licence in Odisha's 5 circles, eyes expansion

Tata Power said on Monday that it received a letter of intent (LoI) for a power distribution licence in Odisha’s five circles.

The company aims to grow its power distribution business fourfold in the next three years.

“The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) awarded the LoI to The Tata Power Company, informing the company’s selection as the successful bidder to own the licence for the distribution and retail supply of electricity in Odisha’s five circles,” said the company in its statement.

The five circles together fall under the ambit of the Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha (CESU).

The five circles will add 2.5 million consumers to Tata Power’s existing consumer base of 2.5 million through its other distribution areas – Mumbai, Delhi and Ajmer. “We are looking at 10 million consumers in the next three years,” said Praveer Sinha, chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of Tata Power.

“The proposed sale of CESU to Tata Power will be through the formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) entity,” Tata Power said in its statement. Tata Power will hold 51 per cent equity in the SPV while the government of Odisha will hold the remaining 49 per cent.

Sinha added that the company will evaluate other similar licences in Odisha as and when they come up for bidding. “Those are also expected to be on the public-private partnership (PPP) model and we are looking at a similar opportunity,” he said. Outside Odisha, the company is keen on distribution opportunities across states. “We are looking at a few more places like Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand as and when they come up with their bidding process,” Sinha said.

While Tata Power looks to grow its consumer base fourfold, Sinha expects revenue contribution from this segment to Tata Power’s financials to grow in tandem.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2019, transmission and distribution contributed Rs 3,207.63 crore to its total segment revenue of Rs 7,315.43 crore.

The five electrical circles constituting the CESU are Bhubaneswar (Electrical Circle - I and II), Cuttack, Paradip and Dhenkanal.

Tata Power has been offered the licence for 25 years, initially.

Sinha said the aggregate technical and commercial losses in these five circles are around 30 per cent. Tata Power aims to reduce them to 15 per cent in the first five years and to less than 10 per cent in the long term. said on Monday that it received a letter of intent (LoI) for a power distribution licence in Odisha’s five circles.

The company aims to grow its power distribution business fourfold in the next three years.

“The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) awarded the LoI to The Tata Power Company, informing the company’s selection as the successful bidder to own the licence for the distribution and retail supply of electricity in Odisha’s five circles,” said the company in its statement.

The five circles together fall under the ambit of the Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha (CESU).

The five circles will add 2.5 million consumers to Tata Power’s existing consumer base of 2.5 million through its other distribution areas – Mumbai, Delhi and Ajmer. “We are looking at 10 million consumers in the next three years,” said Praveer Sinha, chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of Tata Power.

“The proposed sale of CESU to Tata Power will be through the formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) entity,” Tata Power said in its statement. Tata Power will hold 51 per cent equity in the SPV while the government of Odisha will hold the remaining 49 per cent.

Sinha added that the company will evaluate other similar licences in Odisha as and when they come up for bidding. “Those are also expected to be on the public-private partnership (PPP) model and we are looking at a similar opportunity,” he said. Outside Odisha, the company is keen on distribution opportunities across states. “We are looking at a few more places like Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand as and when they come up with their bidding process,” Sinha said.

While Tata Power looks to grow its consumer base fourfold, Sinha expects revenue contribution from this segment to Tata Power’s financials to grow in tandem.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2019, transmission and distribution contributed Rs 3,207.63 crore to its total segment revenue of Rs 7,315.43 crore.

The five electrical circles constituting the CESU are Bhubaneswar (Electrical Circle - I and II), Cuttack, Paradip and Dhenkanal.

Tata Power has been offered the licence for 25 years, initially.

Sinha said the aggregate technical and commercial losses in these five circles are around 30 per cent. Tata Power aims to reduce them to 15 per cent in the first five years and to less than 10 per cent in the long term.

Tata Power seeks global investors through InvIT for renewable portfolio

India's Tata Power Company Ltd, the power generation arm of the salt-to-software Tata group, wants to sell a stake in its renewable energy portfolio to global investors, its chief executive Praveer Sinha told Reuters.

The company is examining the option of bringing in global investors through an infrastructure investment trust, commonly called an InvIT, Sinha said, adding the funds would help the company reduce debt.

"It will be a private InvIT in the sense that there will besome global players who are long term investors," Sinha said.

An InvIT is an investment scheme like a mutual fund where a sponsor can accept investments from institutional andindividual investors.

Tata Power currently has a debt if Rs 44,000 crore ($6.1 billion) and a debt to equity ratio — a financial metric which shows how much of a company's operations are funded by debt — of 2.2.

"We want to bring down the covenant to two," Sinha said of the ratio.

A final call on the InvIT plan will be taken in six months.

India's power consumption fell sharply in October and has contracted for the last three straight months amid slowing economic growth.

This has not only pushed several power companies to operate plants below capacity, but also curtailed their ability to service debt.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has tried to fix the economy with various fiscal measures, but economists say they are not enough to boost consumption and industrial activity.

Analysts expect economic growth to come in way below 5% for the September quarter.

"You have to empower people. If they have money then you can make a society a consumption society," Sinha said.

Though many of the government's initiatives are to enhance supply, sooner or later it will come up with plans to bolster consumption as well, Sinha said.

Tata Power is selling its stakes in overseas renewable and mining projects to raise up to a billion dollars over the next 18 months. This will also help reduce dent, Sinha said.

 

Tata Power to light up rural homes in tie-up with Rockefeller Foundation

Tata Power today announced a new business in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation under which it will set up micro-grids based on renewable power and manage electricity supply in rural areas. It has formed a new company, TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd, which will target 10,000 micro-grids across India.

In the first phase, some 200 villages have been identified in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and some parts of c, Praveer Sinha, chief executive officer, Tata Power told Business Standard.

TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd will be managed by Tata Power, which has 11,000 Mw of installed grid-scale generation capacity and over 2.6 million customers under management across Delhi, Ajmer and Mumbai distribution areas.

With this, it would be going whole hog into distributed energy generation and management business, after having adopted this model on a smaller scale through a joint venture with the Delhi government for slum communities.

A micro grid is a localised system of power generation and distribution as distinct from grid power, which is generated and transported over large distances.

Giving the reason for venturing into rural electricity market, Sinha said Tata Power was formed with the aim of supplying clean, abundant and affordable power. “The paradigm shifted to Mumbai where we supplied power. Now, this is the leadership (which) Tata Power will have to demonstrate and if 25 million people have to be impacted, it has to be Tata Power,” he added.

The Rockefeller Foundation’s division Smart Power India (SPI), which already works with local energy supply companies, would be partnering Tata Power. “Our experience with SPI shows that when people buy power from micro-grids, they value it and like the quality of power. When people purchase power, their income increases considerably,” said Rajiv J Shah, President, The Rockefeller Foundation.

Shah said his foundation intended to be an equity partner going forward. The Rockefeller Foundation was also in talks with international funding agencies for bringing in commercial financing.

On how difficult would it be to scale up the micro-grid business because of the competing grid supply, Shah said, “The entire strategy is to have the right partner and Tata Power is absolutely the right partner, which brings a level of scale and sophistication that facilitates bringing down the price considerably. We believe it will be on par with grid power and it is not just about the price, but also quality and reliability, which is not being met by grid power.

According to Sinha, the endeavour was to build the whole ecosystem so this is not just about supplying power but also supporting micro-enterprises, financing and insurance and marketing. “Between the Smart Power Initiative and Tata Power, we will be creating an end-to-end solution of creating economic activity as well as supplying power,” he said.

At present, nearly a million people do not have access to affordable power supply despite the government programme for rural electrification, said the two partners. According to Shah, this data is also an underestimation.

TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd will provide clean power to about 5 million households, directly impacting the lives of 25 million people over the next decade. The programme will run parallel to the Government of India’s ongoing campaign to provide electricity to rural areas.

Sinha, however, said, “It has to be business. This scale will only be achieved if it is commercially viable.” They would be looking for a minimum mass of 400 houses to offer micro-grid solutions in a village. “It should be a sustainable scale for the micro-enterprises that we will be supporting.” SPI will do the micro-enterprise part, while TP Renewable will set up the grid and manage distribution and collection of power tariff.

According to the two partners, rural businesses and households continued to rely on alternative sources to power daily needs—with over 40 per cent of rural enterprises in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh relying on non-grid sources of power such as diesel.