BPCL, ONGC, NTPC to ramp up renewable energy capabilities

India's commitment to considerably decrease carbon emissions and the developing global sentiment against hydrocarbons is directing public sector units active in the nation's energy sector to aggressively grow their renewable energy (RE) capabilities.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has allotted Rs 25,000 crore to boost its RE portfolio by 2040. The firm that presently has an RE capacity of 45 megawatts (MW) is eventually looking at ramping it to 10 gigawatts (GW).

The move by BPCL comes about a month after ONGC inked an MoU with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to roll out renewable as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) projects. The global energy holding firm is additionally targeting a minimum of 10 GW of renewable power by 2040, even as it continues to concentrate on its core exploration and production (E&P) strength.

In India, the private sector had already taken the charge, but it is time that the public sector additionally lends a hand given the enormous size of unmitigated emissions with them. It is natural for the petroleum sector to get into verticals such as green hydrogen and wind and solar. It is additionally looking at blending petroleum fuels with ethanol, said Jigar Shah, CEO at merchant bank Maybank Kim Eng Securities India.

Signatories to the 2015 Paris Agreement have committed to decreasing their emission intensity to guarantee that global temperatures don't increase over 1.5 degree Celsius by 2050. Since then, significant initiatives have been underway in fossil fuel-based enterprises such as oil and gas, coal and transportation.

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