RENEWABLES: CHALLENGES, OUTCOMES AND THE FUTURE

The ‘Scripting a Renewable Future’ Summit held in New Delhi on February 10, 2023, saw stakeholders from the renewable energy ecosystem participate in lively discussions about the future of the sector.

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Presented by BT in collaboration with Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy, the event saw participation from government officials, independent power producers (IPPs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), financial institutions, investors, C-suite executives and other key industry players. The discussions explored how stakeholders in the industry can collaborate, reset and re-direct their efforts to make India self-sufficient in clean energy, and emerge as a global leader. Edited excerpts:

Q: On the critical role of finance in India's energy transition towards a green, renewable and sustainable future...

N. RAMESH, DEPUTY MD, INDIA EXIM BANK: For a financial institution, we need to first have clarity on how the price discovery has happened. demonstrated I think India has it in a wonderful manner and the whole world is also following that particular model. Further, on the offtake risk, there is an aggregation of demand and an assurance of payments coming in from government-led institutions, which is a great learning for the whole world. Then there are insurance products that are trying to cover different kinds of risks associated with this sector. I think whatever risk mitigation measures financial institution look for, they are all available. Just to explain the kind of complexity a project can have: one of our major customers is implementing a project in Australia, which was conceived in the UK, and is being funded by [South] Korean entities. It is coming up in Western Australia and being supported by an Indian financial institution as well, so this is the global situation we are looking at.

Q: How significant has this transition been in India if you were to compare it globally and how far do we have to walk?