JSW Renewable Energy Ltd. has commenced operations at the 225 MW solar plant at Vijayanagar, Karnataka, the company informed in a written statement. The project is part of the earlier announced 958 MW solar and wind projects signed with JSW Steel under the ‘group captive scheme’.
Despite several headwinds like Covid-19-related disruptions, elevated commodity prices, and global supply chain outages, the company claims that the solar project has started operations in less than 12 months.
“Commencement of operations at the 225 MW of Solar plant within the scheduled timelines is a key landmark for the Company and testament to its world-class project execution capabilities. In the coming months, we remain upbeat to commence operations of our under-construction pipeline of 2 GW wind projects, in phases. We will continue to contribute meaningfully in achieving India’s renewable capacity add and net-zero ambition driven targets,” said Prashant Jain, Joint Managing Director and CEO of JSW Energy.
Besides, JSW is constructing 2.25 GW of greenfield renewable energy capacity to reach 10 GW capacity by FY25, and 20 GW capacity by FY30, entirely driven by renewable, the company said. JSW added that around 2.25 GW of renewable energy projects are currently under-construction, wind projects of 1.26 GW tied with SECI, are expected to be commissioned in the next 12 months.
With these projects, JSW’s total generation capacity will increase to ~7 GW, with renewable energy share amounting to about 55 per cent.
JSW Energy has set an ambitious target for a 50 per cent reduction in its carbon footprint by 2030 and achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2050 by transitioning towards renewable energy. The company expects to reach 20 GW capacity by 2030, with the share of renewable energy increasing to 85 per cent.
“The company is expeditiously securing resources of more than 20 GW capacity in various resource rich states” adding that it is “evaluating opportunities for expansion into emerging energy businesses of hydro pumped storage, battery energy storage, green hydrogen and energy products & services,” the statement said.