ReNew Energy Global (ReNew) has hit the ground running for its mega Rs 22,000-crore ($2.5-billion) hybrid renewable energy project in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district.
Nara Lokesh, the state’s minister for information technology, electronics & communications, and human resources development, laid the foundation stone for the first phase of the project on Friday.
“The state of Andhra Pradesh presents an attractive mix of investor-friendly policies, excellent transmission connectivity, and abundant availability of solar and wind resources. We are highly optimistic about developing large-scale renewable energy capacity in the state to contribute to the Prime Minister’s commitment of achieving the target of 500 GW non-fossil fuel electricity generation capacity by the year 2030,” Sumant Sinha, founder, chairman and CEO of ReNew, said.
The company will set up 587 MWp solar and 250 MW wind energy capacity in this phase, along with a 415 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), for which power purchase agreements (PPAs) have already been signed.
The whole project entails a generation capacity of around 2.8 gigawatt (GW), including 1.8 GW solar and 1 GW wind, and a battery energy storage system (BESS) of 2 Gwh. This will be one of the largest renewables complexes at a single location in the country.
With a large BESS to be installed, the project will be able to supply power for up to four peak hours every day (during non-RE generating hours), which will help the off-takers with peak demand management and enable renewable energy to be more firm and dispatchable, the company said.
The project will be made up of 100% domestic solar panels supplied from ReNew’s solar manufacturing units in Jaipur, Rajasthan and Dholera, Gujarat. Additionally, it will use state-of-the-art solar tracking systems to maximise the generation, and waterless robotic cleaning for solar panels that will enable considerable savings of water.
The company recently secured an investment of Rs 8,70 crore from British International Investment, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor to accelerate the growth of its solar manufacturing business in India. Post-expansion, ReNew’s total manufacturing capacity will be approximately 6.4 GW of solar modules and 6.4 GW of solar cells.
The company currently has a portfolio of 717 MW of operational wind capacity and 60 MW of solar capacity spread over 10 sites in Andhra Pradesh. With this project, ReNew will generate ~1,500 direct and indirect jobs as it works in tandem with the government towards the state’s target of generating 78.5 GW of solar, 35 GW of wind power capacity, and 25 GWh of battery energy storage.
ReNew is a leading decarbonisation solutions company listed on Nasdaq with a clean energy portfolio of 17.4 GW on a gross basis as of February 14, 2025.
The company, which has shared its intentions about remaining focused on the Indian market, is eyeing a potential market opportunity in the US for solar module exports amid the ongoing trade uncertainties and the unfolding of the latest US tariff policy, Sinha recently told FE.