ReNew Power India, is looking into opportunities to expand into green hydrogen in India, Egypt, and other countries, said its CEO, Sumant Sinha.
Sumant Sinha told Reuters in Davos that ReNew Power is currently studying green hydrogen potential, in particular in Egypt. He was attending World Economic Forum.
Sinha stated that although we have not made any investment decisions at the moment, we are still doing development work to see if we can reach that point.
The plant would be situated around 200 km south of Cairo, and the green hydrogen would then be shipped via the Suez canal.
He said that the power would be shipped from where it was produced to the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Then, we would convert it into ammonia if necessary, then put it on a ship to send it out via Suez Canal either to the European or Asian side, depending on the demand.
Within 18 months of signing the agreement, a final investment decision is required.
According to government data, India is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. It wants to increase its renewable energy production to 500 GW by 2030, from 120 GW currently. Of that, around 180 GW have already been auctioned for solar and wind power projects. Sinha stated that Renew Power has a market share of 12% in new bids.
ReNew Power is also interested in being a part India’s 5 million-tonnes green hydrogen production plan by 2030.
India is third in the world, with a demand growth rate of around 6% per year.
“India is blessed with very rich natural resources and can be shipped out of India in the same way as Egypt.”
ReNew Power was funded by Goldman Sachs and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADIA. It has raised over $6.5 billion in capital equity and debt.
Sinha stated that while funding was easy for his clean technology company, India being a large market where corporates have “relatively sophisticated”, it’s been difficult for other countries, especially Africa, which require access to global debt markets.
Sinha stated that a weaker global economy outlook could also lead to lower input costs and falling interest rate, which can translate into a more favorable climate for clean tech companies.
He said that one of the main reasons there is so much volatility, especially in the capital markets for clean tech stocks, is because interest rates have gone up.
