New Delhi, Aug 17
Though not in a “tearing hurry”, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is looking at acquisitions to reach its target of 10 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2040.
“Renewables seem to be making a lot of business sense today. We are looking at the possibility of inorganic investments,” said ONGC Chairman Subhash Kumar in an analyst call. He, however, said the company was not in a “tearing hurry” to reach its target quickly as it was not immediately necessary from a marketing perspective, since India imported about 85 per cent of its crude oil requirements.“No significant allocation (for renewables) is there in this Rs 32,000 crore (capex plan),” he said.ONGC had about 178 MW of installed renewable energy capacity at the end of FY20.Both upstream and downstream oil and gas players in India are making investments in renewable energy, mindful of a potential shift in energy consumption away from fossil fuels. India’s largest oil marketing company, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), has already installed renewable energy capacity of 233 MW, of which 167.6 MW is wind power capacity and 63.4 MW is solar power capacity. The company has launched pilot projects for fuel stations, offering battery swapping for electric vehicles.The state-owned refiner is also planning on building a green hydrogen plant in Mathura, the country’s first, for use in its refineries. At present, brown and grey hydrogen, which are produced through coal gasification or by using natural gas, are employed in refineries in the production process of petroleum products.
