19 February 2010 - Indian engineering firm Larsen & Toubro is preparing a road map for building wind power projects in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, and investing around Rs8000 crore ($1.75bn) for setting up 700-800 MW of hydro power projects in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, according to the Economic Times.
“We have evaluated prospects of clean energy for corporate sustainability by scaling up captive consumption of renewable energy and exploring more opportunity in hydro power projects,” R Shankar Raman, senior vice-president (finance) said.
Such initiatives will provide tariff relief and also add carbon credit to L&T’s balance sheet. According to the government norms, L&T will get tariff relief on the equal amount of the energy being generated through renewable resources for captive use. For example, if L&T sets up 10 MW through wind or any other renewable energy plant, it will get tariff relief on an additional 10 MW being sourced from the state grid.
In addition, L&T could also receive carbon credits under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Once approved, these units are termed as Certified Emission Reductions (CERs).
L&T is also looking to invest in about 5000 MW thermal power capacity based on super-critical coal technology, which has higher fuel-efficiency with low emissions. The engineering conglomerate is also in the process of bidding several hydro power projects in the hill states of the country and in neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bhutan.
The company has opted for wind energy for compensating its captive usage in the country. For its facilities in southern region of the country, L&T has placed its first wind energy order of over Rs52 crore to the country’s largest wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon Energy, earlier this week.
Suzlon will set up a 8.7-MW wind energy project in Tamil Nadu. The project is scheduled to be completed and commissioned before the end of the current fiscal, and the power generated will be wheeled for the group’s facilities in the region.
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