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REV: JAN UARY 23, 2024

GUNNAR TRUMBULL

MALINI SEN

ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India


As we enter a new phase of growth, the years ahead will define ReNew Power’s role in transforming how
energy is produced, transmitted, and distributed in India.

— Sumant Sinha, Founder-CEO, ReNew Power

It was mid-November 2021, and the 26th session of the Conference of Parties of United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or COP26a had just concluded in Glasgow.1
Sumant Sinha, founder-CEO of one of India’s largest clean energy companies, ReNew Power (ReNew),
which developed, built, and operated utility-scale wind and solar energy projects, was waiting at UK’s
Heathrow airport to take the flight back home to Delhi. The long wait before boarding gave him time
to mull over the events of the last few days at the conference. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi
had pledged that the country would achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 and raise renewable energy
capacity from 104 gigawatts (GW) at present to 500 GW by 2030, representing half of the expected
electricity production.2 India’s commitment made Sumant reflect on his company’s 10-year journey,
and its current transition to a new phase of growth. As the company, the country, and the world stood
poised at the cusp of an energy revolution, what role would ReNew play?

India’s growing economy and population had created an enormous energy demand. (See Exhibit 1
for India Macro Data.) Unable to meet the demand on its own, the Indian government encouraged the
private sector to invest by offering generation-based incentivesb. Sumant, who had worked as the chief
operating officer (COO) at a wind turbine manufacturer, decided to enter the renewable energy sector
as an independent power producer (IPP)c and in 2011 launched ReNew Power.

The company initially focused on wind and, in 2014, expanded into solar photovoltaic (PV) energy
generation. By 2021, it had a combined wind, solar and hydropower generating capacity of more than
10 GW and had emerged as India’s leading renewable energy IPP. Accounting for roughly 10% of the

a In October-November 2021, representatives of 200 countries met in Glasgow for climate talks to strengthen action to tackle
global warming under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
b Generation-based incentive (GBI) was an incentive wherein the IPPs were given an incentive for every unit of electricity fed
into the grid. For example, it started with INR 0.5 / unit i.e. for every unit of wind electricity fed into the grid, 50 paise (9.82
cents) was given to the generator.
c An IPP operated facilities to generate electricity for sale to a utility or end-user.

Professor Gunnar Trumbull and Senior Researcher Malini Sen (India Research Center) prepared this case. It was reviewed and approved before
publication by a company designate. Funding for the development of this case was provided by Harvard Business School and not by the company.
HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or
illustrations of effective or ineffective management.

Copyright © 2022, 2024 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-
7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu. This publication may not be digitized,
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722-028 ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India

country’s renewable energy capacity, it helped to avoid over 10 million tons of annual carbon
emissions.3 (See Exhibit 2 for ReNew Power’s National Utility Portfolio.)

Though satisfied with the company’s growth so far, Sumant could not be complacent. Traditional
power generators and large oil and gas companies, which had hitherto focused on fossil fuel-based
sources, had finally taken notice of the renewables market.4 “How do we stay ahead of the competition?
And will India continue to be a profitable market?” wondered Sumant.

As ReNew entered its second decade of growth, Sumant knew that it needed to explore new
business models and build new organizational capabilities. Going forward, the company had four
options: backward integration into manufacturing, forward integration to get closer to customers,
exploring new areas such as green hydrogen while expanding into capital-light areas such as digital
and mobility, and international expansion. Which of these options would give the company the best
long-term strategic positioning? With climate change fueling rapid changes in the renewable energy
field, ReNew needed to decide on the way forward and build capabilities accordingly.

As Sumant walked towards the boarding gate, he decided to collect his thoughts during the flight
and discuss with his team on reaching Delhi.

India’s Climate Policy


In 2020, India was the world’s fifth-largest economy with a GDP of $2.6 trillion and the world’s
third-biggest emitter of carbon dioxide after China and the US. Over 80% of India’s energy needs were
met by coal, oil, and solid biomass.5 Of these three fuels, coal was the largest single fuel source and
continued to underpin the expansion of electricity generation. India’s large population meant its
emissions per capita were much lower than other major world economies. (See Exhibit 3 for Per Capita
Electricity Consumption (kWh) across Selected Countries.) An estimated 660 million Indians, for
example, had yet to switch to modern, clean fuels for cooking.6

In the past, Indian leaders emphasized that developing nations were bearing an unfair share of the
burden of combating climate change. Since developing nations had to balance huge energy needs with
fighting poverty, compelling them to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels — which contributed to
one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, was unjust, as these were the cheapest sources of energy.
The merit of this argument was formally recognized by the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement
committing countries to caps on the emission of greenhouse gases.7 This international agreement,
ratified by 192 countries, including India, in December 1997, placed a heavier burden on developed
nations. It recognized that they were primarily responsible for the high levels of greenhouse gas
emissions in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, India continued to face the local effects of climate change. The most significant impact
was changing weather patterns, threatening India’s predominantly agrarian economy. Increased
temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns threatened crop yields, especially in rain-fed areas with
limited access to irrigation.8 Recognizing its increased vulnerability to the impact of climate change,
India gradually integrated climate considerations into its policies, including reducing emissions
through clean energy.

In 2008, in the run-up to the 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP15), India adopted the
National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The action plan acknowledged that climate change
and energy security were two sides of the same coin and that India needed to make a shift from its

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ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India 722-028

reliance on fossil fuels to economic activity based on cleaner sources of energy, including wind and
solar.

To achieve this, the government introduced incentive schemes such as accelerated depreciation
(AD)d for wind power projects and generation-based incentive schemes, widely considered the
primary drivers of growth in the wind industry.

In November 2016, India reinforced its commitment to climate change by signing the Paris
Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted by 196 countries at
COP21, which replaced the Kyoto Protocol. The Paris Agreement sought to limit global warming to
below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.9 To realize this long-term temperature goal, countries
aimed to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to create a climate-
neutral world by mid-century. To achieve this, national governments submitted Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs) that described the actions they would take to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.10

India made several commitments under its NDC. It set a goal to reduce the greenhouse gas emission
intensity of GDP by 33%-35% by 2030 by ensuring that 40% of its power capacity was based on non-
fossil fuel sources and to create an additional ‘carbon sink’ of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent
through additional forest and tree cover.11

By 2021, the world appeared unlikely to meet the temperature goal under the Paris Agreement. The
rapidly worsening impact of climate change was evident — from wildfires raging amid an
unprecedented heat wave in Canada earlier in the year to severe cyclones and floods causing
destruction in many countries, including India. There was a growing chorus to move towards a 1.5°C
target, and the Glasgow meeting was meant to do just that. COP26 attracted the highest participation
ever, with more than 30,000 people attending. Now, it remains to be seen whether countries would
significantly translate their commitments to action to alter the global emission pathway.12

India’s Power Sector


A growing population and industrialization have made enormous demands on the energy sector in
India. Though it was the world’s third-largest country in terms of energy consumption, behind China
and the US, its per capita energy consumption was only one-third of the global average. Near-universal
household access to electricity was achieved in 2019, meaning that over 900 million citizens had gained
an electrical connection in less than two decades. However, there were vast differences in household
energy use and in the quality of service across states and between rural and urban areas. Affordability
and reliability of the energy supply were critical concerns for India’s consumers.13

Policy-makers sought to address consumer concerns through regulations. The regulations were
often onerous, as both central and state governments devised their own rules. The Ministry of Power
(MoP) and the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) formulated central government policies,
while state power or energy departments developed individual state policies.

National and state policies applied to all firms, both private and state-owned. Private firms were
most active in the generation and transmission of electricity. State-owned companies dominated
electricity distribution, along with a few private companies. These distribution companies (discoms)

d Accelerated depreciation benefits were offered at a depreciation rate of 100%. This incentive was a mechanism to off-set tax
liabilities, providing short-term cash advantages to wind turbine owners.

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722-028 ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India

purchased almost 90% of their power through long-term (typically 25-year) power purchase
agreements (PPAs).14 Ailing state-owned power discoms, which had accumulated massive overdue
payments to generators, continued to hamper the efficient functioning of the overall power sector.15

Renewable Energy
To meet its climate change commitments, India started tweaking its policies to encourage the
growth of renewable generation. In 2010, it introduced feed-in tariffs (FiT)e for wind generation. Under
the FiT regime, state-level electricity regulatory bodies fixed operational tariffs. Tariffs were applicable
for three to five years, and any project commissioned during that period was eligible for a PPA at that
tariff for the entire 25-year duration. The national regulator issued guidelines, but it was not mandatory
for state regulatory commissions to abide by them, and each state had a different FiT regime. Feed-in
tariffs fell over time with declining generation costs and were eliminated in 2017. For solar, the
government had, by contrast, adopted a market-based auctioning of capacity right from the beginning
in 2011.

In the new market auction regime, national regulatory agencies started playing a more prominent
role in competitive bidding for both solar and wind, while state-specific bids were reduced. Once a
central agency began issuing a request for proposals (RFPs)f for multiple states, installation volumes
increased. A typical bid size ranged between 1,000-2,000 MW, much higher than earlier state-sponsored
bids of 300-500 MW. More than the volume, the central bidding process established uniform rules.
Payment security also improved, as the central implementing agency guaranteed timely payment and
abided by the contract.

As a result, the share of renewable energy in India’s generation capacity increased significantly —
from around 10% in 2010 to 24% in 2021. (See Exhibit 4 for Power Capacity in India by Type of Fuel.)

ReNew Power’s Early Days: 2011-2015


“Serendipitous” events had led Sumant to quit his lucrative job in finance and launch an energy
company. He explained: “Until 2007, I did not know much about renewables or climate change in
general. I got a call from Suzlon, a wind turbine manufacturer, who wanted to hire a person to run the
company, and that was when I started to focus on climate change and renewable energy.” (See Exhibit
5 for Sumant Sinha’s Abridged CV.)

Although renewable energy was more expensive in India than coal-based power, Sumant felt that
climate change would become a significant issue in the future. Climate change had already entered the
public discourse, and the government was providing production-based incentives. “Besides, it was
good for the environment,” he added. The need for an energy mix that reduced dependence on fossil
fuels would continue to grow. As a first step, he moved from the Aditya Birla Group, one of India’s
largest conglomerates, where he headed finance, to become the COO of Suzlon.

This bold move was not enough, and Sumant still had a strong desire to strike out on his own. “I
was not sure what to do. I did not have a tech background, nor did I have capital.” Vaishali Nigam
Sinha (HBS OPM 53 - 2019), a founding team member, chair of ReNew Foundation, and Sumant’s
spouse, recollected how his desire to be an entrepreneur was met with skepticism by the family, who

e Feed-in-tariffs were policy mechanisms designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy systems and technologies.

f RFP was a formal bid document to ask vendors to provide proposals for desired projects, frequently issued as a means to receive
competitive bids on a PPA.

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ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India 722-028

had built careers in the government. “People who worked in the government often did not appreciate
the opportunities and the future the private sector had to offer,” she said. Sumant, however, was
determined to follow his entrepreneurial dream. He decided to quit Suzlon to launch ReNew Power in
2011. However, wind farms were expensive, so he needed access to capital.

Given his finance background, Sumant was confident that he could quickly raise the necessary
funds. After a few months spent hiring a team and building a small pipeline of 150 MW of projects (not
yet commissioned), he went scouting for financial support. It was difficult to find investors to back the
newly launched company, which neither had operating assets nor a prior track record of executing
complex energy projects independently.

Energy was a capital-intensive business, and Sumant needed to raise $50 million to fund the first
round of projects. The amount was too large for venture capital (VC) firms, and they directed Sumant
to private equity (PE) firms. He recalled those early days: “PE firms said, ‘Look, $50 - $60 million is fine
for us, but you are too early in the game. You do not have a single dollar of revenue, so we cannot
invest.’ Until then, I had not realized I would encounter such a problem.”

After knocking on many doors, he approached Goldman Sachs. Luckily for him, the firm was
looking for investment opportunities in renewable energy. The firm asked Sumant how much capital
he needed to rollout his five-year business plan. ”I hesitatingly extrapolated for five years and put
together a plan for 860 MW and said I needed $160 million to fund the rollout. When the investment
committee met in New York, I waited nervously in my house in Mumbai.” Within three months,
Goldman Sachs had committed $200 million to the company; thus began ReNew Power’s journey. The
founding team decided to choose capital over control, and Goldman took a majority stake in the
company alongside the investment. With the funds, the team started scouting for land and creating a
more extensive pipeline of projects.

Execution was far from easy. ”I had been away from India for about 10 or 11 years of my initial
career and then had returned in a senior corporate position. So, I did not have much experience of
getting work done on the ground,” admitted Sumant. The company focused on building in-house
expertise, called the Wind Resource Assessment (WRA) team, to identify suitable sites for wind farms.

In renewable energy, location is critical. Wind does not blow uniformly, and the sun does not shine
similarly across the subcontinent, so some sites were more competitive than others. The WRA team
built strong capabilities in assessing wind performance by analyzing internal and third-party data and
installing supplemental weather masts to gauge wind speed at different locations. After acquiring land,
ReNew had to build roads and transmission lines and transport heavy equipment.

As it expanded across India, it learned how to tackle the dynamics of each state. The first project
was a 25.2 MW wind project in Gujarat, commissioned in March 2012, six months after the Goldman
investment. It was the team’s first brush with the regulatory system, which taught them several lessons.
They realized that land acquisition and usage process was not entirely documented in India and
required several government approvals. They also learned how to deal with utility companies. In this
case, the utility company with whom they had a PPA made attempts to revise the terms of the contract
once the project was completed; however, in the end, both parties successfully managed to agree on
the original contract.

Simultaneously, ReNew grew its team and moved its headquarters from Mumbai to Gurugram in
Delhi NCR.g Initially, it focused on recruiting people with technical and execution expertise who could

g NCR: National Capital Region.

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722-028 ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India

help with work at the ground level. Over time, the hiring process became more mature as the
organization grew. (See Exhibit 6 for Organizational Structure.)

The founding team’s ability to quickly solve problems in a relatively unexplored sector stood it in
good stead. Kailash Vaswani, ReNew’s president of corporate finance, who was part of the founding
team, shared: “I had not negotiated a framework agreement for turbine supply with large
manufacturers in India.” Like everyone else on the team, he had to learn on the job. The team built a
deep understanding of the business by solving ground problems.

Soon, the company’s projects started generating profits. A standard wind project, for example 1
MW, with an installation cost of about a million dollars (financed with 75% debt and 25% equity), had
an EBITDAh of around $130,000 - $140,000. (See Exhibit 7 for Consolidated Statement of Profit/Loss
and Cash Flow.)

Once the projects became profitable, other investors got interested in the company. “The team had
demonstrated that they could decide on the best allocation of capital and projects,” said Sridhar
Narayan, founding partner of GEF Capital Partners, who invested in the company in 2014 through
funds managed by the Global Environment Fund. (See Exhibit 8 for Equity Raised.)

Scorching Growth: 2015-2018


Overtaking Competition
Between 2015 and 2018, ReNew rapidly built its capacity. (See Exhibit 9 for ReNew’s Installed
Capacity.) By 2018, with a total generation capacity of 4,000 MW, it was larger than all its competitors,
some of whom, unlike ReNew, were large Indian conglomerates. (See Exhibit 10 for Key Competitors.)

Community Impact
As the company expanded, it connected with local communities in the remote locations where it
operated. It aligned its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to climate change. “Right from
the beginning, in the minds of the ReNew founders, contributing to society was just as important as
building the core business,” shared Vaishali, who led the company’s sustainability journey. “We mostly
work with women, children, and youth to sensitize them about the impacts of climate change.” Like
ReNew itself, the effort started small: one state, two sites, and 21 villages in 2014-2015. After 2015, it
institutionalized the programs, aligning them with the UN’s sustainability goals. By 2021, ReNew’s
CSR team was active in nine states, 70 sites, and 200+ villages, impacting around 400,000 lives.

One of their flagship programs was ‘Lighting Lives,’ which focused on installing solar panels on
the rooftops of schools that had less than two to three hours of electricity. “We used it as a tool to help
children understand the science behind rooftop solar panels,” explained Vaishali. (See Exhibit 11 for
CSR Initiatives and Exhibit 12 for ESG Goals.)

h EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, was a measure of a company’s overall financial
performance.

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ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India 722-028

Bumps on the Road: 2018-2020


Unfortunately, in late 2018 ReNew ran into rough weather. It tried to go public, but its timing
coincided with an economic slowdown, and the company could not get the desired valuation.

Meanwhile, the move to market-based auctioning of PPAs created uncertainty. There was fierce
competition among renewable energy companies, with tariffs dropping to new lows and riskier
returns. ”We had to get accustomed to the new bidding system,” said Sumant. However, ReNew
continued to remain prudent in its bidding approach. It leveraged its operational history and extensive
knowledge to determine the likely performance of wind and solar assets and, thereby, make better
projections about project profitability.

The company also had to deal with outstanding court cases around the feed-in tariff PPA from
earlier contracts in a southern state. The litigation delayed payments of around $150-$200 million,
handicapping ReNew’s capability to invest more in the business or reduce its debt. The impasse
impacted ReNew’s credit rating, which couldn’t get upgraded despite solid operating performance.
“With so much equity raised, we would have upgraded our credit ratings. But because the money was
held up, the ratings were also impacted,” said Kailash.

The Tide Turns: 2020


In March 2020, amid pandemic-related uncertainty, ReNew’s business boomed. The company won
new bids that combined both wind and solar resources.

ReNew also attracted interest from multiple special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). In
February 2021, ReNew announced it was going public at an enterprise value of $8 billion through a
merger with the Nasdaq-listed RMG Acquisition Corporation II, a publicly traded SPAC. The merger
closed in August, and ReNew Power started trading at a stock price of $10, becoming the first Indian
renewable energy company to be listed on Nasdaq. “The listing was a market validation of everything
that we had done so far,” said Kailash with pride. The primary gross proceeds from the listing were
used to implement ongoing projects and for expansion.

ReNew hoped the US listing would afford large global investors an opportunity to invest in India’s
renewables space. Sumant elaborated, “Our task is to educate global investors about the India
opportunity. We can share their feedback with the Indian government. That will help us facilitate a
two-way dialogue with the government and global investors.”16

Recharging for the Future


ReNew had grown into one of the most prominent renewable energy firms in India, but the playing
field was rapidly changing. Until now, renewable energy firms have been focused on generating
energy by setting up wind or solar farms. Although generation would continue to be the core of the
sector, firms could not ignore the changes taking place in the broader energy environment.

“Just as we thought that we had taken the lead in the sector and were patting ourselves on the back,
the nature of competition underwent a paradigm shift,” said Sumant. The demand for renewable
energy was increasing dramatically as it transitioned from a niche sector to become a mainstream part
of the power sector in India, thus attracting many more players. Large thermal power firms, both state-
owned and private, had finally realized that renewable energy was here to stay. Even oil and gas

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722-028 ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India

companies were confronting the reality that their core businesses would soon be disrupted. These were
big players with ready access to capital, and they were all keen to enter the renewables market.

In response, ReNew considered a four-pronged strategy: backward integration into manufacturing,


forward integration to get closer to customers, exploring new areas such as green hydrogen while
expanding into capital-light areas such as digital and mobility, and international expansion.

Manufacturing
Manufacturing was emerging as an attractive area. The Indian government was offering a
production-linked incentive scheme for solar photovoltaic modules coupled with high custom duties
on imports of solar panels from China. The move opened the door to domestic manufacturing.

In line with the government’s campaign to create a self-reliant India, ReNew developed plans to
produce solar panels in a new factory in the western state of Gujarat that would manufacture 2 GW of
solar panels per year from FY 2022-23. The factory would help reduce ReNew’s dependence on imports
from China and would generate 2,500 jobs in the state.17

Round-the-clock Solutions (RTC)


Another opportunity was in solutions to the problem of intermittent renewable energy supply, a
challenge that was expected to intensify as the share of renewable assets in India’s generation mix
increased. This issue could be addressed by combining different renewable energy sources, such as
wind and solar, with hydropower and energy storage capability. “We recognized that these hybrid
solutions would be the future. Adding capabilities in managing these diverse assets was what we
should focus on,” said Mayank Bansal, ReNew’s chief commercial officer (CCO).

In 2020, the company made headway toward its ambitions in this area by winning two marquee
projects. One was a round-the-clock renewable energy PPA through an auction conducted by the Solar
Energy Corporation of India (SECI) with a guaranteed power supply at 80% average annual plant load
factor (PLF)i. It was the first RTC auction held in India.18 Another was a combined solar, wind, and
energy storage project with guaranteed power in peak times of the day.

In 2021, ReNew augmented its capabilities in other areas, such as hydro and storage, to strengthen
its portfolio of energy solutions. It acquired a hydro project from engineering major Larsen & Toubro.
Separately, it also collaborated with the company to build green hydrogenj solutions for the industry.
It also entered a joint venture with Fluence, one of the largest global players in the storage business.

Digital and Mobility


To maximize yield from its assets, ReNew launched ReNew Digital (ReD). ReD applied analytics
and machine learning models to improve power generation from solar and wind operating assets.

As part of its digital journey, ReNew acquired Climate Connect, an AI and machine learning start-
up specializing in the power sector. “The first wave of growth in the renewable energy industry came

i PLF was the ratio between the actual energy generated by the plant to the maximum possible energy that can be generated with
the plant working at its rated power and for a duration of an entire year.
j For green hydrogen, large amounts of water was needed, besides electrolyzer and plentiful supply of electricity. If the electricity
came from renewable sources such as wind, solar or hydro, then the hydrogen was effectively green; the only carbon emissions
were from those embodied in the generation infrastructure.

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ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India 722-028

through the addition of physical assets on the ground. The next wave will be through the development
of digital products,” said Balram Mehta, COO of ReNew and one of the founding team members.

ReNew’s investments in digital analytics and machine learning increased its yield and decreased
the downtime of its solar and wind generation assets without incurring any additional capital
expenditure.19 It also helped improve employee productivity.

Recognizing ReNew’s digital transformation, the World Economic Forum (WEF) included the firm
as a member of its Global Lighthouse Networkk. The network included firms using new technologies
to achieve environmentally sustainable, community-supportive, profitable growth. ReNew was one of
only two Indian firms to receive this honor.

International Expansion
ReNew was also considering expanding to overseas markets. In India, increasing competition and
falling tariffs would continue to concern the company. India was also a heavily regulated market, and
land acquisition challenges were often out of ReNew’s control.

Were there better opportunities outside India, and should ReNew expand to overseas markets? It
was a question frequently posed by investors, especially after the public listing. But ReNew was
primarily positioned as an Indian story, and it was unclear how the market would react to its
international expansion. More importantly, with India’s net-zero pledge in COP26 in Glasgow, the
country would have to significantly reduce its dependence on coal-generated power. This meant that
the domestic renewables market would continue to boom. With ReNew poised to play an important
role in the country’s mitigation efforts, would an international expansion be a distraction?

The Future
ReNew had diversified and adapted to stay ahead of the competition while maintaining growth,
but was it spreading itself too thin? As Sumant admitted, “I am tempted to do a bit of everything. But
it may not be the best strategy for the future.” Choices would have to be made.

k The WEF Global Lighthouse Network was a group of 69 factories which served as a platform to develop, replicate, and scale
innovations, creating opportunities for cross-company learning and collaboration, while setting new benchmarks for the global
manufacturing community.

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722-028 ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India

Exhibit 1 India: Macro Data

Particulars
Rural population, in million 905
Urban population, in million 506
GDP, $ trillion (2020) 2.62
Households by income segment, in millions (2018)
Low income (less than $4,000 a year) 127
Lower-mid income ($4,000-$8,500 a year) 97
Upper-mid income ($8,500-40,000 a year) 61
High income (over $40,000 a year) 8

Source: Compiled from ‘Population by urban and rural India 2017-2022,’ Statistics and facts, Statista, accessed via Baker,
February 2022; World Bank data, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?end=2020&locations
=IN&start=2002; ‘Future of Consumption in Fast-Growth Consumer Markets: INDIA: Report,’ World Economic
Forum, p. 10, accessed February 2022.

Exhibit 2 ReNew’s National Utility Portfolio

State Capacity Type of renewable energy


Rajasthan 3,058 MW Solar and wind
Gujarat 1,399 MW Solar and wind
Maharashtra 799 MW Solar and wind
Karnataka 2,485 MW Solar and wind
Uttarakhand 99 MW Hydro
Uttar Pradesh 100 MW Solar
Madhya Pradesh 578 MW Solar and wind
Andhra Pradesh 777 MW Solar and wind
Tamil Nadu 100 MW Solar
Telangana 820 MW Solar

Source: Compiled from company documents.

Note: As on 15 November 2021, data includes only operational and committed capacity, does not include distributed solar
capacity.
* Wind 5.2 GW, Solar 5.0 GW, Hydro 0.1 GW

10

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ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India 722-028

Exhibit 3 Per Capita Electricity Consumption (kWh) across Selected Countries

14,000
13,017

12,000

10,000

8,000 7,579

5,941
6,000 5,268

Global Average
4,000 3,300

2,000
1,208

0
United States Japan Germany China India

Source: Company documents.

Exhibit 4 Power Capacity in India by Type of Fuel

Installed Capacity in Installed Capacity Projected


Installed Capacity in December- 2020 in December- Installed Capacity
Type of fuel March- 2010 (GW) (GW) 2021 (GW) in 2030 (GW)
Thermal 103 232 235 292
Hydro 37 46 47 71
Renewable
Solar 37 49 280
Wind 39 40 140
Biomass 10 11 10
Others 16 5 5 5
Total renewable 16 91 104 435
Nuclear 5 7 7 19
159 375 393 817

Source: Excerpted from Central Electricity Authority (CEA): https://cea.nic.in/installed-capacity-report; Projected Installed
Capacity: CEA: Report on optimal generation capacity mix for 2029-2030, p. 16; accessed January 2022.

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722-028 ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India

Exhibit 5 Sumant Sinha Abridged CV

• 2011: Founded ReNew Power


• 2008-2010: Chief operating officer (COO), Suzlon Energy Ltd
• 2002-2007: Chief financial officer (CFO) at Aditya Birla Group and Founder-CEO of Aditya Birla Retail
• 1992-2002: Held various roles in investment banking at globally reputed organizations such as Citicorp
Securities and ING Barings Services Limited in the US and the UK
• Member of the advisory board of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs
• Member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and Indian Institute of
Management (IIM) Calcutta. Awarded Distinguished Alumnus Award from both institutions
• Chairs the Electricity Governor’s Group and Member of Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders at the World
Economic Forum (WEF). Member of the Board of Trustees for the Climate Group and chairs the India
Advisory Board. Also serves on the Board of Directors of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF)
• Authored a book, Fossil Free: Reimagining Clean Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World
• Recognized as an SDG Pioneer by the United Nations Global Compact, awarded S&P Global Platts
‘Trailblazer of the Year 2021’ and EY ‘Entrepreneur of the Year 2017,’ among others
• Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from IIT Delhi, a post-graduate diploma in business management
from IIM Calcutta, and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, US. Also, a CFA
charter holder.

Source: Compiled from company documents.

Exhibit 6 Organizational Structure

Source: Company documents.

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ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India 722-028

Exhibit 7 ReNew Power: Consolidated Statement of Profit/(Loss) and Cash Flow, US$ million

Consolidated statement of profit/ loss FY19 FY20 FY21


Income
Revenue from contracts with customers 581 652 649
Other operating income 2 1 1
Finance income 20 29 45
Other income 42 36 39
Total income 645 718 734
Expenses
Raw materials and consumables used 1 7 6
Employee benefits expense 14 13 17
Depreciation and amortization 128 152 162
Other expenses 65 76 102
Finance costs 371 478 516
Total expenses 579 726 803
Profit/(loss) before share of profit of jointly controlled entities and tax 67 (8) (68)
Share in loss of jointly controlled entities (1) (1) (1)
Profit/(loss) before tax 66 (8) (69)
Income tax expense
Current tax 16 7 11
Deferred tax 9 23 28
Adjustment of current tax relating to earlier years (0) (1) 0
Profit/(loss) for the year 42 (37) (108)
Consolidated statement of cash flows FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
Net cash generated from operating activities 404 473 432
Net cash used in investing activities (719) (724) (235)
Net cash generated from/(used in) financing activities 264 291 (95)
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents (51) 40 102
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 187 136 176
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 136 176 279
Source: Company documents.
Note: Converted @ 1USD = 74.23 INR
PAT for FY2021 - The wind performance was significantly lower this year due to lower-than-average wind speeds.

Exhibit 8 Equity Raised in $ million


350
300
300
263
247
250

196
200

150
150
110
100
70
60
50

0
FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY20

Source: Compiled from company data.

Note: Investors include The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GS Wyvern Holdings, Abu Dhabi Investment
Authority, JERA, among others.

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722-028 ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India

Exhibit 9 ReNew Installed Capacity (in GW)

Source: Q2 2022 company presentation.

Exhibit 10 Key Competitors

FY2021
Net
Renewable FY2021 Profit/
Company Founding Operational
Energy Revenue (Loss) after Key Investors
Name Year Capacity
Type ($ million) Tax
(MW)
($ million)
Tata Power Thermal 1911 2.7 4,433 194 Tata Group
and hydro
Adani Green Wind and 1996 4.2 474 25 Adani Group
Energy solar
Greenko Wind, solar 2004 4.7 595 (205) Abu Dhabi
and hydro Investment
Authority, Gulf
Investment
Corporation
Azure Power Solar 2008 2.1 212 (48) Quebec Deposit &
Investment Fund

Source: Compiled from Tata Power - https://www.tatapower.com/pdf/investor-relations/102Annual-Report-2020-21.pdf;


Adani Green Energy - https://www.adanigreenenergy.com/-/media/Project/GreenEnergy/Investor-Downloads/
Financial-Statements-Dynamic/Q2-FY22.pdf; Azure Power - http://investors.azurepower.com/~/media/Files/
A/Azure-Power-IR/shareholder-reports/annual-reports/Annual%20Report_AZI_FY%202020-21.pdf,
https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=AZRE&subView=institutional; Greenko -
https://www.greenkogroup.com/assets/Investor%20pdf’s/Greenko%20IR%202021-22.pdf; Greenko Energy
Holdings Financials, Capital IQ, Inc., a division of Standards & Poor’s; net capacity:
https://investor.renewpower.in/static-files/01e24b3a-fd3d-4540-afea-c68f43e3cf9b, slide 10; accessed January 2022.

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ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India 722-028

Exhibit 11 CSR Initiatives

Human capital Social capital Natural capital


To make people self-reliant To promote sustainable To strengthen efforts towards
livelihood environment protection

Impacted over 4,00,000 lives in 200 villages across 9 states

Our Flagship Programmes

Lighting lives ReNew women India Community-based ReNew scholarship for


initiative water management exceptional talent

Energy access Rural and urban women Access to clean Supporting talent from
entrepreneurship drinking water underprivileged sections

Source: Company documents.

Exhibit 12 ESG Goals

Partnerships
Environment - ReNew avoided carbon emissions which are 200 times of
its Scope 1 & 2 emissions**
Environment - Achieving “Net Zero” by 2050
- Cumulatively avoided emissions by ReNew’s clean
Signatory to GRI Sustainability
energy operations stands at 10 million tCO2e*
Imperatives

Social - ReNew continued its strong safety performance with


zero fatality incidents
Social - ReNew released a sustainable supply chain framework
for evaluating and screening suppliers on non-financial
parameters to improve on their ESG metrics

Governance - Strong management systems certified as per ISO 9001,


14001 and 45001
Plans to adopt
Governance - Independent and diverse Board
- Sustainability Committee implements and monitors
sustainability initiatives and progress periodically

Source: Company documents.

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722-028 ReNew Power: Leading the Energy Transition in India

Endnotes

1 “What is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-


convention/what-is-the-united-nations-framework-convention-on-climate-change, accessed December 2021
2 “All India installed capacity of power stations, November 2021,” https://cea.nic.in/wp-
content/uploads/installed/2021/11/installed_capacity-1.pdf, accessed January 2022
3 ReNew Power Sustainability Report FY 2020-21: https://investor.renewpower.in/static-files/cc0ac06c-de41-4aca-b206-
b896c50755b7, accessed January 2022
4 Shailesh Menon, “How traditional power behemoths are transitioning to renewable energy,” Economic Times, November 28,
2021, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/how-traditional-power-behemoths-are-transitioning-
to-renewable-energy/articleshow/87952574.cms, accessed December 2021
5 India Energy Outlook 2021, https://www.iea.org/reports/india-energy-outlook-2021, accessed December 2021

6 India Energy Outlook 2021, https://www.iea.org/reports/india-energy-outlook-2021/energy-in-india-today, accessed


December 2021
7 What is the Kyoto Protocol, https://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol, accessed December 2021

8 Press Information Bureau: Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare: Impact of Climate Change on
Agriculture, https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=191979, accessed December 2021
9 What is the Paris Agreement, https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement, accessed
December 2021
10 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-
determined-contributions-ndcs/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs, accessed January 2022
11 Press Information Bureau: Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change: India’s intended
NDCs, https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=128403, accessed December 2021
12 “After COP26 what is the way forward for India,” Indian Express, December 3, 2021,
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/after-cop26-whats-the-way-forward-for-india-7653359, accessed December
2021
13 India Energy Outlook 2021, https://www.iea.org/reports/india-energy-outlook-2021/energy-in-india-today, accessed
December 2021
14 “Government to move away from long-term PPAS,” Powerline, September 28, 2021,
https://powerline.net.in/2021/09/28/government-to-move-away-from-long-term-ppas, accessed December 2021
15 Vibhuti Garg, Kashish Shah, “The Curious Case of India’s Discoms,” Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis,
August 2020, https://ieefa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Curious-Case-of-Indias-Discoms_August-2020.pdf,
accessed January 2022
16 PB Jayakumar, “Sumant Sinha on Why ReNew Power’s US Listing is Important,” btMAG, October 17, 2021,
https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/interview/story/sumant-sinha-on-why-renew-powers-us-listing-is-important-
308230-2021-10-01, accessed January 2022
17 Uma Gupta, “ReNew Power to build 2 GW mono PERC PV factory in western India,” pv magazine, May 19, 2021,
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/05/19/renew-power-to-build-2-gw-mono-perc-pv-factory-in-western-india, accessed
December 2021
18 “ReNew Power Signs India’s First Round-The-Clock Renewable Energy PPA,” company News Release, August 6, 2021,
https://investor.renewpower.in/news-releases/news-release-details/renew-power-signs-indias-first-round-clock-renewable-
energy-ppa, accessed January 2022
19 “ReNew Power Announces Its Addition to the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network of Companies,”
https://renewpower.in/renew-power-announces-addition-world-economic-forums-global-lighthouse-network-companies-
leading-area-technology-enabled-sustainable-growth, accessed December 2021

16

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