Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Energy will start operations of both units of Ind-Barath this fiscal even as the integration of Mytrah Energy assets is on track. Further, the firm expects to commission its 3,800 tonne per annum hydrogen plant by March 2025, a top official said.“The boiler and turbine plants are in good condition and the first unit will be operational by September-October this year, and the second unit will be operational by March 2024.
Integration of Mytrah Energy’s assets is also on track as we have already commissioned 77 turbines of the total 80 turbines, and we expect to maintain 99% machine availability by the middle of next month,” JSW Energy Joint MD & CEO Prashant Jain told FE in an interview.
“So, the integration plan and performance improvement plans are going on well,” he said, adding Ind-Barath has two 350 MW units.In December 2022, JSW Energy said it has completed the acquisition of 700 MW Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) for `1,047.60 crore through insolvency proceedings, and prior to that in August it entered into a deal to acquire Mytrah Energy’s 1,753 MW renewable energy portfolio for an enterprise value of about Rs 10,530 crore.
JSW Energy expects to commission its hydrogen plant by FY25 for which JSW Steel would be the main buyer.On the 9 GW of pump storage projects the company was allocated in this fiscal, the firm will start construction of one project (130 MW housed at its Vijayanagar steel plant complex in this fiscal and two by FY25.The first one is a captive project, with all land and other needs in place. For the second one, a 300 MW project, the firm has already secured a letter of intent from the Karnataka government, while the third project is in the initial stages.“All approvals are in place,” he added. The firm will also bid for “remunerative” Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) projects as and when they come up.
“We are also working on a pipeline for future, beyond FY25,” he added.On the power demand in the country, he said it dipped to 1% during the quarter due to subdued demand in April and May, but by June it recovered to 4.5% high, compared to that in the previous year. “The outlook is quite robust as the demand at 5.5% is already good for July, while for the year I am expecting it to be about 5.5-6.5%,” he said.On JSW Energy’s decarbonalisation initiatives, Jain said the company is “quite committed” and is on track to be net zero in emissions by 2050.