24 April 2023
CNN
interviews
First Move With Julia Chatterley - Renew CEO
Welcome
back to first move, figures show India was the world's third largest emitter of
carbon dioxide in 2020, but that picture is changing. It already has the means
to generate over 40% of its power from renewables , and the government has now
set an ambitious target of taking that ratio to 50% by 2030. Well step forward.
Indian renewable energy giant renew with a
[00:00:30]
portfolio including more than 120, wind, solar and hydro projects across nine
Indian states is part of its goal is helping India to reach net zero, and it
says the government and private sector working together is the key in the fight
against climate change. Joining us now is you want sinner he's founder and CEO
of renew fantastic to have you on the show, sir. I noticed a change. The last
time we spoke, you were renewed power, and now you're renew. What's in the name
change? And what does it mean for the
[00:01:00]
company? Yeah. Yeah thank you, Julia. So much for having me on the show again.
Look I think the you've alluded to a very important thing while the change is
small, but it's actually very important simply because what it means is that we
are trying to really become a much more broader decarbonization partner rather
than a company that is focusing only on the power sector. So certainly we're
going to continue doing that. But we also intend to look at corporates and help
them try to
[00:01:31]
de carbonized as they move forward on their own journeys and provide them much
more broader set of solutions, which could be around green hydrogen. Green
fuels, carbon credits digital solutions and saw so it actually trying to become
a broader company, which is really operating in the decarbonization space more
generally. And that is really why we changed our name from renew power to renew
its a subtle but it's very important to us. It's a huge opportunity, and I
think the
[00:02:01]
major point to make here is that if the nation isn't coordinating and
organizing with the private sector than some of the lofty targets for the
Indian government, like reaching that target of generating 50% of power from
renewables by 2030 simply isn't going to happen. I mean, isn't it already a
huge challenge? It's beyond ambitious to try and achieve this in the space of
what, seven years? What does it mean for you specifically in terms of
opportunity, but also, I think challenges. What more do you need from the government
to achieve it? Yeah you know,
[00:02:34]
you're absolutely right that India has set a very ambitious target, but I think
it's absolutely necessary that countries like India do set such aspirational
dog. It's because, frankly, as we all know, we really don't have a choice. Um
and it's not just India. I think every other country around the world has to
take leadership in their own way and set targets that they then have to strive
to meet. Now India, as you know, as you said, is the third largest carbon
emitting country, given the growth that we have in the country with the next
several
[00:03:04]
years if he considered growing the same way, which is really carbon intensive,
then obviously, that will not be good for the environment and for the world as
a whole, and I think, therefore that the prime minister uh, Modi has taken a
very positive step in really setting targets that are really looking at
focusing on growing in a very different way and decarbonization the economy as
we grow, continue to grow as well. What that means for us essentially is
obviously we have to work very closely with the government, but the government
[00:03:36]
is setting targets. Ultimately it's up to the private sector to actually, you
know, continuous sort of do action on the ground and meet those targets. And
that's not just in India. But in every other country in the world . The same
thing needs to happen now. What are the challenges? The challenges are many,
Julia, I think, just given the scale of what we're trying to achieve
collectively, there are a number of things that we need to do. I think number
one, of course, is finding the appropriate amounts of land to is building the
interconnect or the transmission networks. Three years. Obviously
[00:04:08]
we have to source equipment for we have to hire people. And five. Then we have
to create all these assets on the ground, and I think all of those areas not
just in India, but everywhere globally are being constrained, given the scale
of growth that be required to meet the challenge. And so I think all of us have
to collectively put our best foot forward to make this happen. Yeah people
infrastructure. Never mind anything else. All of this needs scaling up
yesterday and the hope is that it can happen within the space of a few years
[00:04:38]
in order to be able to hit some of these targets that are expected in the next
sort of 7 to 10. Does India need the equivalent? And I used the United States
as the example simply because I think it's the biggest we've ever had the inappropriately
named inflation reduction act, which seemed to be the most comprehensive
climate bill that we've seen around the world that surely presents
opportunities for you internationally, perhaps to invest in the United States,
but rather than decrying it in, for example, the eu has done and sort of
suggesting that it's
[00:05:09]
creating competition. Isn't this the kind of thing that every nation needs to
be announcing? And applying in order to create a global city solution to
tackling climate change. No, you're absolutely right, Julia, and of course,
while countries made the cry the industrial policy nature of the inflation
reduction act. The reality is that it's in service of a good objective, which
is to de carbonized and to move the world closer to net zero as fast as
possible, and so therefore if it
[00:05:39]
actually leads to a genuine race towards the net zero I think that's something
that needs to happen now. Obviously the question for all of us is as corporate
is whether therefore, we all tend to look at the U. S market or whether we
consume the focus on domestic markets without home markets, and I think we have
to do a bit of both. We cannot ignore what's happening in the us, um and so we
do have to look at opportunities there. But at the same time, we obviously
cannot ignore what's happening in our home markets, and we have to
[00:06:10]
consider add capacity at home as well. And now, of course, if India does come
out with something similar, then, of course, that would be a great positive
because it will bring down costs for clean energy in general. Now India has
done something similar, not, of course of the same scale. But for example,
India has announced a national green hydrogen policy . We've come out with this
very aggressive targets for renewable energy. We are building our transmission
said systems across the country and along renewable energy to tap into it
without a
[00:06:40]
charge, so that's actually a very big benefit. So there are a number of things
that India is doing as well which hopefully will lead to the development of a
pretty large domestic market and will help us get closer to the targets that
the prime minister said, which as you said earlier, ambitious but necessary.
It's interesting on green hydrogen. I was in the Middle East last year and
obviously bearing in mind, the geography and the extent of exporting of fossil
fuels from that region. There was a sort of reticence to discuss green
[00:07:11]
hydrogen and concerns about still the risk reward. Are you saying actually
based on the incentives that India's provided as far as you're concerned, was
passed that tipping point for green hydrogen because that would be huge. I
think Julia not yet because ultimately green hydrogen keep in mind is competing
with gray hydrogen, which is a lot cheaper today given by gas prices are in
most biographies, and they're also competing with blue hydrogen, which is, uh,
you know, also something that is currently
[00:07:43]
cheaper and therefore, you know , I think green hydrogen still has a way to go
before we can actually be super competitive with the other forms of hydrogen,
but that's really where government policy needs is important. Because we need
mandates for green hydrogen. And just like in solar, where prices came down, I
think similarly, the same thing can happen for green hydrogen as well as the
ecosystem builds up, so I think we need an initial set of mandates across the
world for users of gray hydrogen to move towards green, and I think you'll get
them to get to the
[00:08:13]
tipping point, then fairly quickly, but keep in mind also. That green hydrogen
is the basis for a lot of the green fuels, which is going to things like
shipping and into aviation, and therefore it's a very important prerequisite
green hydrogen for really getting into the heart to abate sector so
collectively, we have to push forward and make green hydrogen competitive
because that's going to really take forward the decarbonization into other
areas of energy beyond just the power sector, which is really something that is
very important now. I
[00:08:44]
couldn't agree more. It's going to be truly transformative. We just have to get
there and we need the investment to get there. Great to chat to you, sir, as
always, 20 more
Urji Calculator