Third edition of green energy event deferred

BENGALURU: The third edition of RE-INVEST, India's flagship renewable energy event has been postponed, which industry executives say reflects growing concerns of investors in the sector. The inaugural event was held in February 2015 and the second in October 2018.

"The 3rd RE-INVEST has been postponed due to unavoidable reasons," said a letter written by the secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy Anand Kumar. It was scheduled to take place from October 31 to November 2 in Delhi.

This is despite the curtain raiser to the event held by MNRE last month. "We may want to hold it every couple of years instead of once each year," said a ministry official, requesting anonymity. "We are looking at holding it in October 2020," the person said.

The second edition of RE-INVEST was postponed five times because of global stakeholder disinterest, according industry insiders. It was finally held in October last year. No investment commitments were sought unlike the inaugural, which was held in 2015. The first RE-INVEST had in fact seen global and local institutions commit to 266GW of renewable energy investments.

The second assembly of ISA, which was expected to take place along with RE-INVEST in October, has not been postponed. The International Solar Alliance is a joint initiative of India and France to mobilize investment in solar projects on a global scale.

Many developers had expressed reluctance to provide sponsorships, which led to its postponement, industry sources told ET. "The industry is feeling disillusioned, so the postponement does not come as a surprise," said a developer, on the condition of anonymity.

This is also evident from the fact that participation in recent solar and wind tenders has been heavily undersubscribed. Earlier this month, two tenders issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, MNRE's agency responsible for holding auctions, were undersubscribed and received only two responses each. Allocations were made for less than one-third of the total tendered capacity.

"There are many reasons for falling investor interest—increasing cost and risk associated with land acquisition plus transmission, tightening liquidity in the financial markets, and aggressive ceiling tariffs," Bridge To India, renewable energy consultancy, said in a report recently.