India's Tata Power eyes small modular reactors space amid country's nuclear push

India's Tata Power Co. Ltd. said it is looking for opportunities in the small modular reactors space, following the government's push to achieve a nuclear generation capacity of 100 GW by 2047.

"As the Government is looking for active partnerships with private players and the amendment to the Nuclear Power Act to set up nuclear energy capacity, we will take up the opportunities to set up small modular nuclear reactors," Tata Power said in a filing with the Indian stock exchange BSE Feb. 4.

During the federal budget on Feb. 1, the government stressed the importance of developing nuclear generation to the tune of about 100 GW by 2047 amid rising power demand and the need to provide cleaner energy options.

India is planning to set up a Nuclear Energy Mission for research and development of SMRs with an outlay of Rupees 200 billion ($2.29 billion) and operationalize at least five indigenously developed SMRs by 2033.

In its quarterly results update, Tata Power said its clean and green portfolio stands at about 6.7 GW installed and has a pipeline of 10 GW, which will take the total portfolio to over 16.7 GW.

Total capacity, including operational and under construction, is about 25.6 GW, with installed thermal energy generation of about 8.9 GW, the company said. It plans to phase out its thermal portfolio by 2045 as its power purchase agreements for thermal capacities expire by that time.

India has set itself a target of adding 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030 and at least 80 GW of coal-based capacities to meet growing demand. However, the country has to hasten building a strong grid infrastructure to ensure smooth transmission amid the burgeoning capacity, industry observers said.

Tata Power said it has about 4,633 circuit kilometers of operational transmission lines and another 2,414 ckm under construction. The company aims to achieve 10,500 ckm and to have clean and green energy accounting for 70% of its overall capacity by the financial year 2030-31. India's financial year runs from April 1 to March 31.

The country's overall transmission line length could increase by nearly 33% in the next seven or eight years, the company said, adding the interregional transmission capacity is also expected to go up to 168 GW by FY 2032-33 compared with 119 GW.

The company said it also has an agreement with Bhutan's Druk Green Power Corp. Ltd. to develop 5 GW of clean energy capacity, comprising 4.5 GW hydropower and 500 MW solar, to supply cleaner power to both Bhutan and India. During the quarter, about 50 MW of renewable energy was supplied to Bhutan, its first-ever bilateral cross-border merchant supply, the company said.

During April-December 2024, the country imported as much as 5.23 billion units from Bhutan compared with 4.67 billion units in the same period last year, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority.

JSW Energy to develop coal-fired power plants

Separately, India's JSW Energy Ltd. has received a letter of award from the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd. for the development and operation of two 800 MW super/ultra super critical domestic coal-based thermal power plants, the power company said in a filing with BSE on Feb. 5.

The plant will utilize the domestic linkage coal allocated to West Bengal in the eastern part of the country, the company said.

Subsequent to this capacity award, the company said its total locked-in generation capacity has touched 30 GW, with the share of thermal capacity at 9 GW, and is positioned to achieve its target of 20 GW generation capacity well before 2030.

The company, which has a thermal, hydroelectric, wind and solar portfolio, is constructing several power projects to the tune of 8.3 GW.