Green energy may power industries in-house demand: Eversource CEO Dhanpal Jhaveri

India's captive industrial power consumption could be replaced with renewable energy, unlocking potential for further investments in the sector, said Dhanpal Jhaveri, chief executive at Eversource, a green energy investment platform. "The industrial captive power consumption is around 90 gigawatts and it's all fossil fuels. That explains the potential," Jhaveri told ET.

Eversource is a partnership between Singapore-based private equity firm Everstone and Lightsource BP, a related undertaking of British energy giant BP.

Jhaveri highlighted that the shift towards renewable energy for captive industrial consumption could be further stimulated by global policies aimed at combating climate change such as imposition of taxes on companies having a large carbon footprint.


"The European Union is set to impose taxes on industrial companies that export into their region if they have a carbon footprint. This is why we are seeing a move towards green steel, for instance, amongst Indian companies," Jhaveri said.

Industrial conglomerates such as ArcelorMittal, JSPL, JSW and Vedanta have started investing or co-investing with power developers to create captive sources of renewable energy for meeting in-house power demand. This will help them showcase efforts in aligning production with global steps to tackle climate change.

Eversource raised $741 million through its maiden fund in 2022 from investors such as NIIF and British International Investment. This was the largest fund for India-focused investments in climate friendly businesses at the time.

Eversource is an investor in companies operating in areas of renewable energy generation, electric vehicle fleet management, waste management and water management, among others.

"In India, the need to replace base load demand from coal to renewable sources could also drive investments in the sector," Jhaveri said.