CEO & MD’s Message¹

Dear Stakeholders,

I am delighted to share with you, Greenko’s fourth Integrated Report delineating our IR journey pursuing decarbonization, digitalization and decentralization. In this report, we present our performance on financial and non-financial aspects during the reporting period FY 2020-21. The year gone by has been disruptive due to the pandemic and Greenko has been working tirelessly with all the stakeholders and critical services to ensure uninterrupted business operations.

As you are aware, Greenko is a leading Renewable Energy company with an operational portfolio of ~7.5 GW and pipeline of 93 GWh IRESP projects across different states in India. Parallel to being “large Scale Clean-Tech IPP” we are today “Intelligent Energy Market Specialist” and “Deep- Decarbonization Specialist”. Developing “globally competitive long duration energy storage” and “engineering green molecules” is congruent with our transition to becoming “deep capabilities machine” and “innovation engine”. We are building world’s largest energy storage cloud to RE-Industrialise for transitioning to Low Carbon Economy.

Keeping with the UNFCCC’s Race-To-Zero commitment, Greenko has signed ‘The Climate Pledge’ to achieve Net Zero, 10 years earlier, by 2040. Our business model is aligned to be a trusted partner of businesses, cities, regions and countries that ‘Race-to-Zero’.

Energy Transition in India

“Enormous challenge of rapidly transitioning to a net zero energy system is also a huge opportunity for our economies” is the conclusion of International Energy Agency’s report. IMF and IEA jointly estimate that the total annual energy investment will surge to 5 trillion USD by 2030 in the net zero pathway, adding an extra 0.4 percentage points a year to global GDP growth and millions of jobs in clean energy, including energy efficiency, as well as in the engineering, manufacturing and construction industries. All of this puts global GDP 4% higher in 2030 than it would reach based on current trends. This compulsive positive economic outcome will surely drive nations to adopt the Net Zero Pathway. However, this opportunity does not impact the actors in the power sector equally. The companies in the right position to harness the opportunity have to be agile and innovative to transform and prudently manage the risks. In case of India, Energy independence by 2047 through initiatives in long duration energy storage and hydrogen is congruent with the Race -to-Zero ambition. The National Hydrogen Mission and other such initiatives have potential to make India a global hub for production and export of Green Hydrogen, creating opportunities for green growth and green jobs.

Greenko believes in solving the challenges of accelerating energy transition and sustainable growth. We have architected our business to add value in the Complex and Mid- Stream segment of the Energy Transition. By transforming Renewable Energy to a Firm, Reliable and On-Demand Energy we are capable of deeper industrial de-carbonization.

India’s Solar and Wind generation capacity and its cost effectiveness is amongst the top in the globe. In contrast, the present electricity architecture in India, about 375 GW installed capacity to meet 180 GW peak demand, is characterized by low flexibility and high cost, due to the dominant share of coal and in-firm renewables. This amongst other factors pulls down India’s competitiveness as a manufacturing destination. To improve the electricity generation-supply flexibility and to generate power at a lower cost, it is imperative that the country installs Stand-Alone, Make- In-India, Long Duration Storage capacity and morph the Renewable Power to Round- The- Clock. Further, to attain the target of 500 GW of Non-Fossil fuel-based generation by 2030 and to deliver lower cost of power, it is imminent to establish a storage capacity of 30-50 GW, well before 2030. The new flexible electricity architecture –Low-Cost Storage in sync with RE, drives the cost of power down by 20% in the next few years. Availability of low-cost decarbonized power will

1. Position India as the destination for responsible global supply chains

   The Global Supply Chains with ‘Net Zero’ goals will prefer ‘Make-In-India’ due to low cost and low-carbon electricity amongst other factors

2. Catalyze the manufacturing of cost effective Zero Carbon molecules in India (hydrogen, ammonia etc.) for variety of use cases in industry and transportation in India and outside

   The cost effective Zero Carbon Molecules will not only substitute imports to support an ‘Energy Independent India’ but also could power the decarbonization of many OECD countries who have declared Net Zero ambition.

Greenko envisions India as a powerhouse for global decarbonization through transformation of its energy architecture from and to catapult ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ to 5 trillion USD economy.

To achieve the transformation of the energy architecture, we have identified projects and investments that include:

1. About 15 billion USD investment over the next 3 – 5 years in Integrated Renewable Energy Storage Projects by combining multiple RE resources (Solar & Wind) with Long-Duration, Stand-Alone, Off- Stream, Closed Loop Pumped Storage Projects capable of delivering ‘Firm, Schedulable & Dispatchable RE power to meet the long-term Energy & Climate goals of India and its neighbours.
2. About ~ 5 billion USD to produce Zero Carbon molecules at scale through electrolysis of water (including sea water) and other supplemental processes; and supply to industry, gas utilities and transportation sectors in India and outside.

These projects contribute to significant reduction in Greenhouse Gases (more than 25 million tonnes of CO2e per year) and pave the way for India’s transition to low carbon pathway beyond NDCs and ensure sustainable socio-economic development. These initiatives deploy investments and technologies for clean, reliable and affordable energy and steward the transition of the energy architecture to become a powerhouse for global decarbonization through export of RTC RE to the neighbours and Zero Carbon molecules to the globe. Further, these projects contribute significantly to the socio-economic growth by delivering clean, reliable and affordable power and generating fair, safe and healthy employment.

At Greenko, our focus is to generate more value and then share the value with all stakeholders. Through sharing value, we contribute to the sustainable development of India and the Globe. Our business has been aligned to contribute to UNSDG 7- affordable and clean energy and UNSDG 13-climate action. Further, our circular economic approaches to contribute to UNSDG 12-responsible production and consumption.

Stakeholder Trust

Infusion of 20 % of equity investment and subscription to Green Bonds of 4.5 Billion USD gives us the confidence that the investors trust the company and its business model. Going further, we will be offering and partnering with global upstream clean energy investors and accelerate the energy transition. We are thankful to all partners who joined us in our challenging endeavour in Pumped Storage and Energy Storage Cloud. In the coming year, we will be actively executing the pumped storage project at Pinnapuram and begin execution at a few other sites. Our employees and communities have been on our side through this journey, despite weather and health emergencies. The regulators and policymakers have given us a patient hearing, understood our concerns, and responded very positively. Further, I place my gratitude to the businesses and industry that have made us partners in their climate stewardship journey. Many of them are eagerly looking forward to our firm renewable energy generation to twine us in their NET ZERO EMISSION plans.

Our new ESG Framework

The transition of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors from concept and investor preference to regulatory requirements e.g., EU Taxonomy Regulation, is happening and is a welcome development. We understand the import of “extended producer responsibility” of Dutch court ordering Shell to cut its emissions by 45% from 2019 levels by 2030 and not “act in conflict with what is generally accepted according to unwritten law” and “must observe the due care exercised in society.”

At Greenko, we have been always addressing ESG aspects diligently, not just limiting to operations in our control but, the activities along the value chain. During the reporting period, we initiated deployment of a structured ESG framework. We will continue to address the risks and opportunities presented by climate change mitigation and adaptation; and circular economic approaches. On Social aspects, we will improve diversity, equity and inclusion; and practice innovation across our businesses. Our new products and services improve the sustainability of energy and industrial systems and services. We are curating our customer relationship commensurate to the changing profile. On governance aspect, we will continue to reinforce digital and cyber security and deploy enterprise risk management to address the uncertainties and challenges in energy transition. Many a times, the imperative of ESG is recognized and appreciated at the highest level but, the action and momentum is conspicuously absent. At the level of senior management, incentives linked to ESG performance will drive long-term momentum.

New Energy- Engine for Deep Decarbonization and Decentralization

New Energy dovetails RE generation with storage and digital technologies to offer multiple energy plus services. New Energy also heralds viable decentralized energy models. The green hydrogen and zero carbon molecules production will be significantly decentralized and would move closer to the use. Such decentralized energy system supported by well distributed water, wind, sun across the Indian sub-continent would offer significant advantages to India in self-reliance, cost-reduction and equitable distribution of wealth. Further, these can be harnessed by growing entrepreneurship in India. With this decentralized green hydrogen and zero carbon molecule business models, we are exploring elements of Greenko 4.0 that we envisioned to reach by 2025.

Progress against Commitments

We, at Greenko, realize that we are a salient part of electricity sector transformation that makes clean, reliable, and affordable electricity and reinforces #Atmanirbharbharat with #EnergySecurity and #EconomicStabilty. New Energy solutions would drive 50% of our long-term investments in the next years and contribute to 50% of our revenues thereafter. New Energy solutions will be customer focused and add value to market to bring cost of energy down by 20% nationally from the current level. Keeping with our commitments, around 30% of our long-term investments during 2020-21, are in the new energy solutions viz pumped storage projects and intelligent energy platforms.

We are committed to circular economic approaches. Our business model of pumped storage combined with an intelligent energy platform has been deployed as a sharing platform for storage and energy management. It would offer energy and energy plus services to multiple customer groups viz., distribution companies, RE generators, Grid, and Industry.

We have been diligently picking organic and inorganic growth opportunities Strategically, we have improved our access to hydro power in different geographies of India. Our equity stake in Teesta Urja Limited with an underlying asset of 1,200 MW of Hydropower project in North Sikkim and acquisition of assets of 121 MW is a part of our transformation. Besides pursuing inorganic opportunities, we continue our pursuit of developing greenfield projects.

We continue our focus on high capital productivity and accordingly, we made investments in operation and maintenance through intense deployment of digitalization. We have been improving our Asset performance and reducing the O&M costs of our wind generation under the WINSOM program. Besides significant investment focus on Integrated Renewable Energy Projects, we have continued with the renovation and modernization of some of our wind assets. During the reporting period, we sold 7.19% of our power to the B2B segment and this demonstrates our ability to access energy users directly, which will be a salient feature in our transition to Greenko 4.0.

Our commitment to complete the IRESP in 36 months is based on a solid edifice of PPP- employee commitment, peoples’ cooperation and support of the government. Despite the delays in regulatory clearances and disruption due to the pandemic, we are confident to achieve the target and complete our first IRESP by FY 22-23.

During the reporting period, we have spread Integrated Thinking across the organization. Across the enterprise, we held more than 4 formal IR conclaves, certificated around 250 Sustainability Practitioners. I am excited by this groundswell of alignment with the company’s strategic goals.

In the reporting period, we achieved per capita training hours of 43.06 and retention rate of 99% and we strive to maintain and enhance the same in the future. This, in combination with innovation hub activities, goes a long way in upskilling and aligning the organization to be “High capabilities Machine” and “Innovation Engine”. The number of hours devoted to the safety training has significantly increased over the previous year. We continue to achieve zero fatalities in this reporting period. Moving forward, we will focus on improving retention in the age group of 30-40 years.

We owe our success to our external stakeholders, including suppliers and customers. More than 80 % of our suppliers have been working with us for more than three years. As the new initiatives that we are undertaking are technology-intensive and require deep expertise and experience, we are joined by many new partners. We are happy to realize that the satisfaction indices of our suppliers and customers are 80% and 95% respectively.