KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Amplus Solar, the India-based renewable energy (RE) subsidiary of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), has said developers should be protected from abrupt regulatory changes and other change-in-law situations as the RE industry is capital-intensive and has little room to absorb those externalities.

The response was given by Jatin Babbar, assistant vice-president (commercial) of Amplus Solar, in an interview with Saur Energy International, an India-based solar industry trade publication, when asked what changes the firm would like to see in terms of tax and tariff regimes in India.

"There needs to be increased focus on quality and long-term plant performance to ensure that installed capacities yield high and consistent generation. Till the time the country's domestic manufacturing ecosystem is developed, excessive duty/taxation should be avoided as the same will make solar expensive and impact the growth of the sector," Babbar said.

"Bidders/developers should also be protected from abrupt regulatory changes and other change-in-law situations as RE is a capital-intensive business and there is hardly any room to absorb such kinds of externalities.

"There should be gradual tightening on the demand-side management front as well, given that RE continues to remain exposed to natural vagaries, and quality weather data and forecasting techniques are still at a developing stage," he added.

Babbar said Amplus Solar, also known as M+, is diversifying in battery energy storage solutions and that it could replace diesel generators, shave off peak load and serve as an off-grid power source.

On electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, Babbar said the firm's EV division, Yelo, already has more than a dozen of parking and charging hubs which are used by its partners to deliver goods for its clients.

"As we continue expanding from a few hundred to thousands of vehicles, this captive charging infra will continue to grow. Eventually, we are looking at opening these hubs for public charging as EV penetration increases in the market," he said.

"As far as residential solar solutions go, Amplus has recently entered the residential solar space (in 2019), and in less than two years, we have helped over 700 customers solarise their homes. We offer a range of innovative aesthetic home solar solutions that not only generate green energy that delivers savings, but also helps beautify our customers' homes," said Babbar.

Established in 2013, Amplus caters to commercial and industrial customers by providing end-to-end solutions for rooftop and ground-mounted solar power projects. The RE firm was acquired by Petronas in 2019 and marks the national oil company's venture into the international RE industry.

According to Amplus, it currently manages a portfolio of 870+ MWp of operational and under-construction distributed solar assets comprising over 400 projects across 24 states in India.

It also boasts a portfolio of about 250 global clients across diverse industries such as manufacturing, aerospace & defence, automotive, FMCG, consumer durables, pharma, food processing, retail chains, educational institutes, hospitals & healthcare, office buildings, shopping malls etc.