India led the corporate renewable procurement market in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region for the second consecutive year by procuring 8.1 GW of capacity, according to a Wood Mackenzie report.

The persistent rise in fuel and electricity costs fueled the competition for renewable PPAs in the region, resulting in stable levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for utility-scale, commercial solar, and offshore wind compared to grid or gas costs.

The cumulative contracted renewable capacity through PPAs in the APAC region during the first half of 2022 stood at 18.6 GW, of which India, Australia, and Taiwan accounted for 16.5 GW or an 89% share.

Indian corporates have been sourcing renewable energy increasingly through captive projects, rooftop solar, and the open access mechanism. The commercial and industrial segment finds open access projects attractive because of the savings on power costs.

According to Mercom India Solar Open Access Market Report Q2 2022, India added 1.3 GW of open access solar in the first half of 2022, a 97% increase from 638 MW installed in the same period last year.

Australian corporate sector was the second highest procurer with 5.2 GW followed by Taiwan, which contracted 3.2 GW of renewable capacity through power purchase agreements (PPA).

Despite a sharp surge in raw material prices, the three countries ventured into signing offsite corporate PPAs (CPPA), covering 81% of the total renewable CPPA market in 1H 2022.

The report projects that renewable procurement capacity in APAC is set to increase by 18% to 22 GW by the end of 2022, with India, Australia, and Taiwan procuring a cumulative capacity of 44%, 28%, and 17%.

APAC’s corporate PPA market is slowly recovering from the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The report highlights that renewable procurement through CPPA would increase by about 4 GW during the second half of 2022, leading to a total procured capacity of 7 GW for the entire year.

The report projects that power generation costs in APAC would surge by 66% to around $5 trillion over the next three years, or $650 billion annually. This leads to certain models Wood Mackenzie shows that renewable procurement in the current environment would be beneficial in the long-run.

APAC benefits from three CPPA models: direct wire, retail or sleeved, and virtual or synthetic model.

Under all categories, large energy users from major industrial, retail, and technology sectors procured 10.7 GW of renewable capacity in 2022 and are the leading renewable offtakers covering 62% of the overall CPPAs contracted in APAC.

India, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, and Singapore are the nations in the region that pursue the retail or sleeved model for renewable procurement through CPPAs, while the virtual or synthetic model is common in Australia and Singapore.

Under the direct wire model, there is no intermediary utility or retailer between the developer and the corporate buyer, and the contracts are simpler. However, the parties involved must rectify the land availability and grid connection.

The developer, buyer, or retailer gets higher flexibility to procure renewable energy under the retail/ sleeved model extending the possibility to develop larger plants. But such projects require the buyer and seller to carry out their operations in the same area.

The virtual or synthetic model highlights complex offsite financial contracts between the parties with certificates, while there is no physical power delivery and allows larger contracts to be executed.