In a current interview with Renewable Watch, Praveen Kakulte, chief govt officer of POWERCON Group, mentioned the corporate’s development from a renewable asset administration agency to an end-to-end options supplier. He highlighted its OEM-independent strategy, managing round 2.5 GW of belongings with 1 GW below development and a 0.5 GW growth pipeline, and its digital oversight of round 40 GW globally. Kakulte additionally shared the success of the CORE initiative for renewable ability growth, improvements in EPC and O&M utilizing AI and predictive analytics, and the corporate’s plans to broaden hybrid methods and high-performance renewable infrastructure.
Please present a quick background and overview of POWERCON Group, key service choices and present portfolio.
POWERCON began as a pure-play asset administration agency for renewables, however over time, we’ve grown into an end-to-end options accomplice. Right this moment, we assist the total lifecycle, from mission growth and development to life-time operations. In mission growth, we assist shoppers with technique, useful resource evaluation, land acquisition, permits, and engineering. Our development covers civil and HT electrical infrastructure, pooling substations, erection and commissioning works. Thereafter, we give attention to asset administration to make sure environment friendly efficiency, longevity and operational price effectivity.
What makes us totally different is that we’re utterly unique tools producer (OEM) unbiased. That offers us the pliability to work throughout applied sciences and phases. We presently handle round 2.5 GW of belongings, have near 1 GW below development, and a growth pipeline of 0.5 GW. By our digital platform, we additionally oversee almost 40 GW of belongings globally, giving us deep perception into how renewable initiatives carry out in real-world circumstances.
What are the important thing {industry} highlights of POWERCON Group from the previous 12 months?
It’s been a giant 12 months for us. One of the significant milestones was our partnership with YCM Open College. By our CORE initiative, we’re now providing certificates, diploma and advance diploma stage programmes in wind and photo voltaic, making technical schooling in renewables extra accessible than ever. Our three month residential CORE program, which mixes classroom studying, fieldwork, and information analytics, has gained actual traction. Importantly, the capability constructing of India’s renewable power sector is being augmented with industry-ready workforce.
It’s not simply recent graduates signing up; corporations like Renew Energy, Aditya Birla, Tata Energy and SJVN at the moment are sending their groups for coaching. What started as an inner coaching setup has grown into a totally unbiased, not-for-profit academy that’s standing robust by itself.
What are the present price traits of photo voltaic, wind initiatives? What are the longer term expectations?
Over the previous decade, photo voltaic capital prices have fallen sharply to almost 20–30 per cent of their earlier ranges, making it one of the cost-effective renewable choices. Wind hasn’t skilled such steep declines however has maintained steady prices, supported by localisation, digitisation, and expertise developments.
Land acquisition, nonetheless, is rising as a rising price issue, with landowners in resource-rich areas demanding greater compensation, signalling stronger native participation but additionally requiring smarter planning to take care of monetary viability.
At present, photo voltaic initiatives price about Rs 45 million per MW and wind about Rs 90 million per MW. Trying forward, each photo voltaic and onshore wind are anticipated to develop into much more cost-competitive, although intermittency stays a problem. Photo voltaic supplies solely 5.5–6 full sunshine hours a day, whereas wind runs around the clock, with seasonal differences. That is driving the shift to hybrid options combining photo voltaic, wind, and battery storage to ship agency, dispatchable renewable power (FDRE).
Our Vitality Studio platform is central to creating that work, optimising efficiency and serving to flip unpredictable inputs into dependable output guaranteeing larger financial returns.
What are the most important operational and coverage challenges dealing with the wind power sector immediately, and the way is your organization navigating them? What’s your outlook on offshore wind market in India?
The wind sector in India is dealing with just a few persistent challenges. Transmission constraints and land acquisition proceed to sluggish issues down on the bottom. Add to that the rising reliance on imported tech and digital instruments, and cybersecurity is now an actual operational danger.
At POWERCON, we sort out this head-on with a mixture of robust native partnerships, technical depth, and sturdy digital safety protocols. We’ve constructed robust digital safety protocols into our operations to guard vital infrastructure and guarantee system resilience as we scale. Our multibrand quantity strategy offers us flexibility throughout OEMs, serving to us resolve points sooner and scale extra effectively.
As for offshore Wind, it’s capital-heavy, almost double the price of onshore, however the potential is critical. India has extracted merely 5 per cent of the whole onshore wind potential that’s round 52 GWs of installations from the whole wind potential of 1,163 GWs at 150 m peak. Additional, offshore on Gujarat and Tamil Nadu coasts collectively is lower than 71 GWs which needn’t be a spotlight space as of now.
How has the demand for superior asset optimisation developed in recent times?
Pushed by the fast development of photo voltaic and wind installations and the necessity for extra dependable, environment friendly, and agency energy output, asset optimisation has develop into the life-line. As India targets 500 GW of non-fossil capability by 2030, the problem to construct new infrastructure is smaller in comparison with the one for managing it successfully, particularly with restricted expert manpower and fragmented infrastructure.
At POWERCON, we sort out this by our Vitality Studio platform (digital), which provides us affordable management over the uncontrollable. Given the variable nature of wind and photo voltaic, asset management is now not non-compulsory; it’s a necessity. The platform helps real-time power administration, delivering FDRE.
With the rising complexity of multi-asset and multi-brand operations, our asset administration mannequin and superior software program options supply the adaptability wanted to work throughout totally different turbine applied sciences and website circumstances. As India pushes for utility-scale agency power output, these digital optimisation instruments have gotten indispensable in assembly each operational and coverage targets for the nation’s power future.
Are you able to share any current improvements in your EPC or O&M companies which have considerably improved effectivity or price financial savings?
One among our standout improvements has been the digital transformation of each our engineering, procurement, and development (EPC) and operation and upkeep (O&M) companies, leveraging synthetic intelligence (AI), superior monitoring, and predictive analytics. In EPC, we’ve taken development administration to the subsequent stage with AI-driven methods that observe all the things from employee presence and security compliance to mission progress—all in actual time. With drone imaging and AI surveillance, we will monitor huge areas, usually 400 acres or extra, guaranteeing synchronised execution and higher security throughout the board.
This tech-driven strategy has additionally actually paid off. We’ve boosted our set up charge for multi-MW generators from the {industry} common of two–2.5 to three–3.5 generators per 30 days per staff. This leap in effectivity has translated to important price financial savings by driving down per-turbine set up prices.
On the O&M facet, our Vitality Studio platform acts as a distant command & management heart, permitting us to resolve faults and optimise efficiency with no need to be at all times onsite. The brand new renewable power administration system – ‘FarSight’ not too long ago launched by our accomplice ‘BaxEnergy’ is utmost progressive and complete offering full freedom to the tip consumer for configuration/ conceptual visualisation. It makes use of neural networks to foretell turbine failures, like a “fortune teller” for asset well being, serving to us cut back downtime and O&M prices even additional. We’re additionally growing agentic AI chatbot to assist onsite O&M staff to get sooner resolutions of faults.
With the rise of inexperienced hydrogen, is POWERCON integrating hydrogen infrastructure into its EPC or O&M companies?
At POWERCON, we see renewable power and inexperienced hydrogen as complementary to serve a standard explanation for decarbonisation; however, they aren’t interchangeable. Whereas renewables like wind and photo voltaic give attention to energy era, inexperienced hydrogen is aimed extra at fuelling clear mobility options, particularly for heavy autos.
We’re carefully monitoring developments, and because the sector matures, we’ll serve alternatives throughout the clear tech house sooner or later.
What are POWERCON Group’s future plans and targets? How does the corporate plan to attain these?
POWERCON Group’s roadmap is anchored on turning into a world chief in renewable power asset development and administration, guided by three strategic pillars: scale, innovation, and integration. In India, we’re increasing our mission growth, development and O&M footprint throughout wind and photo voltaic, with a pointy give attention to efficiency and reliability. Internationally, we’re strengthening our capabilities in distant asset administration, the place we have already got a rising presence. We additionally see robust potential in hybrid methods, particularly as India enhances its clear power combine.
On the core of our operations is a production-centric strategy that treats wind farms and photo voltaic parks as high-performance energy factories, not simply upkeep websites. Our use of condition-based upkeep, as a substitute of fastened schedules, helps maximise uptime, improve power output, and cut back O&M prices by 15–20 per cent. This additionally extends asset life and lowers the levelised price of power.
As next-generation generators and applied sciences emerge, we’re integrating our development and growth strengths to make sure our companions are future-ready, outfitted to handle larger capacities with greater effectivity and reliability.
