How Rajasthan Industries Can Combine Group Captive Solar, Wind and BESS: Lessons from the Nuvoco–CleanMax Project

For many industrial consumers, the renewable-energy decision is still framed too narrowly: How much rooftop solar can we install? That is increasingly the wrong starting question.

Large electricity consumers should instead ask what combination of rooftop solar, Open Access renewable energy, storage and energy management gives the lowest sustainable electricity cost while maintaining reliability.

A new renewable-energy project in Rajasthan provides a useful real-world example. Nuvoco Vistas and CleanMax have announced a 46.4 MW wind-solar hybrid renewable-energy project at Bhikamkhore, Rajasthan, comprising 20 MW of wind, 26.4 MWdc of solar and a 2 MWh Battery Energy Storage System. Electricity will be supplied through Rajasthan's State Transmission Utility Open Access network under a group-captive structure. The project is expected to generate approximately 100 million units of renewable electricity annually.

What Is Group Captive Renewable Energy?

A captive power project generates electricity primarily for consumption by its owners. In a group-captive structure, multiple participants can hold ownership in a generating entity and consume electricity from the project, subject to applicable captive-generation requirements under India's electricity framework.

Instead of installing the entire renewable-energy system inside a factory, generation can be located where solar or wind resources are stronger and electricity transported to the consuming facility through the grid using Open Access. This can be particularly relevant for factories with insufficient rooftop area, very large electricity demand, round-the-clock operations, multiple facilities or electricity consumption far exceeding rooftop-solar potential.

Why Combine Wind and Solar?

Solar and wind have different generation profiles. Solar production is concentrated during daylight hours, while wind generation can occur during different periods and seasons depending on the resource. Combining them can therefore produce a more diversified renewable-generation profile than solar alone.

What Does the Battery Add?

The Rajasthan project also includes a 2 MWh BESS. That number needs careful interpretation. A 2 MWh battery is small relative to a 46.4 MW renewable-generation portfolio, so it should not automatically be interpreted as a system designed to provide long-duration power to the entire industrial load.

Battery capacity is normally selected for a specific operational objective such as smoothing short-duration renewable fluctuations, shifting limited amounts of renewable energy, managing specific demand peaks, supporting grid requirements or improving renewable utilisation. Battery sizing should follow the use case. The use case should not be invented after buying the battery.

Rooftop Solar or Open Access?

For many industries, the correct answer is not one or the other. It can be both. Rooftop solar can reduce grid purchases directly at the consumption site, but rooftop area creates a natural capacity limit. Open Access can enable much larger renewable-energy procurement from remote projects.

Open Access economics must include applicable regulatory and network costs rather than comparing only a renewable generator's PPA tariff with the DISCOM energy tariff. Depending on the transaction and applicable regulations, analysis may need to consider transmission, wheeling, scheduling, banking, losses, cross-subsidy surcharge, additional surcharge and other applicable charges or exemptions. These provisions can change, so economics should always use the latest applicable regulations and orders.

Why Hybrid Renewable Energy Is Becoming More Relevant

For a continuously operating factory, solar alone may create a large daytime generation block but nothing at night. Wind can diversify generation, storage can shift a portion of electricity across time, and an Energy Management System can coordinate resources. The architecture can become Rooftop Solar + Open Access Solar + Wind + BESS + Grid + Flexible Loads + Energy Management.

The Economics Must Be Modelled Hour by Hour

Annual electricity consumption alone is insufficient to design the optimum renewable-energy portfolio. A serious industrial energy study should analyse at least 12 months of electricity consumption, interval load data, contract and maximum demand, time-of-day consumption, existing rooftop generation, seasonal production, outages, current tariff structure, Open Access charges and renewable-generation profiles.

A Useful Decision Framework for Rajasthan Industries

1. Start with energy efficiency

The cheapest unit of electricity is often the unit that does not need to be consumed. Efficiency should precede oversized generation.

2. Determine economical rooftop solar

Rooftop solar remains an important first layer where suitable roof area is available.

3. Model additional renewable electricity through Open Access

This depends on load profile, eligibility, regulations, charges and available project structures.

4. Test whether wind improves the generation-load match

For some consumers, adding wind can materially improve the renewable profile compared with solar alone.

5. Give BESS a measurable job

Storage should be justified through identifiable value streams such as peak shaving, time shifting, renewable optimisation or resilience.

Group Captive Is Not Risk-Free

A long-term renewable-energy agreement is an infrastructure decision. Businesses should evaluate regulatory risk, generation risk, developer and counterparty capability, grid and curtailment risk, contract terms, captive-compliance requirements and technology degradation and warranty profiles—not only the quoted electricity tariff.

What the Nuvoco–CleanMax Project Really Tells Us

The lesson is not that every Rajasthan factory should build a 46.4 MW hybrid project. It is that industrial energy procurement is becoming a portfolio-design problem. For some consumers rooftop solar may remain sufficient; for others, the optimum architecture could combine efficiency, rooftop solar, group captive renewable energy, wind, BESS, grid supply and intelligent energy management.

Key Takeaways

Large industrial consumers should optimise their complete electricity portfolio rather than considering rooftop solar in isolation. Wind and solar can complement each other's generation profiles. Battery storage should be sized for a defined objective. Open Access economics must include applicable network and regulatory charges. Interval electricity data is far more useful than annual consumption when designing an industrial renewable-energy strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is group captive renewable energy?

It is a captive-generation structure in which qualifying consumers hold ownership in the generating entity and consume electricity generated by the project, subject to applicable captive-generation rules.

Can a Rajasthan factory buy renewable power from a remote solar or wind plant?

Eligible consumers can procure renewable electricity through Open Access subject to applicable central and Rajasthan regulations, network availability, approvals and charges.

Is Open Access cheaper than rooftop solar?

Not necessarily. Rooftop and Open Access have different economics. The comparison should include generation cost, grid charges, losses, regulatory costs, financing and the consumer's actual load profile.

Why combine wind and solar?

Their generation patterns can differ, potentially creating a more diversified renewable profile than solar alone.

Does every hybrid project need a battery?

No. Storage requirements and economics depend on applicable regulations, project configuration and the intended use case.

Sources

Project information: Nuvoco Vistas and CleanMax announcement, September 2026. Regulatory provisions should always be checked against the latest applicable central and Rajasthan electricity regulations and orders.

Next Step

Before choosing rooftop solar, Open Access, group captive renewable energy or BESS independently, model them together. Wattscore can analyse industrial load profiles, renewable-generation options, tariffs and storage use cases to identify the energy architecture that best fits operational and commercial requirements.