ReNew Energy Global plc

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Renews First Quarter Fiscal Year 24 Earnings Report. All participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will need to press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Nathan Judge, Head of Investor Relations. Go ahead.

Thank you, Jason, and thank you, everyone. Good morning and thank you for joining us. On Friday evening, the company issued a press release announcing results for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, 2023. A copy of the press release and the presentation are available on the investor relations section of Renew's website at www.renew.com. With me today are Simone Steenhoff, founder, chairman, and CEO, Kedar Apadje, our CFO, and Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Chairman, Sustainability. After the prepared remarks, we will open up the call for questions. Please note, our safe harbor statements are contained within our press release presentation materials and materials available on our website. These statements are important and integral to all our remarks. There are risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. So we encourage you to review the press release we furnished in our form 6K and the presentation on our website for a more complete description. Also contained in our press release, presentation materials, an annual report of certain non-IFRS measures that we reconciled to the most comparable IFRS measures And these reconciliations are also available on our website in the press release presentation materials and on our annual report. It is now my pleasure to hand it over to Samant.

Yeah, thank you, Nathan. Good morning, everybody. I'm glad to have you all on our Q1 FI24 earnings call. In a couple of days, we will be commemorating the second anniversary of our listing on NASDAQ. a significant journey that has been made possible by the support of all of our stakeholders and the dedication of our committed employees. As we approach this milestone, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our stakeholders, which includes our investors and analysts, our board members, the domestic and international banking and lending community, our business partners, regulators and government authorities in India and abroad, multiple customers and off-takers whom we have the pleasure of serving, our suppliers and technology providers, global rating agencies, multiple contractors and agencies who make the execution of projects possible on the ground, and of course, our employees who have been instrumental in our achievements thus far. This anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect upon our journey so far. There has been significant growth in the last two years. Despite all of the considerable hurdles, including COVID, supply constraints and inflation, our operating portfolio has grown from 5.7 gigawatts to 8.4 gigawatts since Q1, FY22, an increase of about 47%. Our portfolio grew by over three gigawatts during that time, and importantly, we inked all the PTAs on essentially all of our megawatts in our portfolio, thus lowering the offtake risk on our growth outlook considerably compared to two years ago. Our training 12-month adjusted EBITDA has risen by 41%, and our run rate adjusted EBITDA increased even more, or about 60%. In addition, we have improved our DSOs significantly, cutting the time to get paid by more than half, from over 260 days to around 114 days, that's 114. and we believe that there is some further scope for improvement. Not only this, but we have been recognized as one of the top-rated ESG companies globally by several rating agencies. Moving to the highlights for the quarter on page six, let me begin by delving into the strategic partnerships with global industry leaders that are propelling our growth. We recently signed an MOU with Petronas's Renewable Energy Arm, Gentari, for evaluating the joint development of 5 gigawatts of renewable energy assets. We believe that this and other partnerships that we have executed over the past two years, forged with globally recognized industry leaders, does illustrate our differentiated competitive advantage. This endorsement also underscores the value of collaboration in the pursuit of sustainability while providing low-cost capital. In addition, we have recently inked MOUs with PFC and REC, which are Government of India-owned financial institutions, to fund the power sector for debt funding of approximately US$7.8 billion combined. Furthermore, we have secured a financing arrangement of US$230 million from the State Bank of India for our Peak Power Project. These financial partnerships enable us continued access to among the cheapest project debt in the country at a much faster pace and a larger quantum. In the first quarter of the fiscal year ended 2024, we commissioned 415 megawatts related to our B2B segment. And we are poised to commission between 1.3 and 1.7 gigawatts of projects during the remainder of this fiscal year. Our peak power and RTC projects stand out as our most extensive and complex undertakings to date, as well as significant contributors to our expected 35% plus EBITDA growth next year. I am pleased to report that the construction progress for these projects remains on track. and we are confident of meeting the guidance provided with our Q4-FI-2023 results. The conducive auction market, along with a higher rate of auction, continues to yield favorable outcomes in auction wins with attractive IRRs. Year-to-date, we have secured approximately 3.5 GW of additional capacity, or another 25% above our current 13.7 GW portfolio, setting the stage for another leg of growth above the 45% in adjusted EBITDA growth over this fiscal year. This momentum is set to continue as we strategically engage in auctions that provide opportunities for attractive returns. It is important to note that these megawatts are not yet incorporated into our portfolio. but we do expect to include them in our portfolio and adjusted EBITDA run rate guidance over the next six to nine months as we sign these TPAs. We are beginning to see the value of the platform being converted into results as well. We report a profit after tax of US dollar 36 million, one of the highest we have ever made in any quarter, and put on track to be around break-even in profit after tax on an annualized basis going forward. subject to the stability of currency and interest rates. Overall, the first quarter results for EBITDA were marginally higher and on tax substantially higher than our internal budget. Turning to page six, I am pleased to share with our investors that our asset recycling initiative remains on a positive trajectory, effectively addressing our equity capital needs for our recent wins. A notable development on this front, as I said, is the MOU that we have recently entered into with Gentari for exploring joint development ventures encompassing five gigawatts of renewable energy assets. The partnership provides us with clearer visibility on the source of capital for future growth and demonstrates the capital discipline that we have committed to our investors. Our commitment to advancing energy transition solutions for our partners remains steadfast. This strategic partnership is in addition to the 403 megawatt deal that we signed with Gendari earlier in the year, for which we have realized the equity proceeds during the current quarter. Our intention is to build three to four gigawatts each year, and we believe we will be able to fund that equity through the current cash on our balance sheet, as well as through our internal cash flow generation. It is important to reiterate that we have no intention of issuing shares. We expect that asset recycling will provide the equity funding for the next stage of growth that we alluded to before. Not only does asset recycling provide a lower cost of equity than issuing shares, it also provides us better returns on capital employed in the long run and illustrates that the inherent value of the portfolio is significantly higher than the implied multiple of our stock. The funds generated through our asset recycling efforts continue to fuel our growth trajectory which has been sustained over the past several years. Our focus remains firmly, therefore, on the strategy designed to bolster our balance sheet and to enhance returns for our shareholders. Till date, we have successfully secured $550 million of equity through strategic partnerships, including the equity funding of the 403 megawatt project from Gentile. We have raised funding through partnering with global leaders such as Gentari, Mitsui, Norfun, and other valued investors. Additionally, we are considering a sale of 100 megawatts of solar assets in Karnataka and have classified the related assets as held for sale in our accounts. We expect the closure of this deal by the end of the calendar year. Moving to page 8, as we mentioned in our last quarter earnings call, a significant development occurred earlier this year when the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy unveiled an ambitious calendar outlining a plan to auction 50 gigawatts of renewable energy projects every year. This announcement has triggered a surge of activity and notably there has been a substantial uptick in the frequency of auction announcements spanning various renewable energy segments, in particular complex projects. We are seeing less competition in many recent auctions, resulting in higher implied IRRs for bids that are clearing, and this trend is even more obvious for auctions for complex projects. Our in-house wind and solar EPC capabilities and supply certainty provided by our now operating solar module plant provide us a distinct edge. As a testament to this, We have successfully won auctions for 3.5 gigawatts of projects above our current portfolio and expected IRRs that are at the high end and possibly even above our current portfolio at our target range. The wins include a 400 megawatt project with GVNL at a tariff of INR 2.71 for which we have signed the PPA a few days back and this project is not yet included in our committed pipeline. Turning to page 9, the current reporting period has seen the successful commissioning of 415 megawatts of projects, primarily related to our corporate PPA business. With regards to our RTC and peak power projects, which represent about three-fourths of our expected 35% EBITDA growth next year, I am pleased to announce that the projects are approximately two-thirds complete, and we are confident about the commissioning schedule provided in our guidance earlier this year. We do expect to reach our 1.75 to 2.25 gigawatts commissioning guidance by the end of financial year 24. Turning to page 10, our manufacturing plant commenced module production in June 2023 and is now at full production. Our four gigawatt facility will provide us with an assurance of module supply, streamlining up project construction efforts and giving us a competitive cost advantage relative to imports or tolling. Further, the facility will help us in controlling the quality of output, ensure self-sufficiency by minimizing reliance on OEMs, and potentially save O&M costs. For most of our competitors, getting solar modules is currently an issue. There is, at this point, a significant supply deficit in the country compared to the demand that exists right now. And most of what is being produced is either being exported to the US, or is meant for internal consumption, or is old technology and high cost. Importing is not a good option either, as there are significant import taxes, or is not allowed by the non-tax import barrier of ALMM, which of course, as we know, has been deferred till early next year. Sourcing modules locally is a challenge for nearly all of our competitors. Our solar module plants not only ensure stable supply, but could also provide us with a cost advantage. With that, I would like to turn it over to Kedar to go over the latest financials. Thank you.