Data Centres Must Balance Business, Community, And Environment: ReNew Co-Founder

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle on the sidelines of 31^st CII Partnership Summit in Vizag, she said clean energy, resource-efficient technologies, and engagement with local communities are essential to ensure responsible development of data centres.

“Any development must be assessed from three perspectives: business, community and the environment. Data centres have to consider all three,” she maintained.

Her remarks come as ReNew is planning a 1 GW green hyperscale data centre in Andhra Pradesh. Vaishali said the project is at an early stage, with operational plans, power supply arrangements, and project-specific sustainability targets yet to be finalised.

The company is considering land availability and partnerships for developing and building the facility, Vaishali revealed. ReNew already has a clean energy generation capacity of more than 750 MW in Andhra Pradesh.

She maintained that the company’s renewable energy expertise could help meet the substantial electricity requirements of data centres. ReNew has a clean energy generation portfolio of more than 22 GW and is engaging with hyperscalers to supply power and help reduce their emissions, she said.

The ReNew co-founder, however, said it is too early to specify whether the proposed facility would meet its entire electricity demand through renewable energy.

Data centre companies are increasingly combining renewable energy procurement with carbon credits to offset emissions. However, direct clean energy supply was preferable, she stated.

“At present, the approach is a combination of renewable energy procurement and carbon credits to offset emissions. It is a hybrid strategy. However, directly supplying clean energy is a better way to reduce emissions,” she explained.

On water consumption and cooling requirements, Vaishali said operators needed to adopt technologies suited to local conditions, rather than follow a uniform approach. Some newer facilities are adopting zero-water technologies, while others are exploring ways to reduce water and use other resources.

Companies will have to contain noise to prevent it from affecting neighbouring communities, with regulators having a role in ensuring responsible practices.

The ReNew co-founder said community engagement would guide ReNew’s expansion into data centres, drawing on its experience in solar, wind, and green hydrogen projects. Companies need to look beyond commercial considerations and treat communities as stakeholders in development.

She declined to specify emissions or water conservation targets for the proposed facility. She maintained that sustainability is integral to ReNew’s business. She pointed out that ReNew is the first company in India to have its net-zero goals validated by the global Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Growing scrutiny from investors and regulators would encourage measurable environmental commitments, she emphasised.

On skill development, Vaishali said ReNew had entered into an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government under the PM-SETU programme to work with a cluster of five industrial training institutes.

The initiative involves a commitment of around ₹250 crore over five years to upgrade infrastructure, refurbish laboratories, and introduce curricula aligned with renewable energy industry requirements.

She said ReNew is focusing on reskilling women and workers for opportunities in the renewables’ sector. Its initiatives include training salt-pan workers in Gujarat as solar technicians and helping coal mine workers in Dhanbad transition to the solar sector.

“We want to expand such initiatives for women and young people, so that they can participate in renewable energy industry’s growth,” she stated.