2026.10.05 | TB | Battery | AmpereHour Energy Primer

Primer • 15 Sep 2026

Companies: 500510 IN, WAAREEENER IN, PACEDIGITK IN

Expert Former C-level Executive

Reann Dsouza (Analyst) — Third Bridge Sector Analyst

Agenda

• Over 18 years' experience in the energy space
• Around one year of experience at AmpereHour Energy (left within the last two years)

Introduction

Analyst: If you could please just state I agree or I disagree to the following statement: You understand the definition of material non-public information and agree not to disclose any such information, or any other information which is confidential, during the Primer Interview today.

Expert: I agree.

Questions

Could you describe what AmpereHour Energy does and the products and services it provides?

Expert: AmpereHour Energy is a BESS integration company founded in 2017 by four friends who studied together in IIT Mumbai. This company basically, it has positioned itself very well in the rapidly expanding Indian BESS market because it has the advantage of early mover in the industry and also has its own proprietary full-stack integration model, especially the software-driven model, a proprietary software product they developed. It is basically used for a full-stack integration model, like software. It has a differentiation compared to any basic EPCs or basic integration companies with their own software and a local execution capability. Also, it has really done very well with the references that they have built across various industries like the utilities segment, C&I and also international markets as well. That's a brief introduction to this company. They are the leading integration company right now in India with more than 1GWh and 2GWh-plus orders in hand under deployment. It's more than 3GW-plus, actually, the order bookings they have. Also, they started a new BESS assembly plant of 5GWh capacity very recently, as a new plant in Chakan, Pune.

What would you say is the value proposition of AmpereHour's products and services?

Expert: AmpereHour has a very much value proposition and has positioned itself very well in this BESS industry. For example, it has the capability to integrate solar as well as wind generation, where the need for power, especially for the Indian market, is not just solar. It's a mix of solar storage and a mix of wind and storage. That's where AmpereHour can play a bigger role. It can also help clients reduce peak demand, especially for C&I applications, in industrial applications very specifically. It can also improve power reliability and resilience, particularly for mission-critical applications like data centres where the reliability of the power is very much important. Also, it has the capability to supply many of these C&I applications, like DG abatement. That means diesel replacement applications. Also, the upcoming market, especially the ancillary service market, is going to be a very big market and AmpereHour is actually ready for this market as well with their proprietary software. That AH-Stack itself they have developed. Elina is the software name. They have developed the product and solutions in such a way that they can support utility-scale as well as commercial and industrial-scale and also grid-related support. This is very important because this needs special skills and very few players are there in the market. AmpereHour Energy can support many of these segments, which are currently prevailing and also upcoming market requirements.

What would you say is the full range of industries and business sizes that could use AmpereHour's products and services? What might be the company's TAM?

Expert: If you look at this as a segment, AmpereHour Energy is currently contributing and giving its services mostly to utility-scale projects, which is nearly 61-70% and it is contributing to at least 11-20% for C&I. That is the commercial and industrial segment. Since it has its own software that can be used for performance management and also uptime management and O&M, operation and maintenance. This is one revenue stream where AmpereHour Energy is aiming to concentrate to gain a market share, that means, out of the total proposition, maybe up to 11-20%. These are the major categories, I can say, that AmpereHour Energy is doing right now.

Could you profile AmpereHour's typical target customers across industries and business sizes? Who might be the company's ideal customer? What might be its sweet spot?

Expert: AmpereHour Energy has gone through many hiccups in the very beginning because the industry itself was very new. A lot of time went into educating the people, making them understand the savings, especially in the smaller segment like C&I, commercial and industrial, where they have built good references. Also, with the large clients like Coca-Cola and Cummins. Cummins is another big client for them, where the DG replacement application they have successfully completed with them. Coming to the large clients, they have struggled a lot to get one of these large projects. Initially, they started with a good company called IndiGrid. IndiGrid happened to meet AmpereHour Energy and they understood what AmpereHour Energy could help them in terms of optimising the cost and optimising the entire project economics. A lot of knowledge sharing and a lot of optimisation techniques went [between the company] and AmpereHour Energy and [AmpereHour Energy] hand-held this customer to win this project. This relation continued for long and AmpereHour Energy also helped IndiGrid to win another big project, 180MW/360MWh.

AmpereHour Energy's strategy is very clear. This company has limited resources in terms of manpower and in terms of financials. It's better to work only with one or two companies with a firm understanding and definitive agreement. If AmpereHour Energy can help this client to win the project, they should give the scope of work, whatever is agreed upon before signing an MOU. It's better to concentrate on a few clients like IndiGrid or maybe a few other clients instead of supporting everybody in the market. You don't have time. You don't have resources to do that kind of thing. That's the strategy that AmpereHour Energy has taken and it has proven very successful for them.

Now, they are making good inroads to getting more and more references with the help of this project exhibition track record, especially the 40MWh they have executed in Delhi. It's one of a kind in the country and also globally, because at the distribution level, they have done a good project. That too is certified by the authorities, like distribution companies, which is one of a kind. That has really put them to gain more and more attention from the large companies like IPP companies.

What would you say are the key regions AmpereHour derives revenue from?

Expert: Geographically, still India is the largest for them because this market itself is very huge and is a big vacuum also here for such players. I can say roughly 81-90% itself is from India and 11-20%, they still get some good projects from Africa and the Middle East, where there is a good profit. You can expect better margins from those markets. Also, for reference purpose because, these are the emerging markets like Africa or the Middle East. They want to do some footprints over there. Parallelly, they want to build big references in countries like India, where the market is predominantly of utility companies and large projects.

What would you say are AmpereHour's core revenue-generating product or service segments?

Expert: They have good scope, actually. Since they have the control layer itself in their scope, they can help the clients in terms of giving the best control system for defining the recharging and charging functionality. Also, with the understanding with the OEMs, for example, battery suppliers, PCS suppliers, they can ensure uptime guarantee or performance guarantee or availability of the capacity augmentation. These are the various levels of service AmpereHour Energy can offer in the market at a premium price. This is not available just like that from any large player, but AmpereHour Energy can bundle this with their own software and also establish relations with OEMs like battery suppliers and PCS suppliers. Also, the O&M services on behalf of these large companies, they can also take up these O&M services on behalf of offshore OEMs like Chinese companies because Chinese companies cannot send every time an engineer to do the performance testing and all here. So, they can take it as a contract service from those companies. That's another revenue model which they can look at.

Analyst: How would you divide AmpereHour's services into revenue models?

Expert: It is not even 11-20% at this moment. That means they can go up to 11-20% right now. This market is evolving, a service market.

Analyst: What might be AmpereHour's product and service revenue streams?

Expert: As an integration or EPC company, they can actually command out of that 91-100% revenue, they can go up to 71-80% with the utility-scale integrator or EPC role. The segment is utility-scale and the role is like an integrator or an EPC company. They can try for a share up to 71-80%. C&I is roughly 11-20%. And then EMS, there is one more thing. They can actually license this product, which they are not doing right now because it's a very difficult market to protect the IP and all. This is another revenue stream they can look at for international companies. This can give them a direct revenue up to 11-20%, [currently it's 0-10%].

Analyst: Is the EMS [energy management software] the Elina software?

Expert: Yes. The name of this EMS is Elina.

What might be the revenue model for each core segment? Is it transactional, reoccurring or recurring?

Expert: Transactional. Utility is transactional. C&I is also transactional and recurring. EMS is completely recurring. That means repeat business you can expect with services, add-on services with the help of Elina.

Analyst: Could you explain the utility scale and C&I contracts? How is the payment made? What does it depend on?

Expert: Utilities' typical payment is actually that we take an advance payment of 21-30%. Also, there are certain milestones of payment for each activity because these projects, design, engineering, procurement, supply, installation, commissioning and handing over and testing. There are various stages. At each stage, for each milestone, you can ask for some payment from the client depending on the scope of supply you have agreed upon. This is the typical flow for a utility-scale project. For any C&I, it is like a direct purchase. These are small systems, 250KWh or maybe 1MWh. So, it is a CAPEX. A lease model is also there. So, there is an OPEX model as well as a CAPEX model. Depending on the customer requirement and profitability, AmpereHour Energy can choose the right model to serve this market. The payment structure is like this. Either you supply upfront with CAPEX or maybe you can ask the client to go for an OPEX model, which also works out for both sides.

Coming to Elina, it's actually 91-100% upfront because it's a software component. As a software company, you can also go for a subscription model year after year. Also, because it is software, you need to do a lot of upgrades and updates. For that also, you can charge because it's a service. This service, it has many regulations also from the government as software. As per the government's regulations, whenever it changes, you have to upgrade your software. You have to keep it up as per the requirement. For that also, you can charge a subscription fee from the client. This is the payment mode for Elina.

What might be a use case for each core segment? What might be a user journey of how customers start with AmpereHour until the end of the engagement? What values are added to them in the utility-scale segment on the integrator and EPC [engineering, procurement and construction] sides? What services are given to them?

Expert: Use cases are many. Renewables are nowadays available surplus, there is big curtailment happening across the industry. Storage is the only option. Also, to make sure grid resilience and grid compliance, like voltage regulation and frequency regulation, there are multiple use cases where BESS is the right solution. For each segment, for a utility segment, there are multiple use cases like the capacity market and then scheduling and dispatching instructions with the help of your Elina. Also, you have big demand periods for arbitrage purposes. There are, at each level, at each segment, you have multiple use cases with BESS. Segment-wise, if you look at it, utility is a major segment for us. This is basically used for energy shifting and peak demand. Grid services, like ancillary services, black start applications. There are multiple names and multiple applications and all these tenders are happening in India, not just one model. The industry is testing each and every model wherever it is successful across the world. Some particular models are very successful in India. This industry is following the best-of-the-best standards to use the BESS, battery energy storage system, for each segment, like utility scale and also at the distribution level. I am talking about the first one is standalone BESS, the second one, is a distribution level, for example, virtual power plants. You can use BESS systems for multiple distribution transformers because it can also help you to reduce the infrastructure cost of a grid. You don't have to really build a grid for a longer area, but you can use BESS at the distribution level as a virtual power plant.

Coming to the industries, there are multiple advantages, like use cases. Demand management is one of the first application use cases for industries. Outage, power availability and reliable power, this is also one more use case for industries because there will be a lot of grid outages and grid disturbances. Because of this, there will be some disturbance for critical loads. Suppose it is a process industry, so you cannot afford to have a disturbance or outage. BESS will take care of this as a buffer immediately to take care of the power requirement of that particular industry, like data centres. All these functions are done by the EMS itself as a master sitting on top of everything. That is why it is called the brain of the system. Elina has the capability to do all this. For example, the Cummins project, if you look at it, is actually helping the industries for backing up and with peak shaving and also DG replacement. You can actually reduce the DG capacity, the diesel generator capacity, by using BESS. Instead of using three DG sets, you can still use two DG and one BESS. A lot of use cases are evolving every day where it has its own importance of BESS as well as the EMS.

Analyst: How does the process work? Does AmpereHour do engineering and planning? How much do clients factor in this decision-making?

Expert: When it comes to BESS as a specialist job, all EPCs are well-equipped and they have good knowledge now and the market is fully mature. When it comes to BESS, safety is the highest criterion. This can be done by an expert only. That means evaluating the right product, right sizing and also, in terms of optimisation. You cannot oversize it. You cannot undersize it. Also, you cannot compromise on the safety point of view. Also, the longevity, the augmentation and calculation while bidding your project. If you do some mistake in augmentation, that means the replacement of the battery cost, the entire project viability will become a big question mark. For that, you need a specialist. AmpereHour Energy kind of companies can participate as a specialist and design and engineering partner, especially when it comes to BESS design. I'm not talking about solar or wind. That is, anyway, the traditional way of doing the optimisation. Together with wind and solar, you need an expert from BESS when you want to merge or you want to use together, solar, wind and BESS because the calculations are different, the understanding of the total ecosystem is different.

Analyst: Does AmpereHour do the entire process?

Expert: Not only that. There is another phase of activity, which is actually identifying the right partner, supplier and procurement. This is very important nowadays. Earlier, procurement used to be one of the activities. Now procurement has become very crucial because it is called procurement engineering. You need to have the real experts to do this procurement activity with the help of a specialist like AmpereHour Energy because identifying the right partner, the right terms and conditions, warranties, guarantees and also after-service. Until the life cycle management, that means until recycling of the entire system, you need a partner like this, apart from design and engineering and also the procurement. The third one is managing the warranties and guarantees. The fourth one is maintaining uptime and project life cycle management. At five different stages, you need an expert for BESS projects. That's where AmpereHour Energy can play a bigger role.

Analyst: Is the process the same across C&I?

Expert: Exactly.

Analyst: What might be the EMS's major features? What does Elina help customers do? What does it provide?

Expert: Elina is well-built as a complete stack. It's not just only helping customers charge, discharge and rotation making. Any EMS is basically a commercial tool. You need to design the software in such a way that it is not just only for charging, discharging and making any commercial decisions. Also, dealing with the grid because the grid is a very important infrastructure for the country. Cybersecurity is one of the highest priorities. That is why the Indian government has made it very clear and mandatory that you should use only Indian made EMS systems. These are very sensitive things, but still your software should have that feature to manage both cybersecurity and make it a commercially viable tool. If you don't properly design your EMS as per the project requirement, as per the application, your project viability itself will be a big question mark. The product is made in such a way that it has already, I think now it is version 4. They have already seen version 1, version 2, version 3. Now, version 4 is more advanced. Still, there is a lot of scope for improvement of this software because they are yet to see the competition from the international giant companies. There are many giant companies. Large companies are trying to enter this market. By that time, AmpereHour Energy should have at least two or three references, making sure that they can manage the grid as well as the cybersecurity in a better way compared to any imported product like Chinese, European or American companies.

Which of AmpereHour's three segments do you anticipate being the fastest-growing and potentially driving the largest revenue share in future?

Expert: First of all, India is a market for large-scale utility projects. There are various segments in this standalone and peaking plants. This is a main growth driver, I can say, the first one, the large utility scale. The second one is RTC, round-the-clock or FDRE, we call it firm dispatchable renewable energy projects. This is a very tricky one. It's firm power availability. You need to have a lot of intelligence in your integration method and also write the right intelligence with the AI- or ML-based intelligence in the Elina software, for example, EMS. For AmpereHour Energy, it is Elina. For somebody else, it may be something different. I'm just still saying, as a standard, these new markets like firm dispatchable renewable energy and round-the-clock projects, you should have more intelligence in your software capability. This has another big segment coming up in India. Growth strategies, if you talk particularly, the government is also helping in terms of offering the VGF, that is, viability gap funding. Also, now, they made it as the application solar as a compulsory thing, at least 10% starting from July 2027 and then 20% by another year. There is big encouragement and growth prospects from the government side also by offering some incentives, PLAs, schemes like that.

The other one is continuously battery prices are falling and they are becoming day by day affordable to many customers. There's a big market coming up for BESS because of these reasons. Also, the C&I market is continuously improving now. Especially in north India, there're a lot of power outages and power fluctuations. That's where BESS will fit perfectly as a replacement for the DG set. This is another growing market. AmpereHour Energy can also look at OEM for EMS as a licensing company. For example, a number of battery assembly companies are emerging in the country. They don't have any idea about this software because it is not the cup of tea of everybody. Software is different from, like I can say this in broad terms, IT and OT. IT is information technology. OT is operational technology. There are many companies that are experts in OT, but there are only a few companies that are experts in IT. The same thing applies to IT companies. IT companies don't know what is at the field level. They know only how to build the intelligence once they know what the operating condition is. There is a perfect gap between these two platforms, IT and OT. If there is a company that can understand both IT and OT, they will be the winners and AmpereHour Energy is exactly trying to do that.

Could you specify the industry that best describes AmpereHour's core operations?

Expert: They are into BESS, battery energy storage, as an integrator. Their major share of the business comes from the utility segment at this moment because that's the market in place today in India. It's growing and it's very big. That is why their share is more in the utility scale right now.

What has been the BESS [battery energy storage systems] industry's AAGR over the past three years – less than 0%, 0-5%, 6-10%, 11-20% or more than 20%?

Expert: Until 2025, it was not more than 6-10%. Now it is growing. It is expected to grow to more than 20% as per the experts' opinion. As a standard, as per the growth we are seeing today, it's been roughly 11-20%. In reality, it may go more than 20% for the next five years, 2026 to 2031.

What do you think have been the 1-2 key drivers of the industry's growth over the past three years?

Expert: As I discussed, this is the large-scale utility projects which are actually awarded more than 100GWh. FDRE, that is firm dispatchable renewable energy projects, RTC, round-the-clock projects. These are the two major growth factors for the BESS industry's growth to take it from 11-20% today to more than 20%. Also, falling system costs, so it's becoming more and more affordable for many potential clients in the country. Also, government support like VGF, viability gap funding, and compulsory or mandatory obligations by the central government for implementing or deploying BESS in existing or upcoming solar and wind projects. For greenfield projects also, it is mandatory now. A lot of state governments also announced very attractive incentive programmes or cost-benefit programmes by deploying BESS systems, particularly in states like Maharashtra. Actually, power is very expensive there, but with the help of BESS, they have opened this market. Rajasthan is doing a good thing there. They have also introduced one of the best BESS programmes in their state. Similarly, many other countries are catching up. This is also one more growth factor for the BESS industry as a whole.

What do you think the market's AAGR will be over the next three years in a percentage range?

Expert: It is approximately more than 20% in an optimistic way.

What do you think will be the key drivers of the market's future growth?

Expert: Exactly the same. The drivers are very clear. Government support, falling cost of the product, that means the solution and the number of use cases. Every day, some new use cases. Also, the support from state governments, not just only central government, support from state governments by offering a BESS policy to deploy BESS systems for reducing the burden on discounts. Particularly, this is mainly to reduce the burden on discounts and make the power affordable to all sections of the people.

To what degree do you think the industry is correlated to economic cyclicality? Is it counter-cyclical, very cyclical, somewhat cyclical, somewhat resilient or resilient? Would you say purchases decrease for the industry during economic downturns, or do they stay the same?

Expert: This industry may not be really affected by the downtrend or something. It has a very sensitive link with the supply chain. We don't have this product manufactured in India, so it depends on geopolitics and then supply chain restrictions from other countries. Especially the cell production, we don't have it. We still need to wait at least another two or three years to make it self-sufficient, like what we did in cell manufacturing in solar. We took very innovative ways to make sure not to depend on China or anybody. Now, the same thing will be replicated here by introducing local content and increasing import duties and building the local ecosystem for this. It is not because of the downtrend. Also, it helps with the affordability of many clients at the rural level and upper level. People have understood the benefits of this and it will continue.

Analyst: Might the market be resilient?

Expert: Yes.

Based on public information, what impactful technological evolutions or innovations can we anticipate in the industry over the next 3-5 years?

Expert: There are many advancements that are happening. Particularly, the energy storage technology from lithium to sodium is expected very soon. Also, solid-state batteries are making roads for longer life and zero maintenance. Although they are a bit costlier today, there are chances that these technologies will slowly take their place in the market by giving affordability. That means low cost and also long life without much impact on performance, but avoiding the thermal management and the firings due to the available technology today. Good technologies are on the way to make sure availability, affordability and safety.

Are there any downside risks you believe might materially impact market growth over the next three years?

Expert: Actually, bidding madly by some companies in India without knowing the real effects of this lower-side bidding. They want to eat the bird before it grows up. That is where things are happening. This can simply weaken the safety warranties and we may see it after three years because of the lowest price they have quoted. They have to compromise somewhere in the safety, somewhere in the quality. Obviously, that will give bad remarks in the market that some firings are happening in India because they have compromised on the quality. This is one downside I am expecting. Also, particularly, we are fully dependent on supply chains from other countries. This has some impact. We don't know right now, but it is always a hidden fact that whenever you depend on some country which doesn't have a full-fledged relation with India, it's always a risk. Another of the biggest things is the currency exchange. Today, it is having a big impact. We have seen the Indian rupee becoming weaker and weaker. For the past year, it has had a lot of impact on the import cost of these products, which is actually affecting the total budget of the project.

How fragmented would you consider the BESS industry to be? Is the majority of the market share captured by 2-5 strong players? Is it a monopoly? Is it fragmented or highly fragmented?

Expert: It is fragmented, but it is not a monopoly. There are bigger companies. Also, smaller companies are surviving. It depends on which segment you are fighting, what capacity and what kind of market.

How protected is the market? What would you say are the barriers to entry and to scale in it?

Expert: Entry barriers are, right now, not much. It's middle. It's not high. It's not low. Most of these companies are selling today as a reseller or re-trading. They buy from some company and then supply this as hardware. The value addition is not much. That's why you will find many companies that can just do trading there and they're also entering into this business. It's like they want to sell it as a commodity. They're selling it because it's just trading. That's why entry is not a problem for many companies. Sustainability and surviving in this field are more important. That's where most of these companies will wash out over a period of time when it comes to warranties, guarantees, O&M and also guaranteeing the number of cycles at the end of the life. There are many key factors which you cannot buy as a commodity from any trader. A lot of companies are entering as an easy way. It's not that difficult.

Who would you say are AmpereHour's top three competitors?

Expert: There are multiple segments. Actually, AmpereHour Energy is competing at both utility scale and C&I scale. When you talk about utility scale of the larger ones, they're competing with global players like Fluence, Sungrow, Wärtsilä or even ABB, for that matter, in some markets. Siemens, that is Fluence. Wärtsilä is a Finnish company. They have a company called Greensmith as an integrator. These are the global players with bigger scale, but they have not done much in India. AmpereHour Energy, as a company, has a lot of limitations. It has a weak balance sheet and number of people and execution capability. There are certain weak points also from AmpereHour Energy. As a company, it can still compete with larger players like Fluence or Sungrow.

When it comes to smaller companies, like Indian companies, nowadays a lot of Indian companies are also actively, increasingly becoming integrators or EPCs for BESS, like L&T, Larsen & Toubro, Jakson and also Sterling & Wilson. Many EPC companies like Waaree also are entering to this field. They are competing at various levels, at various capacities, with various companies like battery companies, like DC block companies like BYD or CATL. They supply only the DC blocks. Still, they will have one partner in India to support with the AC block. So, there's a mix of competitors that AmpereHour Energy has today, both at the international and national level.

Analyst: Who do you think are AmpereHour's top three Indian competitors?

Expert: AmpereHour Energy is competing right now with Larsen & Toubro as an integrator. Also, they're competing with Replus from Pune. Also, they are competing with Jakson. Waaree is also one of the competitors for them now. Pace Digitek is another company.

Analyst: Might L&T [Larsen & Toubro], Replus Engitech, Pace Digitek and Waaree Energies be the top competitors?

Expert: Correct.

What would you say are AmpereHour, L&T [Larsen & Toubro], Replus Engitech, Pace Digitek and Waaree Energies' market shares – less than 5%, 5-10%, 11-20% or higher, up to more than 90%? Alternatively, could you rank them?

Expert: Larsen & Toubro and Tata AutoComp. These companies have the capability. In terms of scale, AmpereHour Energy is really tough to compete with them. But in terms of technology, in terms of knowledge, Tata and L&T are 1-5, if I say, they can reach up to 1-4.

Analyst: Who would you say ranks number one – L&T, Replus, Pace, Waaree or AmpereHour?

Expert: L&T, number one. Pace Digitek and AmpereHour Energy falls into the same, nearly number two. Number three is Replus. Number four, I would say Waaree and Sterling and Wilson.

What was AmpereHour's revenue for the last financial year, in an INR 100 crore range? L&T, Pace and Waaree are publicly traded, while Replus is owned by a public company.

Expert: AmpereHour Energy just touched nearly INR 0-250 crore [INR 0-2.5bn] last financial year, 2025. They are aiming to now, this year, almost three times to INR 250 crore-500 crore [INR 2.5bn-5bn] because of the number of projects they already have in the books.

What would you say is AmpereHour's revenue growth rate – less than 0%, 0%, 0-5%, 6-10%, 11-20% or more than 20%?

Expert: It is expected to touch approximately 11-20%.

What have been AmpereHour, L&T, Replus, Pace and Waaree's growth drivers for the last financial year? Has AmpereHour's growth been organic, acquisition-based or mixed?

Expert: Yes. [AmpereHour] has grown organically only with the customer giving repeat orders. For L&T, they won some of the projects on their own, so they started doing them on their own. Also, organic. It's not an acquisition or something. Replus is having some advantage with Bhilwara Group. Bhilwara Group has acquired this company. It is an acquisition. Pace, organic. Waaree, also organic. It's giant company now.

In your opinion, what is the average EBITDA margin for the players – less than 0%, 0-10% or higher, up to more than 60%?

Expert: EBITDA is actually 0-10% for AmpereHour Energy out of the INR 0-250 crore turnover they did.

Analyst: Might 0-10% be a good average for all players?

Expert: Yes. This is all very beginning. They are yet to go through the real margins. These projects are very time-taking. We can't decide the EBITDA within the same year sometimes. It depends.

Would you plot each player above, in line with or below the 0-10% industry EBITDA?

Expert: [AmpereHour] is average, I can say, at this moment. L&T is always positive, above 0-10%. Replus, they're struggling. They may come to positive this year. They're on track, actually. Sooner or later, they will make it as a break-even. Pace is already on the positive side. Waaree also.

How do you think each player differentiates itself? What might be each player's USP? What does each company do differently?

Expert: Pace has a distinct advantage. They are assemblers. They started this a year before. They can straight away make a good ARR compared to just an integrator because the integrator, you can have a margin above 0-10%. As the assembler, you have that additional margin of assembly, which is again 0-10%. The difference is who is actually assembling the product. While assembling, you can import at 0-10% duty. Only as a typical integrator, you will be paying 11-20% as imported duty. That itself is making a difference of 0-10%.

Analyst: What does L&T do differently?

Expert: It is right now only an integration model that they are following. In the coming days, they will also be an assembler like Pace Digitek. Same with Waaree.

Analyst: What does Replus do differently?

Expert: Replus just started a plant very recently, like what AmpereHour has done. They will also become one of the main competitors because they have that capability now to assemble the product in India by importing only cells.

Analyst: What does Pace do differently?

Expert: Pace is already ahead of everybody because they started a 5GWh. Now, they [are working to increase] it to 10GWh. They're overbooked. They don't have now any product to sell in the market because all are already booked. The capacities are already booked.

Analyst: What does Waaree do differently?

Expert: Waaree has also taken some orders. I don't know, but their capacity right now is 5GWh, but they have much larger plans up to 10GWh. They have good size of market and also good clients for them because they can give you the end-to-end solution, including solar and EPC integration, everything. They have some advantages as a manufacturer.

What would you say are customers' top three purchasing criteria? How do you think they rank by importance?

Expert: Customers will always talk about the price per megawatt hour. In the end, they also look at safety. Safety is the highest criterion. Customers will see the bankability of the company with whom they are going because if the company is not bankable, there is no point taking that project at a lower price. Bankability is one thing. Track record is very important. Safety, bankability and then track record and also price. Indian customer, the importance will definitely go to price, if not in the first place, at least in the third place.

How important would you say price is to customers in the market? Is it commoditised, somewhat commoditised or not commoditised?

Expert: It's not really commoditised because you need to really do the customisation here. Every project is not the same. Depending on the project requirement and also the project viability and then the duration of the project, the end of the life, "Is it 61-70% or 71-80%?" Many factors will come into picture.

What do you think has been the key driver of AmpereHour's historical growth?

Expert: As a company, it's an early mover. Having good knowledge and domain knowledge is very important here. Also, the product they have developed, the complete stack, they call it the AH-Stack. That is actually a differentiator because you are not depending on some other company or some other manufacturer to give this type of solution to any customer. They have that leverage to make it a customised solution to the customer. Also, they are very flexible. They can help any customer while negotiating the contract. These are completely new technologies, so you need to have an expert with you.

AmpereHour Energy will perfectly fit this requirement because they don't really depend on the consultancy fee or anything. They make the equal importance to the buyer as well as the seller. They make the right platform to facilitate the discussion and they take some as a goodwill margin or something from the supplier, not from the end customer. Of course, the end customer can also give some amount to them as a goodwill gesture. At the same time, they are not like any big company where they dictate the terms that I need 0-5% from that seller and 0-5% from the buyer, like that. In this market, it will not work. AmpereHour Energy is exactly doing the same. They are actually making the right platform to facilitate both the buyer and seller and also making them clearly understand what the warranties, guarantees and also the life cycle management of the complete project are. This is very important. This is where AmpereHour makes a difference in the market. Not only their knowledge, the product which is available with them and managing both ends, both the customer as well as the supplier, because the supplier is also very important here.

How fast do you think AmpereHour could grow annually over the next three years in a percentage range?

Expert: They can grow very well, but also there are certain risks because of financial capability and execution capability. They need to have good partners to support them over a long period because, with this kind of balance sheet and this kind of execution capability, the market is definitely available to them. They need to really gear up for that to catch that opportunity by increasing their manpower, execution capabilities and on-time completion of the project is very important here. For that, they need to really look at a different approach. The industry itself is very big to address right now. Also, making sure their software is not really tampered with by anybody because that is also another important thing in India. Not only in India, across the world. You need to really protect your IP and cybersecurity. Also, adapting your system as per the continuous changes by the CERC of the government because of the sensitivity of the grid which you are operating, because it's a scarce asset.

Analyst: What pace do you estimate AmpereHour to grow at? Is it more than 20% or less than that?

Expert: It's definitely more than 20%.

What could be some of the most interesting ways to grow AmpereHour organically if you were running the company?

Expert: I will, first of all, try to see the skilled manpower availability because these projects are time-bound. You need to complete the project within the time limits. Also, I'll try to improve my financial capability because this will become a big constraint when you want to grow, because there are a lot of LD clauses, liquidity damage clauses, if you don't fulfil those milestones because of lack of finance. I will try to find the right financier or a partner to help me take this business from INR 0-250 crore to INR 250 crore-500 crore in one year and then, by 2030, at least to INR 500 crore-1,000 crore.

You have four years, which is a very sweet spot and a very crucial period for the growth of this business, in the next four years. I will try to see my company grow at least to INR 500 crore-1,000 crore by doing a lot of changes in terms of recruiting the right manpower, training them and skilled manpower and also improving my financial capability and improving my customer confidence because I don't have to run after 10 customers. You can very confidently, comfortably work with two or three clients where you have the same client. If he wins a project of 1GW, that project is yours. You don't have to really run after 10 clients where you have to spend a lot of resources and time. This is the strategy, anyway, they have right from day one. There are some delays in the projects also. You need to properly manage that. You need to really predict which project is having the real financial support and which project will be first and second. That means the prioritisation. That is also important.

How would you improve AmpereHour's margins and operational efficiency?

Expert: They are still going in a very traditional way that they want to supply only the total system. They don't want to give their software as a white label product or something. They don't have to do it right now, but at one point in time, they have to do it because this is such a big market you cannot address alone. You'll have to go with some partners where that partner is badly in need of your software. Otherwise, he will go to some foreign company and he'll buy it for some INR 5 crore or INR 10 crore from China and label it as an Indian product. That will become another big challenge for you to manage that price pressure tomorrow. Better, you, as an expert, introduce your system to many upcoming players and take the responsibility. It is also important to help these OEMs to grow along with you because that will help not only for this company's growth, but also for the country.

O&M services. Smart O&M is the need of the hour. You don't have to really send anybody to the site nowadays. With your battery analytics, with your predictions, with your AI/ML enabled software, you can do multiple things like asset management. Solar and wind are also assets, but battery is a different asset. Any solar/wind asset company cannot do the same work you are supposed to do for a battery system. You can associate it with one of the largest asset management companies, help them to become their partner as a BESS asset management or analytics partner. This is where there is big revenue available, not only for India, but also across the world.

How would you grow AmpereHour through M&A?

Expert: There are many options. Any big international company, big IPP also can look at them as a potential company for acquisition. There are multiple options, but I don't think it is the right time for them to get sold to somebody. They still have a lot of growth opportunities. They have more chances than any other company in India for acquisition by any international company or any large IPP or any big Indian renewable energy entity can buy them. That will add strength to that company. If it is a company like ReNew, for example, a company like Acme, a company like Waaree, can buy this company very well because that will give them more strength and more command over the solution that they can provide to the industry as an end-to-end solution.

Based on publicly announced acquisitions, how would you describe AmpereHour's M&A strategy? Has the company carried out any M&A in the past?

Expert: I'm not sure. Right now, maybe it is not in their immediate priority because they have only Series A funding so far. Maybe by the time it turns into an INR 250 crore-500 crore company, then only they may think about series B. The market is 500-plus-x. Today, if it is INR 100, imagine it is 500x by the time it reaches 2030. There is the biggest gap. 500x is a very big market. They may wait for some time, I believe.

In your opinion, could it make sense for AmpereHour to acquire, merge with or be acquired by any players in or outside the space? What do you believe is the company's long-term goal?

Expert: Being acquired is not a wise decision right now unless there is a big opportunity where they cannot say no. Waiting for one more year is more ideal. By the time the market also reaches a stage where the customer will identify who is better, who is bad and who is best. By the time, they will also have their own identity in the market. Lots of big companies, like any major international company, also need a partner in India as a software, not just as a software, but as a solution provider and which has the capability of analytics, predictability, smart O&M and life cycle management. These are the four core areas where AmpereHour Energy has to prove its identity. Then, the sky is the limit.

What would you say are the 1-2 biggest risks AmpereHour faces?

Expert: The risk is that, as I said, the market is there. At the same time, you have to prioritise which one is the lowest-hanging fruit because completing the project on time is very important. The biggest risk is even changing the technology obsolescence. Tomorrow, when a new technology like sodium ion will come the entire project economics will change. Your value addition may come down because the project value itself has come down from INR 100 rupees to INR 50. When it is INR 100, you have a contribution of INR 2. Now, with INR 50, your contribution may go down to INR 1. That means your margins, your turnover, everything will come down.

Also, the international competition. We don't know. Some companies invest in buying some projects, taking some projects. They invest. They may want to take it at last also because that's an investment for them. Again, the regulations from the government. These regulations may change from time to time. You should have software which can really adapt to these changes and also compete with international companies because these international companies are traditionally known as giant companies, as grid technology companies. You need to put yourself in that basket. Otherwise, this AmpereHour Energy EMS can become one of the 20 companies already available in India that are actually upgraded from SCADA PPC to EMS technology. There are many companies claiming they do have EMS. How does it make a difference? If you want to become one of these 20 guys or one of the five guys who are actually international players. This is how they have to really improve their adaptability and then upgrade their technology and not just like any other SCADA or PPC company who are claiming that they're also EPC companies nowadays.

In your opinion, is there anything the market does not properly understand about AmpereHour? Are there any common misconceptions?

Expert: Most of the people think that AmpereHour Energy can be only a storage company, but actually, it can be a mix of many things. It can be a grid company that can actually do the engineering and support for grid balancing with the help of storage, also as a mix of hybrid technologies like solar and wind together. Many people do not know. Also, people think that AmpereHour Energy is mainly for supplying EMS and something. It has the capability to earn recurring margins, repeat margins by offering these services for smart O&M, analytics services and also augmentation services. These things will come into play a bigger role after three to four years of the installation of the projects. AmpereHour Energy can really play a big role here by offering these services. That means improving their augmentation and reducing the replacement cost by continuously monitoring the systems. These are the additional revenue streams which AmpereHour Energy can develop. That means they can offer [something] that is not known in the market. Many people think that they're also like one more EMS company but with some domain knowledge.