India's Adani eyes wind and solar factory boom under $24bn renewable growth plans
Group is determined to build a domestic supply chain to match the 45GW ambitions of its renewable energy arm
Adani Group, the conglomerate controlled by billionaire Gautum Adani, has begun commercial production of wafer and ingots used for solar power cells and modules, as part of a wider plan to become India's first integrated renewable energy player, according to a senior director at the company.
Adani's own renewables arm Adani Green Energy (AGEL), is pursuing a plan to generate 45GW of renewable power by 2030, and, to support this, the Adani Group is investing heavily in building up industrial supply chain capacity for green kit and inputs.
With production of wafers and ingots up and running at an Adani factory in Gujarat, the group's plans include an expected start to domestic production of polysilicon, a key raw material the solar photovoltaic (PV) supply chain, in either 2027 or 2028, providing Indian alternatives in a global sector increasingly dominated by Chinese suppliers.
Polysilicon for making ingots that are converted into thin sheets called wafer, which is used to make solar power cells.
Indian OEM
Adani is creating a renewable manufacturing hub at the port city of Mundra in Gujarat and will invest more than 300bn rupees ($3.6bn) for expanding its solar cell and its wind turbine manufacturing capacities, Jaain said.
The company's current 4GW capacity of solar cells and modules production is largely exported to the US, Jaain told the news agency, adding that the plan is to raise capacity to 10GW.
ANIL's annual production capacity for wind turbines so far amounts to 1.5GW, but the company aims to increase this to 5GW by March 2027, he said.
Expansion of renewable energy is central to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of India becoming a net carbon zero country by 2070.
Two-thirds of the 45GW renewable generation capacity planned by AGEL will be installed at its $18.01 billion Khavda renewable energy park in Gujarat, bordering Pakistan.
AGEL currently produces 11 GW of green power through various projects.
Of this, 2GW so far produced at Khavda, which Adani says will be the world's biggest renewable energy park even before 2030, when it will produce 26GW of solar power and 4GW of wind energy.
The Khavda project ramp-up is expected to hit 6GW by March 2025. "After that every year we have a plan to set up around 5GW capacity," said Jaain, who is also managing director of AGEL.