Adani Group to invest 2 lakh crores in renewable energy

The Adani Group intends to invest around Rs 2 lakh crore by 2030 to build 40 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity as it aims to achieve net zero corporate emissions by 2050, top officials said today.

The Apple-To-Airport conglomerate currently has more than 10 GW of capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind, and aims to add 6-7 GW annually to reach 50 GW by 2030

CEO Amit Singh said the company will also build a 5 GW pumped hydroelectric power plant to meet peak power demand at night when there is no sunlight and wind intensity is not strong enough for wind turbines to produce electricity. Carbon credits generated by renewable energy sources, along with several other measures, will help the group reach net zero by 2050.

AGEL added 2.8 GW of capacity in fiscal 2023-24 (April 2023 to March 2024), which was 15 per cent of India’s total renewable capacity addition, Singh said. Going forward, such capacity addition or more is likely to happen every year, Adani said, adding that 80 per cent of the 50 GW of capacity will come from solar and the rest from wind.

The conglomerate is building factories that will produce wafers used in solar panels to generate electricity and wind turbines.

Singh said the group is now considering producing 3 MW wind turbines for areas with lower wind speeds. It currently produces 5.2 MW wind turbines, which are suitable for high potential areas such as Khavada in Gujarat.

India is the world’s third largest economy in terms of energy demand and its energy demand is expected to grow by 25-35% by 2030. Peak energy demand is estimated at 366.4 GW in 2031-32.