From a glass-paneled control room, millions of solar panels interspersed with towering windmills stretch across the barren landscape of Khavda in Gujarat, resembling vast agricultural fields dotted with trees. But this is no farmland. This is Adani Green Energy’s (AGEL) ambitious Khavda Renewable Energy Plant, a colossal project spanning 538 square kilometres, five times the size of Paris and almost as large as Mumbai.
Valued at Rs 1.5 lakh crore, this solar and wind hybrid park holds the distinction of being the world’s largest single-location renewable energy site. Located just a few kilometres from the international border with Pakistan, the facility is set to scale up dramatically, from its current operational capacity of 2.4 GW to an astounding 30 GW by FY30.
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For AGEL, Khavda is the lynchpin in its strategy to reach 50 GW of operational renewable energy capacity by 2030. To put this into perspective, India as a whole aims for 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by the same year, making Khavda a crucial contributor to the country’s clean energy transition.
“AGEL has an annual capex outlay of $4-5 billion, with Khavda as its flagship project. The company will invest heavily in the park,” a source familiar with the development said. The Adani Group is set to raise $4-5 billion in the coming months, with Adani Green absorbing a significant portion of that investment.
The company aims to commission 5 to 7 GW of wind and solar energy annually at Khavda, positioning it as a global leader in renewable energy production.
On Sunday, Adani Green Energy operationalised an additional 480.1 MW of renewable energy capacity at Khavda, bringing its total operational portfolio to 14,217.9 MW.
As of September 2024, India’s total power generation capacity stands at 453 GW. Once fully operational, the Khavda site alone will contribute 6.6% of the nation’s total energy output. AGEL’s overall portfolio could account for more than 10%, according to a recent report by global brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald.
For India, which is committed to reducing carbon emissions and achieving net-zero targets, AGEL represents an investment opportunity, the report noted. AGEL’s operational capacity has grown fourfold in the last five years, and the brokerage expects it to increase another fourfold in the next five.
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