Adani Green to invest $3 billion in backward integration to expand solar capacity: MD ​Vneet Jaain

Adani Green Energy, one of India’s largest renewable companies, is expanding its solar and wind power capacity. Vneet Jaain, managing director, Adani Green Energy, and director, Adani New Industries, tells Kalpana Pathak that the company plans to invest $3 billion in backward integration to support its plan to more than double its current solar manufacturing capacity. Edited excerpts:

You are planning to expand your solar power capacity?

Yes. Currently, we are at 4 GW and by 2027, we plan to be at 10 GW. We would be investing $3 billion over 5-7 years in expanding capacity and for this, we are backward integrating our operations through the electronic manufacturing cluster at Mundra which is spread over 700 acres. We started with solar wherein we made the modules, the cells, the wafer, and the ingots. We then have plans to go further backward on the polysilicon side. We have also formed joint ventures for the manufacturing of EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate), back sheets, aluminium frames etc. So, whatever goes as input in making a panel, we will be manufacturing it.You are also building a hybrid energy park at Khavda?
Yes. We are building the world’s largest hybrid renewable energy park in Khavda, Gujarat; we are setting up 20 GW of solar and wind combined, which will be operational in the next five years. Overall, we are the largest in the country with an operational capacity of 8,000 MW plus right now. This year, we would be adding around 3.5 GW and then next year, it may be 5 or 6 GW. This is the best site in the country for both solar as well as wind resources. It has not been easy to develop this place and do something at this scale. We are very excited about Khavda.

What about your wind energy plans?
In the wind energy segment, we were finding it very challenging to get supply from other original equipment manufacturers and there was also no control on pricing. So, we decided to start our own manufacturing platform and launched the 5.2 MW wind turbine generators. It is on the RLMM list now. Currently, we are at 1.5 GW capacity which we will scale up to 5 GW and then 10 GW in the next five to seven years.

How will Adani Green fund these projects?
We have around ₹5,000 crore of cash and cash equivalent with us at Adani Green. We will look at a combination of debt and equity like we have done in the past too. What about your green hydrogen plans?
We are looking at electrolyser manufacturing currently. We plan to go in a big way on green hydrogen from the supply chain sustainability aspect. We are working on all three – anion-exchange membrane, alkaline as well and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) technologies as each technology has its own advantages. Initially, we plan to manufacture green hydrogen at 1 million tonnes per annum as the first phase will be operational by 2027.