As Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) recently secured USD 1.36 billion financing for the Khavda Renewable Energy Project, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani expressed his pride in playing a “crucial role” in India’s strides in the energy sector. Named after the local village, Khavda Renewable Energy Park is set to be the world’s largest renewable energy project.
Taking to X on Wednesday (December 7) Adani shared a picture of the under-construction renewable energy park as he underscored the salient features of his ambitious project. He boasted the green energy park in Kutchh district as his company’s commitment to the Solar Alliance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
“Proud to play a crucial role in India’s impressive strides in renewable energy as we build the world’s largest green energy park. This monumental project, covering 726 sq km in the challenging Rann desert, is visible even from space. We will generate 30GW to power over 20 million homes. Also, just 150 km away, in our karmabhoomi Mundra, we are creating one of the globe’s most extensive and integrated renewable energy manufacturing ecosystems for solar and wind. This marks a significant milestone in India’s journey towards sustainable energy, underlining our commitment to the Solar Alliance and the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative,” Adani posted.
Proud to play a crucial role in India's impressive strides in renewable energy as we build the world's largest green energy park. This monumental project, covering 726 sq km in the challenging Rann desert, is visible even from space. We will generate 30GW to power over 20 million… pic.twitter.com/FMIe8ln7Gn
— Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) December 7, 2023
When completed three years from now, what is likely to be the world’s largest renewable energy project will rise from the stark expanse of the tremendous salt desert that separates India and Pakistan. According to AGEL, this solar and wind energy project would be so gigantic that it would be visible from space.
In the images of the under-construction project shared by Gautam Adani, workers can be seen installing solar panels in the vast desert. One image shows the ongoing construction of a massive tower of a wind turbine. Thousands of workers are working on the site to install pillars and frameworks to install solar panels, constructing wind turbines, laying wires and building sub-stations, while others are engaged in transporting various materials to the site.
All these activities are going in the middle of Rann of Kutch, an unforgiving salt desert and marshland far away from human habitation, close to one of the most tense international borders in the world. KSRK Verma, Khavda project head for Adani Green Energy Limited, said that it is one of the most difficult projects he’s undertaken, due to the nature of the area. “It’s not at all an easy site to work at, there is no habitation, the land is marshy, there are a lot of high winds, rains and this is a high earthquake prone area,” said Vneet Jaain, managing director of Adani Green.
The project will be roughly the size of Singapore, spanning 726 square kilometres (280 square miles) following the completion of its construction. It should be noted that the Indian government estimated the cost of the project will amount to at least $2.26 billion. On December 5, AGEL announced follow-on funding of USD 1.36 billion to further boost its Construction Financing Framework to USD 3 Billion backed by a consortium of 8 renowned international banks.
“The green loan facility has been extended by a consortium of lenders which include– BNP Paribas, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., DBS Bank Ltd, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., MUFG Bank, Ltd., Societe Generale, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation,” a press release issued by Adani Renewables reads.
The funding for Adani Group’s green energy project comes at a time when the transition to renewable energy was highlighted as a key issue at the ongoing Conference of Parties (COP28) climate summit.
An Associated Press report says that to get the project up and running, an estimated 4000 labourers and 500 engineers have been working around the clock, living in makeshift camps for most of the year. Following its completion, which might take up to three years, the project will provide 30 gigawatts of renewable energy, sufficient to power 1.80 crore Indian households.
The Adani Group is producing the solar and wind energy components for the project around 200 kilometres (124 miles) away in the industrial city of Mundra, located along Gujarat’s coastline. It’s one of the select sites in the country where most solar energy components are produced. Certain factories here function comparable to laboratories, necessitating the use of protective gear, masks, and head coverings to keep out dust particles that could harm solar cells.
The wind energy factory in Mundra aims to produce 300 turbines a year, with each blade stretching nearly 79 meters and weighing 22 metric tons. Each wind turbine generator is capable of producing 5.2 megawatts of clean energy.
