India’s Adani Enterprises To Install 10 GW Solar Power Capacity In Rajasthan

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The trend of direct agreements with private sector project developers and state governments in India to set up large-scale solar power projects continues as Adani Enterprises announces plans to set up India’s largest solar energy park.

Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government of Rajasthan to set up a 10 GW solar power park over the next 10 years. The first phase of the project will see 5 GW power capacity added during the next five years.

Adani Enterprises will also set up the associated infrastructure for this huge solar power park. The company plans to set up transmission lines as well as solar module manufacturing units. The solar power park itself would require an estimated investment of about $10 billion.

This agreement comes just weeks after Adani Enterprises signed an agreement with SunEdison to set up India’s largest solar module manufacturing unit which would see an investment of $4 billion.

When fully commissioned, the project will generate over 16.6 billion kWh every year and will offset about 15 million tonnes of CO2e emissions every year.

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Several companies are now looking to bypass the competitive auction mode to set up solar power projects in India. This allows companies to set up as much capacity as they desire without going through the hassles of aggressive bidding. SunEdison had recently signed agreements to set up 5 GW of solar power capacity each in Karnataka and Rajasthan. Welspun Energy signed a similar agreement to set up 100 MW solar power capacity. Azure Power also announced plans to set up 1 GW solar power capacity in Rajasthan.

The previous government had planned to set up a 4 GW solar energy park in Rajasthan. The project was subsequently cancelled due to political reasons. The Rajasthan state government then set an ambitious goal to set up 25 GW solar power capacity over the next 5 years.