Markets & Policy

The clean energy major has raised investment from Finnish impact investor Finnfund in its public charging point operator business Fortum Charge and Drive India.

The Group’s renewable energy business (Adani Green Energy) has a market value of US$15.6 billion, which is 40% more than India’s largest thermal power generator NTPC—a company with 22 times as much capacity. The RE business is of serious global investor interest, but also materially exposed to the wider Group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) standing. By committing to phased closure of coal plants, Adani Group could lower the risk to global capital access while aligning with the government’s vision for energy independence through fast-growing reliance on renewables.

Climate Policy Initiative and REConnect Energy have developed an innovative mechanism called Garuda to retire old, inefficient thermal plants with equivalent renewable capacity. The scheme proposes a blended tariff that would include the normal tariff for the new renewable energy plant plus the cost of decommissioning the old fossil fuel plant, while making the provision for green bonds to finance RE. 

Indian solar sector remained buoyant even amid Covid pandemic as 15.3 GW of solar capacity (including solar-wind hybrid) was sanctioned in the current year’s first half itself. However, returns expectations from equity investments rose from around 14% in the first half of 2019 to 16-17%, indicating heightened risk perceptions among investors.

Led by Vikas Bansal, the Seville-based office will target Europe’s growing solar market in countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy and Poland.

India’s state-owned electricity distribution companies (Discoms) are in dire financial straits, as they owe some $16 billion to generators, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Despite this, national PV auctions have been oversubscribed and are setting record low tariffs in the country, indicating strong interest from developers – if the Discom challenge can be overcome.

Initially, solar plants shall be set up at airports in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, which require a PV capacity of around 55 MW and 8 MW, respectively, to become 100% solar-powered.

The latest addition takes Adani Green Energy’s operational renewable energy capacity to 2,850 MW, including 2353 MW under a joint venture with French oil and gas major Total.

The state-run power company has invited engineering, procurement and construction services contractors and developers to bid for its solar project contracts, excluding the supply of PV modules. Applications can be submitted until November 19.

Electric vehicles will account for 65-75% of new three-wheeler (3W) sales by 2030. Intra-city transport buses will see 25-40% EV penetration and two-wheelers 25-35%. In four-wheeler passenger vehicles, the market will be driven by shared mobility, while just 10-15% of new car sales for personal mobility will be electric.