Adani Group, already one of the world's largest solar power producers, announced the expansion of its solar manufacturing business to meet the growing demand for solar panels in India and worldwide. Aluminium is preferred for making solar panels due to its lightweight properties and tensile strength. For the successful implementation of this project, a massive amount of aluminium panels or extrusions would be demanded by the Indian-origin conglomerate.
According to sources, the conglomerate aims to build 10 GW of solar manufacturing capacity by 2027, with the new manufacturing capacity to be set up at Adani's Mundra Special Economic Zone in Gujarat. Currently, Adani's solar manufacturing capacity is at 4 GW.
Adani Solar has secured a robust order book of over 3,000 MW in exports, projected to be serviced within the next 15 months. Adani has raised USD 394 million from Barclays PLC and Deutsche Banks AG to finance solar manufacturing through a trade finance facility.
Although India's solar energy generation has significantly increased, the manufacturing ecosystem has failed to keep up. To address this, the government has employed both trade and non-trade barriers, such as safeguard tariffs, an approved list of module manufacturers, and a production-linked incentive scheme. This has encouraged private firms, like Adani Group, to invest in the solar manufacturing sector in India.
Adani Solar has made impressive progress in expanding its manufacturing capacity. From a 1.2 GW cell and module manufacturing capacity in 2016, the company now boasts a staggering 4 GW module and 4 GW cell capacity. Adani has established India's largest solar PV capacity for cells and modules in the Mundra SEZ, with over 7 GW of modules sold since its establishment.
Adani Solar is committed to a greener tomorrow and is embarking on a groundbreaking project in Mundra, Gujarat, to build the world's first fully integrated 10 GW solar manufacturing ecosystem by 2027. The plant is expected to create over 13,000 green jobs and establish a complete solar production ecosystem - from metallurgical grade Silicon to Photo-Voltaic modules, including all ancillaries and supporting utilities, strategically co-located for maximum efficiency.
Among the ancillaries will be glass, EVA, back sheet, junction box and aluminium frames. Aluminium is 100% recyclable and can retain its original properties after vigorous rounds of transformation, which helps create a circular economy throughout the value chain, propelling a material loop. Aluminium stands synonymously as a green metal when we think about green energy.
Solar panels are the most popular energy modules of the future, making the world a more sustainable place and amplifying the demand for silica, glass and aluminium in the next few years.
Alliances with prominent global institutes and certification laboratories like ISC, UNSW, PI Berlin, Fraunhofer, and others have aided the company's technological prowess. According to the rating agency Icra, India's solar cell and module exports by domestic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) reached INR 8,840 crore in the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23), a 364 per cent increase from INR 1,819 in FY22.
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