Mr. Sagar Adani, CEO of Indian renewable energy company AGEL of the Adani Group, is running a project to turn barren salt deserts in India's western state of Gujarat into the Khavda Renewable Energy Park. – a large wind and solar power plant – at a cost of about 20 billion USD.
Adani Group's Khavda Renewable Energy Park is being built in the Indian state of Gujarat. Photo: AFP
Khavda Renewable Energy Park is expected to be completed in about 5 years, promising to generate enough clean electricity to supply 16 million households in India. The project's success will help India reduce pollution and achieve its climate goals, meeting growing energy needs. Currently 70% of India's electricity is produced from coal.
AGEL says the park will cover more than 200 square miles and be the largest power plant on the planet. “An area that is too large, an unobstructed area, with no wildlife, no vegetation, no habitat. There is no other better use for that land,” Mr. Adani said.
Currently, Adani Group is pouring billions of dollars into the clean energy sector. The corporation plans to invest $100 billion in the energy transition over the next decade, with 70% of the investment dedicated to clean energy.
Adani Group's clean energy shift comes at a time when India has set some ambitious climate goals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged that renewable sources such as solar and wind power will meet 50% of India's energy needs by the end of the decade.
India has set a target of 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel generation capacity by 2030. AGEL aims to contribute at least 9% of that, with nearly 30 GW generated just exclusively from Khavda Park in the state of Gujarat.
“India has no choice but to start doing things at a scale never seen before,” Mr. Adani said. India cannot forever rely on fossil fuels for its growing needs due to concerns about its impact on the climate crisis.
“Adding 800 GW of coal-fired power capacity will kill all other sustainable energy initiatives going on around the world, in terms of carbon emissions,” Mr. Adani said.
Solar panel arrays at Khavda Renewable Energy Park. Photo: AFP
The Adani Group is not only one of the largest developers and operators of coal mines in India but also operates the controversial Carmichael Coal Mine in Australia. The mine has faced fierce opposition from climate change campaigners, who say it is a “death sentence” for the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
“Instead of pouring billions of dollars into new fossil fuel projects, India would be much better served if Adani devoted 100% of its efforts and resources to developing low-cost, zero-emission technologies.” , said Mr. Tim Buckley, director of the Sydney-based Climate Energy Finance research organization.
However, Mr. Adani said that activists in developed countries, which have historically emitted more greenhouse gases, often cannot understand the incredible challenge that India faces in simultaneously develop the economy and clean energy industry.
“It is very important that each country has its own right to ensure that the people of the country are well served from an energy perspective,” Mr. Adani said, adding that more than 600 million people in India will have middle and high income in the next decade. They cannot be deprived of their basic energy needs.
In addition to being the CEO of AGEL, Mr. Sagar Adani is also the grandson of Gautam Adani, the second richest man in Asia who owns a fortune of $100 billion from the Adani Group - India's largest coal importer. Founded in 1988, the group does business in fields ranging from ports and thermal power plants to communications and cement.
Hoai Phuong (according to CNN)
