AGEL Commissions 600 MW Capacity of World’s Largest Hybrid Power Plant

A wind-solar hybrid power plant in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, with a 600 MW of capacity has been commissioned by Adani Green Energy (AGEL). The hybrid power project has been developed by two subsidiaries, Adani Hybrid Energy Jaisalmer Two and Adani Hybrid Energy Jaisalmer Three.

According to the official statement, the project would include 150 MW of wind power and 600 MW of solar power. Interestingly, the first and previous largest hybrid power plant in India, with a 390 MW capacity, was operationalized by AGEL in May 2022 in Jaisalmer.

To increase power production, the solar project in this hybrid set up makes use of bifacial solar modules and horizontal single-axis tracker technology. With Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), Adani had entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 25 years at a rate of Rs. 2.69 per kWh. The rate was authorized by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in May 2020.

In March 2019, SECI issued a call for proposals to establish 1,200 MW of solar-wind hybrid generation plants (Tranche II) connected to the ISTS. The projects were slated to be launched in 2021–2022. The tender got proposals for only 900 MW of the total capacity, which indicates that it was undersubscribed. Adani Renewable Energy Park (Gujarat), which offered a tariff of Rs. 2.69 per kWh for a capacity of 600 MW, was declared the winning bidder in the auction on May 27, 2019.

At the time these projects were being put into service, SECI had agreed to sell the full 600 MW to distribution licensees at the discovered rate of Rs. 2.69 per kWh with a trading margin of Rs 0.07 per kWh. 500 MW were given to Punjab State Power Corporation and 100 MW to India Power Corporation based on the distribution licensees’ requests.

With this 600 MW project AGEL has a total operational generation capacity of 6.7 GW, including a 1 GW operational hybrid power generation capacity.