Better Solar Technology Covers Up For Wind Issues In Hybrid Projects For Adani Green

Adani Green added 2140MW of renewable energy from its hybrid projects

Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), in its latest financial results for Q1 of FY24, reported a decline in Capacity Utilisation Factor (CUF) for its wind portfolio. It attributed its lower CUF to the Biporjoy cyclone in Gujarat and lower wind speeds in the state. 

However, the latest investors call of the company to discuss the Q1 results revealed that the company has high hopes for better solar technologies to cover up the issue of variable wind energy. 

The communication of the top honchos of the company during the call hinted that the firm is now looking to pin their hopes on solar energy in their hybrid projects. The hybrid portfolio of the company has meanwhile risen from 390 MW in Q1 of FY 22 to 2,140 MW during the Q1 of FY24. 

“From a hybrid perspective, actually, hybrid is basically, as you know, is a combination of solar and wind. And if you look at our solar fleet per se, solar fleet has consistently been showing a higher amount of CUF number per se. So I think you should look at the hybrid portfolio from that perspective,” Phuntsok Wangyal, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) said. 

“Others also talked about the higher utility of solar in hybrid projects. “Hybrids are for us are more solar heavy. So it’s project by project, 360 : 100, 600 : 150, 420 : 105 and in case of 700, it is 600 : 500. So this is a split between solar and wind. So all those are solar heavy,” Raj Kumar Jain, Head (Business Development) at AGEL said.

Jain added that some of the advanced technology plants came into operation last year’s first quarter. “I can probably give a range that we are talking about now a CUF of close to 33% to 34% for solar, whatever we are implementing based on the technologies, new technologies which we have adopted and moving ahead further,” Jain said. 

Meanwhile, the company administration also talked about higher integration of large turbines of 5.2 MW, especially with their wind power systems at Khavda in Rajasthan. It said that although the relative CUF from such higher wind turbines could be lower on an LCOE basis, it would be much better in such areas. 

“So it’s a 5.2-megawatt turbine, just to be correct on the number rating. And as I have indicated in my earlier comment, the cost, as you know, is significantly lower on a per megawatt basis than the alternatives available. However, the larger the turbine, the per megawatt generation, which basically also goes down, and we are aware of that. And that is where we look at all these from an LCOE perspective and the LCOE for these wind turbines because of those being more suitable for the sites, which we have chosen, gives it a significant advantage for us,” Jain said.

He also added that these turbines when have been optimized, having 5 to 6 years of Khavda wind data. 

The company also said that Adani Enterprises is developing manufacturing facilities. It has 4 GW of module manufacturing capacity of MonoPERC as well as TOPCon module, which are already up and running, whereas the company is also doing backward integration further down to ingot and wafer in states. It also indicated of the probability of going for polysilicon too. 

“But they also have significant tie-ups for ancillaries in terms of co-investing in glass, module, frame, etcetera, and other ancillaries to ensure that the cost for them is competitive. That’s one. The wind turbine manufacturing is already up and running. As we speak, they are awaiting the last clearance from MNRE to be able to commercially launch the wind turbine, and that can come any time. So they are fully ready to now start producing this particular turbine,” Jain said.