Adani Project Reaches 13 Gigawatts in India

Adani Green Energy now generates 13 gigawatts of solar and wind power at its Khavda project in Gujarat, India. The company constructed the facility on a 200-plus-square-mile salt flat, requiring fiber optic cable installation and a desalination plant to support a 15,000-person work camp. In February 2024, the first 551 megawatts went online, supplying electricity to Mumbai and other cities.

Adani paired the solar farm with a 1.1-gigawatt/3.5 gigawatt-hour battery, recently commissioned, which allows for power sales at higher rates after sunset. They plan to add another 10 gigawatt-hours of storage by next April. Simultaneously, China is building large-scale solar in remote regions like the Tibetan Plateau, with the Talatan Solar Park in Qinghai Province already producing nearly 17 gigawatts.

In California’s Central Valley, the Westlands Water District plans a 21-gigawatt solar complex on fallow farmland, aiming to overcome challenges with U.S. energy planning and transmission. While these projects demonstrate the potential for gigawatt-scale solar, complexities remain in land access, workforce management, and grid integration. The work to scale up renewable energy continues.