Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani announced that he would build three Giga factories via his ports-to-power conglomerate. These factories will utilize the $70 billion investment to manufacture solar modules, wind turbines, and hydrogen electrolyzers. The chairman of the Adani group, speaking at an event where he was conferred the USIBC Global Leadership Award, stated that the factories would be one of the world’s most integrated green-energy value chains.
‘This is part of Adani’s plan to invest USD 70 billion in clean energy by 2030. With the fulfillment of this plan, there will be an addition of 45 GW to Adani Group’s existing 20 GW capacity as well as 3 million tons of hydrogen by 2030. This value chain will be fully indigenous and aligned with the geopolitical needs of our nation. However, I believe we can further accelerate our goals with support from companies in the US that are willing to work with us,’ Gautam Adani said after receiving the USIBC Global Leadership Award in New Delhi.
Adani’s announcement closely follows that of Reliance Industries. Reliance Industries, the country’s largest company by revenues, announced plans to build a fifth gigafactory. A source indicated it would produce Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries of 25 gigawatt-hours capacity, which will cost at least $3.5 billion.
Gigafactory is a generic term that refers to facilities producing batteries for electric vehicles on a large scale. It is a term used by Tesla, the famous electric car manufacturer, announcing their battery manufacturing facilities. Their success has led to the generalization of the term ‘gigafactory’ to mean any extremely large facility manufacturing batteries and infrastructure used for producing clean energy.
The Adani Group Ventures
Adani has become the third richest man in the world after Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. At 60 years, he has spent the past few years expanding his coal-to-ports conglomerate. He has ventured into virtually everything from media to data centers, cement, and alumina. Adani also spoke about India’s semiconductor industry, stating that although India has the best global pool for millions of engineers, especially companies from America, value addition to businesses happens outside India. He mentioned the need for the US to support India through its technology transfer. Adani group currently is India’s largest city gas distributor, coal mine and owns the largest private-sector port and airport operator.
The Adani group has a Carmichael mine in Australia. This mine has received criticism, which has caused the group to pledge a $70 billion investment in green energy. While it has a goal to tackle climate change, it would like to become the world’s largest renewable-energy producer.
This movement toward green energy projects has granted Adani investments from firms, including Warburg Pincus and TotalEnergies SE, granting Adani access into the US-dominated echelons.
‘There has been a lot of talk about developed nations supporting developing nations, but far more needs to be done urgently—in terms of partnering in this space. Cooling the planet down is necessary and can be one of the most profitable businesses over the next several decades,‘ Adani added.
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