Indian billionaire builds the world's largest clean power plant

An Indian billionaire is building the world's largest power plant, an area five times the size of Paris, visible from space, meeting the electricity needs of 16 million households.

The new wind and solar power plant project will transform the salt desert lands of western India into one of the most important sources of clean energy on the planet, according to CNN . Sagar Adani is the CEO of clean energy company Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) . He is the grandson of Gautam Adani, the second richest man in Asia, with a total assets of 100 billion USD from Adani Group, India's largest coal importer. Established in 1988, this group does business in many fields from seaports, thermal power plants, cement and communications.

Khavda renewable energy park is being built in the state of Gujarat. (Photo: Punit Paranjpe/AFP).

Adani Group's subsidiary AGEL is building a wind and solar power plant in the western Indian state of Gujarat at a cost of about $20 billion. It will be the world's largest renewable energy park when completed within five years and produce enough clean electricity to supply 16 million households in India.

The success of the Khavda Renewable Energy Park project is vital to India's efforts to cut pollution and meet its climate goals, while also meeting the skyrocketing electricity demand of India's most populous country and economy. fastest growing major economy in the world. Currently, coal still accounts for 70% of the electricity produced by India. Located just 19km from the border between India and Pakistan, the park will cover an area of ​​more than 518km2 ^and is the largest power plant on the planet, according to AGEL.

Adani Group's clean power project comes at a time when India is setting some ambitious climate goals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi promises renewable sources such as wind and solar power will meet 50% of electricity demand by the end of the decade. In 2021, Mr. Modi announced that India would reach its zero-emissions target by 2070, two decades later than developed economies. The government aims to achieve 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel generation capacity by 2030. AGEL, the largest renewable energy company in the country, will supply at least 9% of that electricity. , with nearly 30 GW of production from Khavda park in Gujarat.

India is the world's third-largest electricity consumer, although per capita electricity use and emissions are less than half the global average, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Paris. That could change quickly. Due to rising incomes, energy demand has doubled since 2000, with 80% of electricity coming from coal, oil and biomass fuels. Over the next three decades, India's expanding economy will record the fastest growth in electricity demand of any other country.

India will experience annual economic growth of at least 6% over the next few years and could become the third largest economy on the planet by the end of the decade. During the process of development and modernization, urban population will skyrocket, leading to increased construction of houses, offices and many other buildings.

India's electricity demand will increase sharply in the near future due to many factors from improving living standards to climate change. Due to climate change, dangerous heat waves spread across India, pushing up demand for air conditioning. By 2050, India's total electricity demand from residential air conditioning will exceed the total electricity consumption of all of Africa today. Therefore, India cannot rely on fossil fuels to meet rising demand without compromising efforts to tackle the climate crisis.