Adani Green Operational Capacity Up By 49% At 8,086 MW

Adani Green is the country’s largest green energy firm with a total installed capacity of 20,000 MW.

The company said it has commissioned a 325 MW wind power plant in Madhya Pradesh, a 212 MW solar power plant in Rajasthan, and India's first and the world's largest 2,140 MW solar-wind hybrid power plants in Rajasthan.

The capacity expansion is a part of the group’s larger strategy to reduce leverage levels by enhancing efficiency across verticals and boosting the group’s overall operating profit.

On 6 April, Mint first reported that the Adani group, in recent meetings with creditors, has outlined plans to lower the group’s leverage ratio from 4.1 times now to 3.1 by the end of FY24, chiefly by increasing earnings rather than reducing debt, which is worth around $23 billion.

The group plans to boost its operating profit by nearly 50% to around ₹91,000 crore over the next two fiscal years, helping lower its leverage ratios and assuaging the concerns of investors and creditors.

Adani’s new strategy draws significance in the backdrop of short-seller Hindenburg Research’s damning report on 24 January terming the group as over-leveraged.

The addition in Adani Green’s capacity may help the group work on its target to accelerate earnings growth to 20-22% during FY2024-25.

The group’s net debt-to-EBITDA ratio in 2013 was 7.6 times and declined to 3.2 in March 2022 but later increased to around 4.1 again during FY23, according to the Mint report. The group’s total debt stands at ₹2.27 trillion as on 31 March 2023.

Backed by the recent capacity addition, on Friday, Adani Green said its energy sales grew by 58% year-on-year to 14.9 billion units in FY23 compared to 9.43 billion in FY22.

“Adani Green aims to achieve a renewable energy capacity of 45 GW by 2030 and to keep average tariff below Average Power Purchase Cost at national level," said the company in an exchange filing on Friday.

Under the company's solar energy portfolio, the company recorded a 29% YoY growth in sales to 10,457 million units in FY23, primarily through the integration of SB Energy operational portfolio (1,700 MW) and the 212 MW capacity commissioned in Rajasthan during FY23, resulting in an effective operating capacity increase, said the filing. The integration has resulted in a 90 bps increase in capacity utilisation factor and a 50 bps improvement in grid availability.

Under the wind energy business, Adani Green reported a 37% YoY jump in sales to 1,820 million units in FY23 due to a capacity increase from 497 MW to 971 MW.

During the March quarter alone, Adani Green operationalised a 700 MW solar-wind hybrid project, taking the total hybrid capacity to 2,140 MW. The company's energy in the last quarter of FY2023 increased by 69% YoY to 428 million units, primarily due to 100% plant availability, the company said.

On Thursday, Adani Green shares ended marginally lower at ₹941.15 apiece on the NSE. Indian markets were shut on Friday on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti.