Adani will build India's largest privately-funded coal power plant within a decade
The group of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani will build and run a $3 billion coal fired power plant with a capacity of 2.4 gigawatts in Bihar, the company announced on Thursday. This is the largest coal plant built in India by private investment in over a decade.
Adani Power announced that the first of the three units will be completed within four years and the last unit in five.
After more than a decade, private investors are now returning to India's coal-based greenfield power projects.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to increase the coal-based power capacity in India by 80 GW or more than one-third by 2032, to more than 300 GW. They say it is necessary to provide reliable, 24/7 power.
The coal share of India's energy mix is beginning to decline significantly due to the rapid expansion of renewables following the COVID-19 epidemic.
China, the world's largest coal consumer, has reduced its dependency on coal.
Adani Power will build its largest new plant in eastern Bihar with the project in Pirpainti. This is since their 3.3 GW Tiroda was completed in 2014.
In a press release, the company said that it will provide power to Bihar’s state-run distributors at a cost of just under 6 Indian rupees (US $0.0684) per kilowatt-hour from its Pirpainti facility.
Adani operates coal-fired capacity of 18.1 GW in eight states with 12 plants in India. In May, it won a bid to build a 1.5 GW facility in northern Uttar Pradesh and in September 2024, a 1.6GW facility in Maharashtra.
(source: Reuters)
