Adani Power to set up 140 MW Solar PV Capacity in India even as it looks to grow in Africa

Adani Power,which is a leading Indian electricity company and part of the Adani Group is set to invest big money in the solar power in India.The company plans to set up 140 MW of energy capacity according to news reports with an investment of $600 million.Given the current costs of solar equipment and solar panels ,the price tag looks high at almost $3.5 million/MW when the current prices are more like $2 million/MW for large power plants in low cost locations like India.

Solar Panels can be bought in bulk for 90c/watt from high quality solar panel manufacturers around the world like Suntech,Trina and others.Adani Power like other power producers faces a torrid time as coal has become very difficult to get as Indonesia has imposed export duties on power.Adani Power which was in the race to become the biggest power utility in India is now looking to Africa to expand.The company which has all its capacity based on coal has to diversify to renewable energy given the CERC mandate to make India’s 15% Energy Generation.

Note the Adanis too followed the strategy of acquiring coal mines in Australia and Indonesia at high prices.Now these expensive M&A have become millstones as these countries have imposed conditionalities on export of coal which has made them very expensive to import.The price of imported coal is in fact so high that the companies can’t sell electricity at a profit.Read more below.

Another Coal Billion Dollar Acquisition as India’s Adani Group acquires Australian Coal Port Abbot Point

Coal M&A is picking up at a feverish pace as the demand and price of coal shoot through the roof.Note Coal is the cheapest fossil fuel and powers most of the world’s power plants despite its disadvantages.The abundance and cheapness of coal has managed to hide its deleterious effects.Indian and Chinese companies are gobbling up coal mines and companies globally as they rush to secure raw material for the growing thermal power plant capacity.Adani Power is part of Adani Group with capacity of 1980MW.The company currently operates India’s only supercritical power plant  in Gujarat. The company is currently implementing 16500 MW at different stages of construction..The company is currently implementing thermal projects of 3300MW at Maharashtra and 1320MW  at Rajasthan.

Australian,Indonesian,African Coal Mines Selling like Hot Cakes amongst Power Hungry Indian,Chinese Comanies

With domestic coal production rising at a snail’s pace,these companies are racing to secure coal supplies at whatever price they can get.Steel companies too are hungry for coal as it forms a major component of their product.Lanco Solar,Adani Power,Reliance Power,Tata Power,Tata Steel,Coal India have all bought or are in the process of buying coal mines and coal companies in foreign countries.Australian and Indonesian miners are minting top dollar as competition hots up with Rio and BHP Billtion also using thier massive cash hoard into play.Australian coal mining company Whitehaven Coal is the latest to put iself on the selling block with a price tag of more than $3 billion.More than 20 companies are set to be looking into entering the tendering process.