Khavda, Gujarat: A slender airstrip, bereft of air traffic control, stands isolated in a desolate expanse of land near the Pakistan border. Its minimal facilities include a provisional lavatory and a makeshift office lodged in a shipping container. Despite this unassuming setup, it serves as an entry point to the world’s grandest renewable energy venture.
In December 2022, when Gautam Adani, then the world’s second wealthiest individual, landed here in a petite aircraft, the terrain was untouched and without a postal code. The area owes its name to a village situated 80 kilometers away.
The region’s ground is notably saline, leaving scant room for vegetation or habitation. However, its exceptional solar radiation, second only to Ladakh in India, and wind velocities five times the plains, marked it as an apt locale for a renewable energy sanctuary. Eighteen kilometers from the airstrip through dusty, arid land is where Adani’s Khavda renewable energy park sprawls across 538 square kilometers—approximately fivefold the size of Paris.
Upon his arrival, Adani humorously commented on the absence of even mosquitoes. Yet, since then, his enterprise has erected solar arrays to capture the sun’s energy and wind turbines to exploit 8 meters-per-second wind speeds. The conglomerate also established accommodations for its workforce, desalination plants to convert saline water into potable supplies, and amenities like mobile phone repair shops.
Adani Green Energy Ltd, the nation’s largest purveyor of renewable power, intends to inject approximately Rs 1.5 lakh crore to produce 30 megawatts of eco-friendly electricity at Khavda, as stated by its Managing Director Vneet Jaain.
“We’ve commissioned 2,000 MW (2 GW) capacity at Khavda and plan to augment it by 4 GW this fiscal year and an additional 5 GW annually thereafter,” Jaain remarked. The airstrip serves as a conveyance hub for group personnel from Mundra or Ahmedabad several times weekly.
Bhuj’s air traffic control, 160 kilometers distant, guides pilots up to the ‘Tent City’ region, after which aviators navigate independently for the final 80 kilometers, including landing. “We rely on visual indicators and avionics systems for landing. For takeoff, we inform Bhuj via telephone of our intentions,” an Adani Group pilot explained.
The periphery of the energy park is one kilometer from the Pakistan border, monitored by the BSF. Executives mentioned the airstrip was constructed within just 35 days in a region where tractors required modification to function effectively in soil that resisted water absorption.
The locale presents distinct challenges: frequent dust storms from March to June, minimal communication and transport infrastructure, proximity to the nearest inhabited area 80 km away, and saline groundwater, along with it being a restricted zone.
Executives disclosed that while some laborers hail from Khavda village, housing is being created to accommodate 8,000 workers. Adani group’s renewable endeavors rank among the nation’s most audacious, aspiring to generate 500 GW of electricity from non-fossil sources by 2030, aligning with the broader plan for achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
At full capacity, Khavda will produce 81 billion units of electricity, sufficient to power nations like Belgium, Chile, and Switzerland. Jaain specified that the planned 30 GW at Khavda comprises 26 GW of solar and 4 GW of wind capacity. AGEL’s current operational portfolio includes 7,393 MW of solar, 1,401 MW of wind, and 2,140 MW of wind-solar hybrid capacity.
Khavda’s environment features 2,060 kWh/m2 of robust solar radiation and superior wind resources, with speeds of 8 meters per second. Persistent sandstorms necessitate multiple daily cleanings of solar panels. The project will utilize waterless robotic cleaning systems, according to executives. The land, owned by the government, was leased to Adani group for 40 years.
Executives elaborated that over the last five years, Adani Green conducted geotechnical, seismic, and centrifuge studies at Cambridge, resource assessments, land evaluations, and numerous environmental impact studies before embarking on the site’s development.
Construction commenced in 2022. The comprehensive development included building 100 km of roads, 50 km of drainage systems, establishing desalination and three reverse osmosis plants with a combined capacity of 70 cubic meters per hour to meet the drinking water needs of project staff, laying 180 km of optical fiber cables for connectivity, and constructing concrete batching plants.