Adani Green races ahead, but a sluggish grid isn't helping

Adani Green Energy Ltd, India’s largest renewable energy company, reported a sharp jump in revenue for the July-September period, as it continued its rapid expansion of power generation capacity. But the inability of India’s power grid to keep pace prompted the company to curtail production during the period, denting margins.

The Ahmedabad-based company reported a 45% year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue from power supply at ₹4,109 crore. However, the consolidated profit attributable to shareholders grew relatively slower at 15% to ₹673 crore.

As of 30 September, Adani Green Energy had an operational power generation capacity of 20.8GW, 24% more than a year ago and the most for any renewable energy company in India. It operationalized 621MW of capacity during the September quarter alone, comparable to the overall capacity of a mid-sized renewable energy company.

“As India’s largest renewable energy company, we take pride in driving the sector’s momentum,” Ashish Khanna, the company’s chiefexecutive officer (CEO), said in a press statement. “This is reflected in our strong execution in H1 FY27, with our operational renewable energy portfolio growing 24% year-on-year to 20.8 gigawatt (GW) and energy sales increasing 32%, supporting robust operating performance across our solar, wind and hybrid assets,” he said.

However, India’s power grid couldn’t pull power from Adani’s solar farms and wind mills as effectively. Delays in capacity expansion meant that grid availability for the company was less than 80% during the quarter, leading to so-called curtailment, referring to an intentional reduction in power output to keep the grid balanced. More power generation than the demand could result in damage to the grid equipment.

“Adani Green Energy’s renewable energy generation is facing grid-side constraints, particularly transmission curtailment during daytime peak hours at its solar assets,” said Harshraj Aggarwal, executive vice president, institutional equity research at Yes Securities.

The company had high plant availability at 99.3%, meaning that its assets were able to provide power nearly all the time during the quarter. However, solar grid availability declined to 78.9%, leading to curtailment.

“This highlights a disconnect between the readiness of generation assets and the availability of transmission infrastructure to evacuate power,” Aggarwal said.

During the quarter, Adani Green Energy operationalized battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity of just over 3GW, taking its installed BESS capacity to 6.6GW, the most for any company in India.

“This makes AGEL India’s largest BESS operator, accounting for more than half of the country’s operational capacity. We remain focused on scaling up storage deployment while closely monitoring the availability of transmission infrastructure,” CEO Khanna said.

Shares of Adani Green Energy Ltd closed 3.26% lower on the BSE on Wednesday at ₹1,257.6, giving the company market capitalization of ₹2.07 trillion. Benchmark Sensex ended the session 0.19% lower.

Nehal chronicles India’s top conglomerates for Mint. From navigating the complexities of big-bang mergers and large-scale fundraises to decoding high-profile recruitments and seemingly inexplicable corporate pivots, Nehal focuses on unpacking the long-term strategies of the country’s most influential business houses. He aims to provide readers with a clear-eyed view of how these corporate titans shape the broader Indian economy.<br><br>His professional journey began at The Economic Times in 2018, where he spent over five years before joining Mint in 2023. Over his career, he has tracked diverse sectors like automobiles, metals, cement, power, infrastructure, and renewable energy. He also keeps a close watch on the intricacies of corporate finance and corporate governance. This wide-ranging sectoral experience allows him to better understand India’s large conglomerates that sit at the confluence of these vital industries.<br><br>Nehal studied mechanical engineering from the Pune University and graduated with distinction in 2017. Driven by a passion for storytelling, he pivoted to journalism immediately after, attending the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. While his time in the newsroom has made him a healthy sceptic, his engineering roots keep him perpetually inquisitive about how things work—and why they fail.<br><br>He actively encourages readers to reach out for feedback, collaboration, or news tips. Nehal can be reached via LinkedIn or directly at nehal.chaliawala@livemint.com.

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