A group company owned by Gautam Adana, the second richest man in Asia (with an estimated fortune of $100 billion), is building the world’s largest renewable energy park in India, consisting of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines. With an area five times the size of Paris, the plant will be visible from space and will produce enough electricity to supply the total consumption of a country like Switzerland or Belgium, writes CNN.

At the same time, Adani Gropul has businesses in coal mining and power plants, as well as in other areas, from the cement industry to ports and media.

Its renewable energy unit, Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), is building a huge solar and wind farm on arid land in western India.

Part of the park, 9,478 MW, is already operational, and the goal is for the total plant capacity to reach 30,000 MW in five years, the company said in a statement.

By comparison, Romania’s total installed electricity generation capacity is 18,000 MW.

The energy produced here is enough to power 16 million households in India, about as many houses as in Poland or Canada.

The plant will create 15,200 jobs.

India’s decarbonisation plans

The success of this project is very important to India’s efforts to reduce environmental pollution and achieve green energy targets, writes CNN, which publishes an interview with AGEL director Sagar Adani, grandson of tycoon Gautam Adani.

This comes as India’s economy is growing rapidly and the country still relies on coal to generate 70% of its electricity.

Located near the border with Pakistan, the park will cover an area of ​​200 square miles (518 square kilometers).

“This is a huge barren land, without vegetation, without wildlife, without housing. There is no better alternative to using this land,” says Adani.

A year ago, the Adani concern was accused of fraud, which reduced its market value by 100 billion dollars.

Now the billionaire is back with a big investment in clean energy.

The company’s plans include investing $100 billion in the energy transition over the next 10 years, with 70 percent of that going to renewable energy production.

The company is moving in the same direction as the Indian government, which has set itself ambitious environmental goals: by the end of this decade, 50% of the country’s energy needs should come from renewable sources.

In addition, India wants to achieve its goal of zero emissions by 2070.

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