ACME Solar Eyes 5 GW Renewable Capacity By 2026, Twice That By 2030

Leading green energy player ACME Solar Holdings Ltd. aims to expand its renewable energy capacity to 5 gigawatts (GW) by 2026, according to Nikhil Dhingra, the chief executive officer of the company.

Driven by new order wins and infrastructure augmentation, the company targets 10 GW capacity by 2030.

Speaking to NDTV Profit on Mar. 3, Dhingra said, “We will be executing till 5 GW in 2026 and will go to 7 GW in 2027, as per the power purchase agreement (PPA) timelines.”

Currently, the company has a capacity of 2.5 GW. To reach the target, the company will focus on hybrid and battery-integrated projects to meet the changing demand scenario and evolving government regulations, the top executive noted.

ACME Solar has been primarily working with central REIAs (Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies) to secure Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with states. Dhingra believes that working with central REIAs has been beneficial for the company. 

“Moving forward, all of our portfolio will be with them and of course they have back-to-back PPAs with the states, and that is great for us and all the developers because it is a AAA counterparty, and there is a payment security mechanism available to us,” he explained.

Going forward, Dhingra said that the company was also preparing for a shift toward domestic procurement of solar cells.

“We will see a lot of tenders coming up in the new regime where the cells need to be procured domestically. As far as we are concerned, we are looking to take new orders, which will allow us to build our pipelines till 2030, as we have a target of around 10 GW. Accordingly, we have taken connectivity, built our land bank and strengthened the team.”

At present, the company is encountering a slowdown in new bids due to the transition from non-ALCM to ALCM and PPAs being the focus for the REIAs. However, Dhingra expects this to change in the next couple of months with strong bids anticipated.

“Government has mandated that all solar needs to come with storage; that is a key change for taking renewable into a more predictable source of power. That is a good move for grid stability as well,” he added.

ACME Solar Holdings Ltd. shares were locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 196.75 apiece as of 9:50 a.m., in comparison to the benchmark Nifty 50 trading 0.27% lower at 22,064.90.