ACME Solar Holdings aims to add 5 gigawatts (GW) of renewables capacity by the end of March 2026 with the company planning to incur a capex of ₹17,000 crore, beginning April this year.

In H2 FY25, ACME Solar said its overall portfolio stood at 6,720 megawatt (MW), 2,540 MW operational and 4,180 MW Under construction (UC).

Phased approach

Addressing the media on Thursday, ACME Solar Holdings’s CEO Nikhil Dhingra said, “We have 2.5 GW of operational capacity currently. On under-construction projects, we are ready and will be doing our capex in two phases.”

In the first phase, the firm will expand its capacity to 5 GW by FY26 end, which will then be expanded to around 7 GW by FY27, he added.

ACME Solar’s total operational capacity rose to 2,540 MW in Q2 FY25 (from 1,340 MW in Q1FY25), of which 67 per cent is with Central offtakers and the remaining with State offtakers.

Capacity utilisation rose from 23.3 per cent in H1 FY24 to 24.6 per cent in H1 FY25, while plant availability improved from 99.2 per cent to 99.3 per cent.

ACME Solar’s existing capacity is solely solar power. However, its under construction projects are spread across solar, wind, FDRE and hybrid.

Jaisalmer plant

Commissioning of the 1,200 MW inter-State transmission system connected plant in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer has helped increase its operational portfolio to 2,540 MW.

On the Jaisalmer plant, Dhingra said the facility consists of a solar plant as the contract with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SEC) is for supplying solar power for 25 years.

Jaisalmer plant has a capex of around 4,400 watt per hour in terms of the 1,200 MW capacity. If storage of 1 hour (around 1200 MW per hour) has to be integrated, the cost will come around ₹1,000 crore, he explained.

On operational metrics, Dhingra said that the 1,900 MW capacity won in FY25 brought the total contracted portfolio to 6,970 MW.

The power purchase agreements (PPAs) have been signed for around 53 per cent of the under-construction (UC) capacity (2,340 MW out of 4,430 MW), he added.

ACME Solar reduced its net debt by ₹2,070 crore through IPO proceeds. Besides, debt has been sanctioned for 1,700 MW UC projects amounting to ₹16,500 crore.

Refinancing of operational projects is at an average rate of 8.8 per cent per annum. ACME Solar Holdings has secured grid connectivity for 4,430 MW of UC capacity, while additional 2,000 MW connectivity is available for future bids.