Waaree Energies has started commercial operations of its 1.4 GW solar cell capacity in India’s Gujarat
The remaining 4 GW cell production capacity is scheduled to become operational by May 2025
The company increased its Q3 FY2025 revenues by 115% YoY to INR 35.45 billion, driven by strong demand both in India and abroad
Indian solar PV manufacturer Waaree Energies Limited has announced the start of commercial operations of its 1.4 GW solar cell manufacturing plant in Gujarat, India. It comprises 3 PERC solar cell production lines with an annual capacity of 467 MW each.
Located in Degam village in Chikli of Navsari district in Gujarat, the factory has the capacity to produce 4,48,800 PERC cells/day with the maximum cell size being 210 mm x 210 mm. The core equipment has a useful life of 5 years, according to the company.
Earlier this year, the management announced the trial production of its 5.4 GW solar cell manufacturing factory in Chikli (see India Solar PV News Snippets: Trial Production For Waaree’s 5.4 GW Cell Fab & More). The remaining 4 GW capacity is scheduled to become operational by April or May 2025.
The company says its 6 GW ingot, cell and wafer manufacturing plans, supported by the Production Linked Incentive (PLI), remain on track. Waaree is among the winners of India’s PLI incentives for 39.6 GW PV capacity for vertical integration (see India Allocates 39.6 GW PV Under PLI Tranche-II).
The news of the commissioning of its 1.4 GW solar cell production capacity follows the group’s subsidiary, Waaree Solar Americas, commissioning its 1.6 GW solar module line in Brookshire, Texas in the US. Its US plans include a 2 GW solar module fab to be expanded to 5 GW (see Waaree’s 1.6 GW US Solar Module Manufacturing Fab Commissioned).
Speaking with analysts while sharing the company’s financial results for the quarter Q3 FY25 (period ended December 31, 2024), Waaree Energies Limited CEO Amit Paithankar said that the company’s order book stands at 26.5 GW, worth INR 500 billion ($5.76 billion) as of January 30, 2025. The overseas market accounts for 54% while India represents 46% of the total share. He added that this order book also includes its solar EPC subsidiary Waaree Renewable Technologies Ltd (WRTL).
“Our order book is for modules. Our cell procurement strategy is independent of that,” shared Paithankar. “So the way in which we are going to use the cells, our own manufactured cells, the priority is two-fold. One is for the US market and the other one is for the local DCR market.”
Waaree Energies reported INR 35.45 billion ($408 million) in revenues in Q3 FY25, representing a 115% year-on-year (YoY) growth. EBITDA of INR 8.1 billion ($93.5 million) was up 257% YoY. Paithankar attributes this growth to the growing global solar market, including in India, as well as to the drop in the cost of solar power and batteries.
During 9M FY25, Waaree produced 5.07 GW solar modules, representing a 48% increase over the 3.42 GW it announced for 9M FY24.
Regarding the company’s business in the US where under the Trump administration, the fate of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has spurred PV manufacturing momentum, is unknown, Paithankar explained, “Our objective is to create operations that can thrive independently without being dependent on external factors. Our U.S. operations are structured to be profitable on their own merit. That being said, if IRA or similar program continue in some form, it will undoubtedly provide significant additional benefit to the business.”
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