ACME Solar FY26: Growth, leverage, and an early bet on battery-led cashflows

ACME Solar Holdings Limited closed FY26 with sharp year-on-year growth in consolidated earnings, alongside a step-up in its buildout pipeline and a clear management narrative around early battery monetization. For FY26, the company reported consolidated total income of INR 2,507 crore, up 59.2% year on year. EBITDA rose 61.2% to INR 2,265 crore, and profit after tax nearly doubled to INR 498 crore.

Q4 FY26 also showed growth, though the pace of PAT expansion was lower than revenue and EBITDA. Consolidated total income for the quarter came in at INR 705 crore, up 30.7% year on year. EBITDA grew 30.3% to INR 636 crore, while PAT increased 13.3% to INR 138 crore. The company attributed the revenue increase to capacity additions and CUF, while maintaining EBITDA margins above 90%.

A key feature of the reported revenue profile is the material contribution from other income. In Q4 FY26, other income was INR 157 crore, and for FY26 it was INR 484 crore. The company clarified on the call that this includes interest income on fixed deposits and DSRA balances, alongside other items such as hedging gains and miscellaneous income. This matters because consolidated revenue from operations (sale of power) for FY26 was INR 2,023 crore, while total income was INR 2,507 crore.

Operating base expands, with batteries taking centre stage

ACME’s operational contracted generation capacity stood at 2,990 MW as of May 2026. In parallel, the company commissioned about 2.3 GWh of BESS capacity in phases from February to May 2026 across three project sites. Management positioned this as an early commissioning strategy, where storage assets are advanced and operated on merchant and short-term peak power contracts, using transmission infrastructure from existing operational projects.

As of the call date, the company stated the commissioned BESS was delivering net realization of about INR 2.2 crore per day and was operating at round-trip efficiency of around 88% to 90% under current operating conditions. Management also discussed how regulatory clarifications support early monetization, including the ability to sell power in merchant mode without buyer NOC in certain FDRE-linked contexts until the corresponding renewable generation is commissioned.

The company’s operating metrics showed steady availability but some quarter-specific headwinds. Plant availability remained high at 99.3% in Q4 FY26 and 99.5% in FY26. Grid availability was 98.8% in Q4 FY26 and 99.2% for the full year, lower than FY25, which management attributed to a transformer failure at a pooling substation in Rajasthan and a planned transmission line shutdown for LILO connection work.

FY26 generation rose strongly to 6,464 million units, up 61.1% year on year, reflecting both higher CUF and capacity additions. Q4 generation increased 13.7% to 1,720 million units.

Financial summary

Notes: Total income includes other income. Revenue from operations is shown where explicitly provided in the annexure table.

Pipeline and portfolio mix: central offtakers, FDRE and hybrid

ACME’s portfolio as presented in May 2026 stood at 8,071 MW, spanning solar, wind, storage, hybrid and FDRE projects, alongside 550 MWh of standalone BESS referenced in the company overview. The company highlighted that 84% of its total portfolio offtakers are central entities such as SECI, NTPC, SJVN and NHPC. It also stated a strategic expectation that the share of central offtakers will rise to 84% from 67% for the operational portfolio, which management linked to receivables improvement.

The under-construction portfolio was stated at 5,081 MW. Within this, the company reported PPA-signed capacity of 3,280 MW and LOA-awarded capacity of 1,801 MW where PPAs are yet to be signed. The presentation also referenced BESS installation requirements of around 12 GWh for the PPA-signed under-construction bucket and 5 GWh for the LOA bucket, noting that these are as per current configuration and subject to optimisation.

The company also reported weighted average tariffs of INR 3.4 per kWh for operational assets and INR 4.4 per kWh for under-construction assets.

Capex, leverage, and cost of debt

FY26 was a heavy investment year. ACME stated committed capex of about INR 12,475 crore during FY26, with capex incurred of about INR 6,445 crore and purchase orders of about INR 6,030 crore. On financing, the company said it tied up about INR 15,000 crore of debt for around 1.5 GW of under-construction projects.

A notable lever for improving project economics was refinancing. Management stated it refinanced about INR 3,300 crore for about 850 MW of operational projects, reducing interest rates by around 150 basis points. The weighted average cost of debt for operational projects was stated at 8.4%.

Balance sheet expansion was visible. Asset base increased from INR 15,507 crore in Q4 FY25 to INR 21,952 crore in Q4 FY26, driven by commissioning of assets and CWIP build. Net debt increased to INR 12,830 crore from INR 7,507 crore. While net debt to EBITDA improved to 3.9x from 4.4x, net debt to net worth rose to 2.5 from 1.7.

Management also stated a target that net debt to run-rate EBITDA on the operational portfolio basis would be under about 5.5x.

Working capital improvement: DSO falls to 14 days

Receivables performance was a positive highlight. DSO as billed improved sharply to 14 days in FY26, compared with 42 days in FY25, 93 days in FY24 and 181 days in FY23. Management attributed the shift to a higher central offtaker mix, where payments are described as faster due to cash discount mechanisms, and to stronger discipline among state counterparties under the late payment surcharge framework.

What management guided for next

The strategic roadmap is anchored in scale and storage. The company reiterated an ambition to reach 10 GW of generation capacity and about 20 GWh of BESS capacity by 2030. On nearer-term execution, management stated a target to commission about 1.5 GW of generation projects and about 10 GWh of battery capacity in the current financial year, subject to connectivity and other external factors.

Management also quantified the expected operating mix of new battery capacity: out of the planned 10 GWh, around 8.5 GWh could run on merchant basis and around 1.2 to 1.5 GWh could operate in FDRE format, depending on CTU substation commissioning timelines.

For the PPA-signed under-construction portfolio, management stated commissioning would be completed by FY28.

Takeaways for investors

ACME’s FY26 results show the benefits of a rapidly scaling operational base, supported by high reported EBITDA margins and a meaningful improvement in receivables. The company is also leaning into a differentiated execution path by commissioning battery capacity early and monetizing it through merchant and short-term peak contracts, supported by evolving regulation.

At the same time, the balance sheet is expanding quickly, with higher net debt and a growing CWIP book. Execution remains linked to CTU transmission readiness, which management acknowledged can see delays and drives decisions such as deferring module capex. How effectively early battery cashflows scale, and how smoothly under-construction projects convert into commissioned assets through FY27 and FY28, will likely remain central to the investment debate.