Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has planned to invest a massive Rs.75,000 crore in the clean energy business, the company’s Chairman & Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, said at the company’s 44th Annual General Meeting, on June 24, 2021.
The Rs.75,000 crore investment will be made over the next three years, and would include Rs.60,000 crore towards setting up four “Giga” factories (details ahead), while the remaining Rs.15,000 crore would go in value chain, partnerships and future technologies. The investment will be made through internal accruals.
These four factories will be housed in the “Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex” spread over 5,000 acres at Jamnagar in Gujarat. Development work on this complex has already begun.
Factory 1: Solar Photovoltaic Giga Factory
The first integrated solar photovoltaic Giga Factory will create solar energy. RIL will start with raw silica and convert this to poly-silicon which we will then convert to ingot and wafers. These wafers would be used to make high efficiency solar cells and finally assembled into solar modules of highest quality and durability.
RIL will establish and enable at least 100GW of solar energy by 2030. A significant part of this will come from rooftop solar and decentralised solar installations in villages.
Factory 2: Advanced Energy Storage Giga Factory
Solar energy will be available only through the day, while power is required round the clock. To enable continuous power supply, an Advanced Energy Storage Giga Factory will be put up. RIL is exploring new and advanced electro chemical technologies that can be used for such large-scale grid batteries to store the energy that we will create. RIL will collaborate with global leaders in battery technology to achieve the highest reliability for round-the-clock power availability through a combination of generation, storage, and grid connectivity.
Factory 3: Electrolyser Giga Factory
Besides electricity, green hydrogen will be a unique energy vector that can enable deep decarbonization of many sectors such as transportation, industry and power, Mukesh Ambani noted. One of the most common methods of generating green hydrogen is by electrolysis of pure water through electrolysers. This concept will form the basis of the third factor — Electrolyser Giga Factory — that will aim to manufacture modular electrolysers of highest efficiency and lowest capital cost. These can be used for captive production of green hydrogen for domestic use as well as for global sale.
Factory 4: Fuel Cell Giga Factory
The fourth initiative will be the Fuel Cell Giga Factory. A fuel cell uses oxygen from the air and hydrogen, to generate electricity. The only emission of this process is non-polluting water vapour. According to Mukesh Ambani, fuel cells will progressively replace internal combustion engines. Fuel cell engines can power automobiles, trucks and buses. They can also be used in stationary applications for powering data centres, telecom towers, emergency generators and micro grids and industrial equipment, he added.
Supporting the ecosystem
To support the aforementioned plans, and to create a clean energy ecosystem, Reliance Industries Ltd will set up a dedicated “Renewable Energy Project Management and Construction Division” and a dedicated “Renewable Energy Project Finance Division”. These two new outfits will complement the significant engineering, project management and construction capabilities, combining physical and digital technologies, which Reliance Industries has developed over the years.
“We will repurpose these capabilities, along with major international organizations to execute and deliver world class, renewable energy solutions,” noted Mukesh Ambani.
Featured photograph showing solar cell manufacturing is for illustration only.
