Reliance Industries is accelerating its green energy initiatives to realise its ambitions to lead India as a world leader in energy transition. The aim is to install at least 100GW of renewable energy generation by 2030.
“We remain focused on fast-track execution of our Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Manufacturing Complex at Jamnagar,” said RIL CMD Mukesh Ambani while addressing the 46th AGM.
Ambani said the company will invest in its own production capabilities and new technologies and also collaborate with global technology and product companies. All its initiatives will aid in “providing a near perennial growth platform in India and overseas for our materials and energy business.”
He added that the priority would be to deliver the fully integrated, end-to-end solar PV manufacturing ecosystem, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
During Covid, Ambani announced an investment of ₹75,000 crore in a new energy ecosystem. At the AGM on Monday, Ambani said the company was progressing well to deploy the committed capital. This is primarily invested in giga-scale energy production systems and large-scale green hydrogen for green chemicals and mobility.
The solar giga factory at Jamnagar, consists of PV modules, cells, wafers, ingots, polysilicon and glass, all of which will be manufactured at a single location. “This will be one of the largest, most technologically advanced, flexible, and most cost-competitive Solar giga factory globally and will be converting sand into Solar PV modules,” Ambani said.
As part of its renewable energy initiatives, the company will also be pursuing wind energy generation. “Towards this, we have made significant progress in developing a manufacturing ecosystem critical to achieving cost-efficient Wind Power generation at giga scale,” he said.
Carbon fibre is a critical component in the manufacture of wind blades and the company intends to make them to reduce costs. The company will partner with leading technology players to manufacture wind equipment.
Another priority for the company is setting up a battery giga factory by 2026. It will manufacture battery chemicals, cells, and packs leading up to containerised energy storage solutions, and include a battery recycling facility.
Integration of energy storage with the wind power and solar generation will be done at Jamnagar in the next few quarters.
RIL announced its foray into green hydrogen during COVID. Ambani said the company will set up an integrated, automated, giga-scale electrolyser manufacturing facility, enabling it to establish a large-scale green hydrogen production facility at Jamnagar. This will serve its own needs and that of other industries and companies.
This will be integrated with green ammonia and green menthol production, emerging green fuels.
The company intended to address the ‘energy trilemma’ that India faced in terms of access to energy that was affordable, environmentally sustainable and one that was not disrupted by geopolitical developments.
In the company’s traditional oil and gas business, it would enhance its gas production from the MJ Field to 30 million standard cubic metres a day. As the company transitioned to greener and more sustainable fuels, its Jamnagar refinery would operate as a chemicals and materials feedstock production engine.