The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has given Reliance Industries permission to approach Power Grid (PGCIL) for connectivity to the inter-State transmission system (ISTS) for supply of 500 megawatt (MW) renewable energy (RE) as a bulk consumer for the oil-to-telecom conglomerate’s Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat.

The power sector regulator in an order on Wednesday said: “Petitioner (RIL) is at liberty to approach PGCIL for implementation of the said transmission line from RIL refinery (Jamnagar) to Jamkhambaliya S/S (pooling station) of ISTS, with the cost of construction of transmission lines for connectivity to ISTS to be borne by the Petitioner”.

RIL is also at liberty to approach other licensees for laying down transmission lines. Charges for the transmission line shall be mutually agreed between the company and PGCIL or other licensees, it added.

The Jamnagar refinery has a total load of 1,450 MW and captive generation capacity of 1,750 MW. It has been operating in island mode from the local grid since last 20 years. The company had approached the regulator to direct PGCIL for connectivity to the ISTS.

The development is part of RIL’s efforts to turn net carbonzero by 2035.Reliance has increased the use of renewable energy to power its operations. The company used 6,91,217 giga joule (GJ) of RE for its operations. It has also installed rooftop solar panels, conducted trials of co-firing biomass with coal and invested in alternate energy solutions such as fuel cells and biofuels.

Besides, the company has also announced plans to invest Rs 75,000 crore in RE to build 100 gigawatt (GW) capacity and aims to set up four large manufacturing units involving an investment of Rs 60,000 crore in three years at Jamnagar. The remaining Rs 15,000 crore will be utilised for developing value chains, partnerships and technologies.

In June last year at RIL’s annual general meeting billionaire Mukesh Ambani announced, “We have started work on developing the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex on 5,000 acres in Jamnagar. We will build an integrated solar photovoltaic module factory. We will build an advanced energy storage battery factory, an electrolyser factory, and for converting hydrogen into motive and stationary power, we will build a fuel cell factory. Reliance will thus create a fully integrated, end-to-end renewables energy ecosystem”.

To that effect, RIL has already announced partnerships worth around Rs 9,000 crore with REC, NexWafe, Faradion, Sterling and Wilson, Stiesal and Ambri for developing a RE ecosystem comprising of solar modules, battery storage and green hydrogen.

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