changeadminOn 30th August 2024, India’s largest private-sector company Reliance Industries Limited presented its 47 Annual General Meeting.
Like we have been doing since 2021 when Reliance announced its ambitious New Energy business, let us highlight the company’s plans and achievements in this sector.
Alluding to the Energy Trilemma, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries mentioned in his last year AGM – the availability of Affordable, Sustainable, and Self-Sufficient Energy. He emphasized that the Energy Trilemma will become more acute as India’s economy becomes larger and grows faster.
The country’s energy needs are expected to double in the next 10 years, from approximately 1,600 billion units of electricity generated in 2023.
Given India’s commitment towards a net-zero economy by 2070 and more importantly, to address the climate change issues, most of the energy supply must come from renewable and clean energy sources.
Given this importance, in 2021, Reliance at the AGM committed to invest up to ₹75,000 crore (~US$ 10 billion) in the green energy sector. This is to be achieved by building an integrated giga-factory at Jamnagar, located in the western Indian state of Gujarat and considered as the hub for Reliance Energy business.
Named after Reliance Energy founder, Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Manufacturing Complex is the world’s largest integrated ecosystem at a single location which will work in multiple aspects of green energy solutions.
Let us look at the individual components highlighted at the Reliance AGM.
Solar Energy
A significant portion of Reliance’s green energy initiatives is directed toward solar energy.
By the end of this year, Reliance will commence the production of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. The company will complete the first phase of integrated solar production facilities in the subsequent quarters. This includes modules, cells, glass, wafer, ingot, and polysilicon, with an initial annual capacity of 10 GW.
Energy Storage
Further, to harness solar energy and make it available round the clock, the Reliance is also working on energy storage solutions using stationary batteries. The company has started construction of an integrated advanced chemistry-based battery manufacturing facility with a 30 GWh annual capacity at Jamnagar. Production will commence by the second half of next year.
Reliance will start by assembling Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for utility-scale applications and pack solutions for residential, commercial, industrial, telecom, and mobility markets.
Over the next few quarters, Reliance plans to integrate backward into cell manufacturing and eventually into battery chemicals production.
Bioenergy
The company has made significant investments in bioenergy and is targeting to build 55 operating Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants by 2025.
Reliance also plans to establish the world’s largest bioenergy deep-tech R&D center at Jamnagar, focusing on process improvements through customized biocatalysts and microbial consortia, developing drought-resistant variants for energy crops, automating bioenergy plant operations, and integrating energy needs of the plant through photo-agro-voltaic solar technology for a sustainable electricity supply.
Green Fuels
The company also plans to leverage its expertise in electro-chemistry, combined with solar energy capacity to deliver green hydrogen and green fuels at the most economical cost.
To achieve this, the company has started working on a fully automated, multi-GW electrolyzer manufacturing facility which will be ready by 2026. This giga-factory will be fully adaptable, and capable of supporting various technologies such as Alkaline, PEM, and AEM.
R&D
To augment its capabilities, Reliance is committed to partnering with leading global technology companies to build state-of-the-art R&D facilities for fostering innovation and expanding skills
Reliance spent over ₹3,643 crore ($437 million) in FY24 towards R&D, taking the total spend on research to over ₹11,000 crore ($1.5 billion) in the last four years alone. In addition, the company filed more than 2500 patents, mainly in the areas of bio-energy innovations, solar, and other green energy sources.
Reliance New Energy Plans announced in AGM 2021, Read here.
Reliance New Energy Plans announced in AGM 2023, Read here.
Add comment