Reliance Industries has chalked major plans for its new energy business, which includes production of solar photovoltaic modules by year-end. With new units being set up for the renewable energy solutions, the company is also aiming to make Jamnagar Jamnagar the energy capital of the world.
It is also aiming to make Jamnagar the energy capital of the world. Speaking at the company’s 47th AGM, chairman and managing director, Mukesh Ambani said the new energy business would rival its legacy oil-to-chemicals (O2C) division in terms of size and profitability.
Its O2C division achieved EBITDA of Rs 62,393 crore on revenues of Rs 5,64,749 crore in Fy24.
“Our New Energy business will be the new jewel in Reliance’s crown. I foresee it becoming as big and profitable over the next 5-7 years, as our O2C business which we had built over the past 40 years,” Ambani said, adding that he is confident that Green fuels and AI-based solutions will become long-term growth engines for Reliance.
Ambani said the company has a strong balance sheet, robust annual accruals, and access to the most competitive global institutional capital to responsibly invest in and support their new energy commitments.
“We believe that our New Energy business will be truly unique—delivering cash flows that are less cyclical and more predictable,” Ambani said.
Ambani said they are on track to fully invest Rs 75,000 crore to establish this manufacturing ecosystem, extensively enabled by all emerging technologies including AI, IoT, Machine Learning, and Robotics. RIL is building manufacturing units for PV modules, battery solutions, and so on in the complex.
With the ecosystem in Jamnagar, RIL will accelerate the development of RE-RTC (renewable energy round the clock) and green fuels projects in a modular and phased manner., he said.
First it will focus will be on meeting its large captive RE-RTC requirements across group businesses over the next 5 to 7 years, saving their energy costs. These projects will be backed by firm offtake contracts and will generate positive cash flow for our existing businesses.
“Secondly, our investments in green fuels projects will be supported by value-accretive offtake agreements with global counterparts. Third, with short gestation periods from conceptualisation to commissioning and cash flow generation, we will ensure with razor sharp focus that these projects are cash flow positive from Day 1,” he said.
To achieve this strategy, RIL ghas begun work on setting up a fully automated, multi-GW electrolyser manufacturing facility on the west coast of the country, which will be ready by 2026. This giga-factory will be fully adaptable, capable of supporting various technologies such as Alkaline, PEM, and AEM. The facility is built using Industry 4.0 standards and will be expandable in a modular fashion to meet market demand.
In parallel, It is also building capabilities for futuristic electrolysis-based technologies to tackle challenges in energy efficiency and capital cost reduction for our next-gen electrolysers.
Ambani said the company has fully integrated and indigenised the HJT technology from REC Singapore, RIL’s subsidiary, to develop 1st Gen bifacial solar panels with cell efficiency exceeding 26%.
For making energy storage solutions using stationary batteries, RIL has already begun construction of an integrated advanced chemistry-based battery manufacturing facility with a 30 GWh annual capacity at Jamnagar. Production will commence by second half of next year. It will start by assembling Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for utility scale applications and pack solutions for residential, commercial, industrial, telecom, and mobility markets, he said.
“Progressively, over the next few quarters, we will integrate backward to cell manufacturing and eventually to battery chemicals production. This will create the world’s only fully integrated battery giga-factory, driving synergies across the value chain, he said.
With access to talent including from our subsidiaries LithiumWerks, and Faradion, it has a strong team of nearly 150 technologists committed to deliver next-generation batteries and storage solutions that focus on safety, stability, and reduced lifecycle costs, he said.
In bio-energy, RIL is rapidly expanding investments to reach 55 operating Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants by 2025. These 55 integrated CBG plants would increase the incomes of farmers by converting “Anna Datas to Urja Datas” – food producers to energy producers, he said.
Additionally, he said RIL has initiated an energy plantation pilot on 1,000 acres of arid wasteland to establish a first-of-itskind integrated CBG plant. This initiative will create a self-sustaining ecosystem by transforming India’s large wastelands into productive lands through the cultivation of energy crops.
“Spearheaded by our dynamic team of technologists and agro scientists, we are also establishing the world’s largest bio-energy deep-tech R&D centre at Jamnagar,” he said.
From: financialexpress
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