In the 44th Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on June 24, Mukesh Ambani announced plans to enter the clean energy industry. He committed to invest Rs 75,000 crore over three years, making RIL the first Indian company ever to embark on a project this mammoth. Once completed, Reliance would join other global organisations owning large giga factories with supply chains.
As per the plans announced, RIL will establish four giga factories to produce solar cell modules, hydrogen, fuel cells and build a battery grid to store electricity.
The first giga factory from the RIL, the Solar Photovoltaic Module Giga Factory will generate 100 GW of solar energy by 2030. Ambani’s idea is to install these on solar rooftops in villages across the length and breadth of the country.
Opting to go for total backward integration, RIL will convert raw silica, make ingots and wafers and manufacture high-efficiency solar cells. The company will even assemble them into solar modules.
“If they succeed in this plan of theirs, they would be the only company in the country to hog the whole show,” a report by Bloomberg stated.
It will face stiff competition at home from Adani Green Energy, Waaree Energies, Vikram Solar and Tata Solar. Globally, Chinese giants like Longi Solar and JinkoSolar, besides Tesla Giga New York, Hanwha Q Cells, Canadian Solar and many more will offer more than the token competition.
Currently, there are no companies with a giga factory in the Advanced Energy Storage Giga Factory segment. However, plans are afoot, with TDS Lithium-Ion Battery Gujarat Ltd — a venture of Toshiba Corp, Denso Corp and Suzuki Motor Corp — and Exide Industries announcing plans. Globally, Tesla Inc, LG Chem, Panasonic, Byd Auto and many others will pose a threat for RIL. The company has plans to collaborate with global leaders for the technology.
The Electrolyser Giga Factory promises to make modular electrolysers of the highest efficiency at the lowest capital cost. The electrolyser is used for captive production of green hydrogen for domestic and global sale. Competition comes from Siemens Energy, Thyssenkrupp AG, Cummins Inc, among others.
The Fuel Cell Giga Factory will manufacture fuel cells preferred by automakers such as Hyundai and Toyota. Stiff competition is expected from Cummins, Ballard Power, Plug Power, FuelCell Energy, and the Volvo AB-Daimler Truck partnership to produce fuel cells in Europe by 2025.
Source : cnbctv18
