Reliance’s 2021 Annual General Meeting included announcements and updates across business divisions. One of the biggest unexpected revelations was the foray into the green energy business, a segment that RIL had notably been missing in.
Petroleum and fossil fuels used to be a big part of Reliance’s business. At the AGM, Mukesh Ambani mentioned how the age of fossil fuels, which powered economic growth globally for nearly three centuries can not continue for much longer. The huge quantities of carbon that it has emitted into the environment have endangered life on earth.
Reliance talked about its new energy and new materials for the first time in 2020, and now the mission will get going with significant investments and initiatives to achieve a reduction in emissions.
India’s per-capita income and energy consumption are far lower than the world average, which is said to be a major opportunity for economic growth. This will have to be tackled by increasing energy production while reducing carbon emissions as well as meet India’s growing needs through domestic sources.
Reliance will invest Rs 75,000 cr to set up four gigafactories in India.
Reliance will set up the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex on 5,000 acres in Jamnagar — which was also the hub for its old energy business. It aims to be one of the largest manufacturers of clean energy in the world. It will include end to end solutions for production, storage and distribution of power.
India’s geographical location makes it an ideal location for harvesting solar power. To increase India’s self-reliance, an Integrated Solar Photovoltaic Giga factory will be set up to accelerate the production and deployment of solar grids. Reliance believes that it can achieve some of the lowest costs in the world with rooftop and decentralized solar. A target of 100 GW of power generation by 2030 has been set.
To be able to use solar energy round the clock, an Energy Storage Giga factory will join the fray. It will use the latest electrochemical technologies and collaborate with the global leaders in this space to increase the energy holding capacity with the highest reliability.
Apart from solar, Reliance also has its eyes on hydrogen power. Electrolyser Giga factory to produce modular electrolysers for the highest efficiency in production for domestic as well as global use.
Last but not least will be the Fuel Cell Giga factory to generate emission-free electricity for applications such as vehicles — and replace internal combustion engines over time. Other use cases include powering data centres, telecom towers, emergency generators, and microgrids, and industrial equipment.
The Jamnagar complex will also be responsible for providing the infrastructure and utilities for all of the plants to function smoothly with minimal downtime, following a Rs 15,000 cr investment.
To ensure smooth execution of the plans, Reliance will set up a Dedicated renewable energy project management and construction division and a dedicated renewable energy project finance division to look after these expansions.
Addressing the shareholders, Mukesh Ambani said, “New energy is the most exciting, most challenging and the most purpose-driven mission I'll be pursuing in my life"
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