Reliance AGM Announcements- Carbon Fibre Manufacturing, Sodium-Ion Batteries, Wind Manufacturing Takes Shape

Reliance AGM Announcements- Carbon Fibre Manufacturing, Sodium Ion batteries, Wind Manufacturing Takes Shape

In its much-awaited 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani laid out a sprawling vision for the firm’s expansion into green energy.

With the firm setting itself on a path to carbon zero by 2035, Ambani said, “We are accelerating our journey to become net carbon zero by 2035 through renewables and bio-energy. We are going to manufacture solar, wind, hydrogen, and bioenergy products. This will enable us to speed up the round-the-clock requirement of renewable energy for our captive needs and the needs of Indian consumers,”.

He said that as the cost of renewables drops, it will pave the way for lower energy costs and increased profits for its O2C (Oil to chemicals) businesses of Reliance. A key initiative is the firm’s move into carbon fiber manufacturing, making it one of the few firms worldwide to do it at scale. This would also help the firm become more competitive in wind energy manufacturing, where the firm plans tie-ups with global technology leaders.

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The chairman also said that the firm remained focused on fast-tracking the execution of the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Manufacturing Complex in Jamnagar, which will be commissioned in phases for its full 20 GW capacity for integrated solar manufacturing by 2025.

“Our first priority is to deliver a fully integrated, end-to-end solar PV manufacturing ecosystem. It will be one of the world’s largest, most technologically advanced, flexible, cost-effective solar giga factories. This will include manufacturing of PV modules, cells, wafers, ingots, polysilicon, glass,” he said.

Ambani also reiterated the resolve of Reliance to generate 100 GW of renewable energy by the end of 2030.

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Talking about storage plans, the Reliance Group Chairman also said that the company would build a battery Giga factory by 2026. “It will manufacture cells, chemicals and packs upto container-level energy storage. This will have battery recycling units, too. We will start with the production of LFP batteries, which are more effective and flexible,” he said. Other plans include Sodium-ion batteries later, which could prove to be much lower priced eventually, thanks to the easier availability of raw materials.

Reliance’s green hydrogen plans are also moving with plans for a giga-scale electrolyzer plant in Gujarat. He said that with the advantage of lower production cost of renewables and inbuilt manufacturing capacity, the firm would get the advantage of lower cost of production. He also added that this facility would be used to produce Green Ammonia and Green Methanol, which could be used for exports.

Earlier, talking about the impact of generative AI on the world, he promised that the 2000 MW of energy requirements for AI push would be powered exclusively by green energy over the next few years.

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Ambani was also optimistic that the group’s experience and capabilities of exploring deep water and ultra-deep water would be an asset in planning for offshore wind and geothermal energy later on.

The speech was notable for its acknowledgment of the role of RTC (Round-the-clock) power in the near future as the overall share of green energy rises in the grid.

Notably, the group has already become the largest biogas producer in the country, with plans to set up 100 CBG units over the next five years that will utilize over 5.5 million tonnes of agricultural waste to make gas. Ambani stressed the relevance of gas as a transition fuel that offered a cleaner option over fossil fuels to countries like India over the next two decades or beyond. CBG production domestically would help cut down dependence on imported LNG, currently the bulwark of the country’s gas supply chain.