Reliance to commission new energy giga complex this year

New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd will commission a new energy giga complex in Gujarat in the second half of 2024, the company said in an earnings statement and investor call.

Reliance is building a giga complex spread over 5,000 acres in Jamnagar in Gujarat. The complex comprises five giga factories for photovoltaic panels, fuel cell systems, green hydrogen, energy storage and power electronics.

"On track to commence new energy facilities in phases this year," the company said in a post-third-quarter earnings call with investors. Post announcement of third-quarter earnings on Friday, Ambani stated that the "New Energy Giga Complex is all set to be commissioned in the second half of CY24. I am confident that Reliance's New Energy business will play a pivotal role in the global movement for adoption of cleaner fuels."

The Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex will be among the largest integrated renewable energy manufacturing facilities in the world. Reliance has signed an MoU with the Gujarat government to set up 100 gigawatts of renewable power at Rs 5 lakh crore capex.

It has received in-principle approval for 74,750 hectares (ha.) of land parcels in Kutch for green hydrogen. The firm has strategically invested in ten global technology innovators with strong expertise across the new energy value chain.

"Reliance is nearing the commissioning of the first tranche of 5GW module manufacturing capacity in mid-CY24," Nuvama said in a January 17 note. It has via REC Solar signed a supply agreement with China-based Suzhou Maxwell Technologies to buy a high-efficiency production line for HJT cells (4.8GW capacity).

It signed a 5.2GW HJT module automation production agreement with China-based SC Solar in January 2023. It won PLIs under both rounds of solar modules PLI (Round 1: USD 0.3 billion, 4GW; Round 2: USD 0.4 billion, 6GW).

Reliance (apart from Greenko) is the only company to win incentives for both green hydrogen and electrolysers concluded recently. It won incentives of USD 0.3 per kg for an electrolyser capacity of 300MW and USD 0.23 for a green hydrogen capacity of 90,000 tonnes. Besides, it has won PLI under ACC battery storage for 5GW capacity.

"These incentives are likely to assist Reliance to achieve a green hydrogen cost of USD 1'?1.5 per kg," Nuvama said.

Given that RIL is the largest producer and consumer of grey hydrogen, the transition to green hydrogen shall enable it to improve margins ahead, it said. The current green hydrogen cost hovers at USD 3 per kg, which remains 1.5x compared to grey hydrogen produced using natural gas due to the high cost of generating solar/wind energy as well as the high electrolyser cost.

Presently, a hybrid of solar and wind remains the cheapest source of generating green hydrogen. The cost for solar remains the highest due to low PLF of electrolysers at 30'?35 per cent versus wind at 65'?70 per cent and for a hybrid at 70'?75 per cent.