Green energy initiatives: RIL to invest Rs.75k cr in 3 years, says Ambani
Virendra Pandit
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani, on Friday, reiterated his commitment to invest Rs 75,000 crore over the next three years in green energy initiatives, including the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex at Jamnagar, Gujarat, as the global energy giant shifts focus from hydrocarbons to renewable power, including hydrogen.
Addressing the International Climate Summit 2021, he said that work was progressing at a brisk pace to develop the 5,000-acre Giga Complex, one of the world’s largest green energy facilities. He also said that RIL was on track to become a net-zero carbon company by 2035.
India is hosting this conference to strengthen the dialogue for its transition to clean energy with a focus on “Powering India’s Hydrogen Ecosystem.”
Ambani pointed out that the Giga Complex would have four Giga factories to produce solar integrated photovoltaic units, advanced batteries to store energy, electrolysis to produce green hydrogen and a fuel cell plant to convert that hydrogen to green energy.
“Although the costs of hydrogen from electrolysis today are high, they are expected to fall significantly in the coming years. New technologies are emerging for hydrogen storage and transportation, which will dramatically reduce the cost of distribution.”
“The government is planning to create an enabling green hydrogen ecosystem which will attract investments,” he said.
Reliance will set up renewable capacity of at least 100 GW by 2030 and work on reducing the cost of green hydrogen to USD 1 per kg in the next decade, Ambani added.
“It is a matter of great pride that India has now achieved a major milestone of 100 GW installed renewable energy. India is now among the top three most attractive destinations for renewable energy and the target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by December 2022 is now well within sight,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the goal to reach 450GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, out of which Reliance will establish and enable at least 100GW of solar energy, the RIL chief said.
At the 44th RIL Annual General Meeting in June 2021, Ambani had laid down his vision for diversification to green energy.
India can easily generate over 1,000 GW of solar energy on just half a percent of its land.
“By investing in smart, two-way grids, micro-grids, efficient storage solutions, and smart meters, we can enable individuals, communities, and neighborhoods to become both consumers and producers of energy,” he said, adding that these installations can be located close to demand, have low maintenance requirements and little environmental impact, and entail zero human displacement problems.
Calling hydrogen the best and cleanest source of energy, which can play a fundamental role in the world’s decarbonization plans, Ambani said it can be reconverted into electricity and heat with zero emissions.
“Efforts are on globally to make green hydrogen the most affordable fuel option by bringing down its cost to initially under USD 2 per kg. Let me assure you all that Reliance will aggressively pursue this target and achieve it well before the turn of this decade,” he said.
