Reliance to Start Producing Solar PV Modules by Year-End, Electrolyser Manufacturing Plant by 2026
Reliance Industries is developing first-generation bifacial solar panels with cell efficiency exceeding 26 percent. The company also aims to commercialise disruptive technologies like perovskites and back-contact HJT-IBC within the next two years.
August 31, 2024. By EI News Network
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd., speaking during the recently-held AGM, said, “Our giga-factory is designed for modular expansion at minimal cost and in the shortest time possible. We have fully integrated and indigenised the HJT technology from REC Singapore, our wholly owned subsidiary, to develop 1 Gen bifacial solar panels with cell efficiency exceeding 26 percent.”
Additionally, the company has significantly enhanced its R&D capabilities by establishing a state-of-the-art prototyping, testing, and validation lab in India. Reliance is also expanding its Advanced Solar Technology Lab in Singapore.
“These advancements will also allow us to develop disruptive technologies like perovskites and back-contact HJT-IBC—which we have already demonstrated at pilot scale, with plans to commercialise them within the next two years,” asserted Ambani.
This innovation has the potential to fundamentally transform the solar PV industry. “Our next-generation modules will offer even greater efficiency, delivering more power from the same-sized modules at a lower lifecycle cost,” he said.
Energy Storage Solutions
To harness low-cost solar energy and make it available round the clock, energy storage solutions using stationary batteries are required. Reliance has already begun construction of an integrated advanced chemistry-based battery manufacturing facility with a 30 GWh annual capacity at Jamnagar. The plant is scheduled to commence production by the second half of next year.
“We will start by assembling Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for utility-scale applications and pack solutions for residential, commercial, industrial, telecom, and mobility markets. Progressively, over the next few quarters, we will integrate backwards into cell manufacturing and eventually into battery chemicals production. This will create the world's only fully integrated battery giga-factory, driving synergies across the value chain,” informed Ambani.
He asserted that the the giga-factory will be smart from the start and fully digital native. “We will have full track and trace capability from battery materials to cells to systems/packs installed in the field. These production lines will be future-proof and adaptable to different chemistries and changing cell form factors. The modular design will allow us to rapidly expand annual capacity in multiples of 30 GWh, responding to both domestic and global demand, while meeting diverse requirements from stationary to mobility applications,” added Ambani.
Green Hydrogen Plant
He further asserted that Reliance’s deep understanding of electro-chemistry, combined with its ability to industrialise at scale and integrate with low-cost solar energy, gives the company a unique advantage in delivering green hydrogen and green fuels at an economical cost.
“To achieve this, we have begun work on establishing a fully automated, multi-GW electrolyser manufacturing facility on the west coast of India, which will be ready by 2026. This giga-factory will be fully adaptable, and capable of supporting various technologies such as Alkaline, PEM, and AEM. The facility is built using Industry 4.0 standards and will be expandable in a modular fashion to meet market demand,” shared Ambani.
Reliance is also building capabilities for futuristic electrolysis-based technologies to tackle challenges in energy efficiency and capital cost reduction for the next-gen electrolysers.
Ambani added, “We are on track to fully commit and invest up to INR 75,000 Crore to establish this manufacturing ecosystem, extensively enabled by all emerging technologies including AI, IoT, Machine Learning, and Robotics.”
please contact: contact@energetica-india.net.
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