RIL eyes mega land bank for 100GW solar projects

NEW DELHI : Reliance Industries Ltd is looking to build a mega land bank to set up renewable energy parks and projects, two people aware of the development said, as the Mukesh Ambani controlled conglomerate pivots from fossil fuels to clean energy. A land aggregation exercise is underway to set up solar power projects of 100GW by 2030, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. RIL unveiled a ₹75,000-crore push into clean energy over three years in June last year, including plans to spend ₹60,000 crore on four gigafactories for solar photovoltaic modules, electrolyzers, fuel cells and energy storage. "Work is also underway to set up the gigafactories. The plan is to provide solar modules at quality better than those offered by Chinese firms and at a price cheaper than theirs. The plan is to use the equipment made at Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex to set up the solar power generation capacity," one of the two people cited above said. "RIL's plans will make it among the most integrated green hydrogen players globally. It already has made strides by acquiring REC solar for growing in-house solar panel manufacturing and got capabilities in energy storage India with ownership/stakes in Ambri, Lithium Werks and Faradion," Morgan Stanley wrote in a 20 April report. "RIL's solar panel capacity, once developed, can be leveraged internally to not only power its refining and chemicals complex but help the production of hydrogen, considering its proximity to the sea and existing water management infrastructure at Jamnagar. RIL would then integrate this with its own electrolyzer manufacturing in partnership with Stiesdal and use the green hydrogen output internally as well for manufacturing green chemicals and fertilizers," the Morgan Stanley report added. The country's new green hydrogen policy has promised cheaper renewable power, a fee waiver for inter-state power transmission for 25 years for projects commissioned before June 2025, land in renewable energy parks, and mega manufacturing zones.