Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani, on September 3, 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 in Jamnagar, as the global energy behemoth shifts its focus from hydrocarbons to renewable power.
Addressing the International Climate Summit 2021, Ambani said that work was happening at a brisk pace to develop the 5,000-acre Giga Complex, which would be one of the world's largest green energy facilities, and that RIL was on track to become a net-zero carbon company by 2035.
At the event, which is on developing India's hydrogen energy ecosystem, Ambani said 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," Ambani said.
"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 will work on bringing down the cost of green hydrogen to $1/kg in the next one decade, Ambani added.
India among top green energy destinations
"It is a matter of great pride for all of us that India has now achieved a major milestone of 100 GW installed renewable energy. India is today 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," Ambani 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, Ambani said.
It was at the 44th Reliance Annual General Meeting in June that Ambani had laid down the vision for diversification to green energy.
Speaking at today's event, Ambani said that India can easily generate over 1,000 GW of solar energy on just half a percent of our land.
"By investing in smart, two-way grids, micro-grids, efficient storage solutions and smart meters, we can enable individuals, communities and neighbourhoods 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.
Hydrogen the cleanest source of energy
Calling hydrogen the best and cleanest source of energy, which can play a fundamental role in the world’s decarbonisation plans, he said that 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 $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.
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