Reliance commissions solar cells, scales batteries; eyes green fuel exports to Japan, Korea, Europe

Reliance confirmed that the central utility and control block for its solar manufacturing ecosystem is already operational.

Reliance Industries Ltd’s new energy business is beginning to move from construction to commissioning, with the company disclosing fresh operational milestones across solar manufacturing, batteries, and digital control systems in its Q3 FY26 management presentation on January 16. The group also outlined the scale of power generation it plans to deliver from its renewable energy hub in Kutch.

“We are well progressed on this entire ecosystem,” said Karan Suri, Senior Vice President – New Energy, Reliance Industries Ltd, adding that the integrated platform was designed to address geopolitical risks such as tariffs and supply-chain disruptions.

Cells commissioned, yields disclosed

Reliance said its heterojunction-based solar cell manufacturing in Jamnagar has now been commissioned and is being ramped up, while solar module manufacturing — already operational — has achieved manufacturing yields of 94–95 percent, a metric disclosed for the first time.

The company is setting up an end-to-end solar manufacturing chain from polysilicon to modules in Jamnagar, starting with 10 GW of annual capacity, scalable to 20 GW.

On upstream integration, Reliance said its pilot ingot line has already been commissioned, with in-house slicing of G12-size wafers underway.

“This is a remarkable achievement by our teams, and we will be scaling it up at a giga scale. Polysilicon and solar glass facilities — among the largest outside China — are nearing commissioning, with key equipment already installed,” Suri said.

Battery gigafactory progressing

On batteries, Reliance said construction of its 40 GWh battery gigafactory covering cells, packs and containerised energy storage systems is in full swing.

“All critical equipment has already reached the site, and commissioning will begin in phases during the current year. The company has previously announced plans to scale battery capacity to 100 GWh,” Suri said.

Power generation at unprecedented scale

The manufacturing build-out will feed directly into Reliance’s planned round-the-clock renewable energy generation hub at its 550,000-acre site in Kutch, Gujarat.

According to the company, the site has the potential to host 125–150 GW of solar capacity, which could translate into nearly 300 billion units of electricity annually on a round-the-clock basis.

"For context, an annual installation rate of 30 GW of solar capacity would generate about 35–40 billion units of electricity per year, a level of power supply that exceeds the annual electricity consumption of several countries globally," Suri said.

Export markets for green molecules

Beyond power, Reliance said its integrated ecosystem — including electrolyser manufacturing and compressed biogas plants — is being positioned to supply green fuels and molecules to overseas markets.

The company identified Japan, South Korea, and Europe as priority regions, where it is seeing strong interest from customers and governments to lock in long-term offtake contracts for green ammonia or green hydrogen.

Digital control room live

For the first time, Reliance confirmed that the central utility and control block for its solar manufacturing ecosystem is already operational. The AI-enabled system digitally connects all facilities, enabling centralised monitoring of operations, shutdowns, yield optimisation, material traceability, and quality control with minimal human intervention.

“This is effectively a control room which is already up and running over all our facilities,” Suri said, describing it as a key differentiator versus global peers.

The company added that utilities such as substations, cooling towers, chemical storage and effluent treatment plants have been built upfront for 20 GW capacity, allowing future expansion without major incremental infrastructure.