Indian industrial conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) announced on October 10 that it will be acquiring REC Group from China National Bluestar for US$771 million. The acquisition will proceed through Reliance New Energy Solar (RNES), a subsidiary of the conglomerate. The deal represents a significant step forward in RIL’s plan to become a major player in the PV industry and make India an exporter of PV products.
Originally based in Norway, REC Group was a leading polysilicon supplier with an ambition to become a vertically integrated PV product manufacturer. However, it was later spun off into various entities and acquired by China National Bluestar in 2014. REC Group currently has two polysilicon plants in Norway and a plant for manufacturing cells and modules in Singapore.
RIL wants to use the assets of REC Group to build a global green energy platform that will spans across the major regional markets of Asia, Australia, North America, and Europe. According to the coverage of this deal by Indian newspaper Business Standards, REC Group possesses over 600 utility and design patents. Of that total, 446 have been granted, and the rest are under review. Furthermore, REC Group has a commercialized FBR process for manufacturing polysilicon. Compared with the existing process technologies for manufacturing polysilicon, the FBR process consumes significantly less energy.
PV Magazine said that REC Group expects RIL to financially back its capacity expansion efforts. The cell and module production capacity in Singapore is currently around 2GW, and REC Group intends to raise it to 5GW in the next two to three years. There are also plans to build a 2GW cell and module plant in France and a 1GW module plant in the US.
RIL is currently developing a vertically integrated manufacturing base for PV products in Jamnagar, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat. Named Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex, the base will be able to encompass the entire supply chain from metallic silicon to PV modules. The annual production capacity of the base for PV products will start at 4GW and eventually expand to 10GW. Besides PV products, the base will also manufacture batteries and hydrogen electrolyzers. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of RIL, unveiled the plan to build the base at the company’s annual shareholder meeting this June. He said that RIL will invest around US$10 billion into the project.
RIL stated that REC Group’s technologies complement RIL’s operational scale and capability. This synergy will accelerate the development of the advanced manufacturing base in Jamnagar. In RIL’s official press release, Ambani expressed excitement about the deal and invoked Hindu deity Soorya Dev, the eternal sun god. He said that India is blessed with the abundance of solar energy, and his company will be incorporating REC Group so as to more effectively exploit this resource. The deal fits into RIL’s plan of “enabling” 100GW of clean and green energy by the end of the 2020s. Ambani also stressed that his company will be the largest contributor to the current Indian government’s target of establishing 450GW of domestic renewable generation capacity by 2030, thereby making the country a global leader in green energy transition and overcoming the challenges of climate change.
RIL is hoping that the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex and other related capital investment projects that it has made in the recent period will make India cost competitive and highly efficient in the manufacturing of PV cells and modules. Going forward, RIL will continue to invest and develop green energy projects. It will also continue to form partnerships with other companies around the world. All these activities are expected to lead to the stable delivery of clean, affordable, and high-quality electricity supply to consumers in India and worldwide.
This May, state-owned Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) released a tender for 10GW of vertically integrated production capacity for PV products. Successful tender applicants will be able to receive certain benefits. Energy news websites have reported that RIL has put in a bid for 4GW, which is also the initial production capacity of the manufacturing base in Jamnagar.