Reliance Industries acquires REC Solar at Rs 5,800 crore

Reliance Industries (RIL) acquired REC Solar Holdings AS (REC Group) from China Bluestar (Group) at Rs 5,800 crore. The purchase will help RIL's wholly-owned subsidiary, Reliance New Energy Solar, build its integrated metallic silicon to PV panel manufacturing Giga factory in Jamnagar, with a capacity of 4 GW per year initially and eventually increasing to 10 GW. According to the company, the technology will be used to replicate such complexes globally in markets such as the United States, Europe, and Australia. REC has three manufacturing facilities – two in Norway for solar-grade polysilicon and one in Singapore for PV cells and modules. RIL will have immediate access to REC's existing capacity and will also assist in the construction of a 2 GW capacity of cells and modules in Singapore, which is currently under construction. According to the company, it will also build a greenfield capacity of 2 GW in France and a 1 GW capacity in the United States. RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani announced a Rs 75,000 crore investment to build four clean energy Giga factories and supply chain facilities to meet India's potential demand for solar modules and cells, battery storage, electrolysers for green hydrogen, and fuel cell batteries on 24th June 2021. Ambani told the media that the latest acquisition is in line with RIL's strategy of investing in new and advanced technologies as well as operational capabilities to achieve RIL's goal of enabling 100 GW of clean and green energy by the end of this decade. Ambani said this will be the single-largest contribution by a single company to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of 450 GW of renewable energy production by 2030. It will allow India to become a global leader in the transition to green energy to address the climate crisis. Image Source Also read: Tata Power ties up with renewable energy AI firm BluWave-ai