Reliance New Energy Solar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has acquired REC Solar Holdings from China National Bluestar Group for $771 million.

REC is a Norway-headquartered solar cell, modules, and polysilicon manufacturing company and has an operational headquarter in Singapore. It has regional hubs in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia-Pacific. The company has three manufacturing facilities – two in Norway for solar-grade polysilicon production and one in Singapore for manufacturing solar cells and modules.

The acquisition will help Reliance with a ready global platform and opportunity to expand globally in key green energy markets, including in the US, Australia, Europe, and elsewhere in Asia. REC has over 600 utility and design patents. Of this, 446 are granted, and balance are under evaluation.

With this acquisition, Reliance is expected to support REC’s expansion plans, including 2-3 GW cells and modules capacity in Singapore. In addition, a new 2 GW cells and module facility in France and a 1 GW module manufacturing facility in the US.

Reliance will use these technologies in their fully integrated, metallic silicon to photovoltaic (PV) panel manufacturing giga factory at Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The complex initially starts with a 4 GW annual capacity and is expected to increase to 10 GW annually.

Reliance said its expertise of scale, project executing, and operational excellence in line with REC’s technology would facilitate the establishment of a next-generation fully integrated PV manufacturing facility at Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, said, “I am pleased with our acquisition of REC because it will help Reliance tap the unlimited and year-long power of Soorya Dev, the Sun God, that India is fortunate to be blessed with. It is in line with our strategy of investing in new and advanced technologies and operating capabilities aimed at achieving Reliance’s goal of enabling 100 GW clean and green energy before the end of this decade. This will constitute the largest contribution by a single company to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target for India to produce 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. It will enable India to become a world leader in the green energy transition to overcome the climate crisis.”

With this and other recent investments, Reliance said it is prepared to set up a global scale integrated PV Giga facility and make India a manufacturing hub for solar panels with the lowest cost and highest efficiency.

In addition, the company will continue to invest, develop, and collaborate with global players to deliver high-quality and reliable power at affordable prices to our consumers in India and markets worldwide.

In June 2021, Mukesh Ambani announced that Reliance Industries would invest ₹750 billion (~$10 billion) to build an integrated solar PV factory, advanced energy storage battery manufacturing unit, green hydrogen, and fuel cell facility in Gujarat’s Jamnagar.

For IREDA’s 10 GW Solar Module Manufacturing Tender, Reliance New Energy quoted 4 GW capacity for a complete vertically integrated facility, including polysilicon, ingot-wafer, cell, and module manufacturing.

With the government’s emphasis on domestic production, corporates are ramping up manufacturing and starting new facilities. Mercom’s virtual event Mercom Solar Forum 2021 will be held on October 21, 2021, has a session dedicated to “Moving Towards a Domestic Manufacturing Base With Sustainable Demand”. The panel discussion will revolve around the feasibility of the domestic manufacturing initiative, market opportunity, and the plans of stakeholders to establish a market within the country and export opportunities. Click here to register for free.

Harsh Shukla is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Previously with Indian Express, he has covered general interest stories. He holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.

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