RIL targets green hydrogen output at a cost of $1/kg

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani on Friday reiterated his commitment to invest ₹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.

Ambani had first made the announcement at RIL’s annual general meeting on 24 June.

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.

“Although the cost of green hydrogen energy is currently high, they are expected to fall significantly. New technologies are emerging for storage and transportation of green hydrogen which will lead to a further reduction in costs,” Ambani said.

“The government is planning to create an enabling green hydrogen ecosystem which will attract investments,” he added.

India has set the goal to reach 450 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030, of which RIL plans to establish and enable at least 100GW of solar energy by 2030. A significant part of this will come from rooftop solar and decentralized solar installations in villages.

“This will create a pan-India network of kilowatt and megawatt scale solar energy producers who can produce green hydrogen for local consumption,” Ambani said, adding that efforts are on globally to make green hydrogen the most affordable fuel option by bringing down its cost initially to under $2 per kg.

“I am sure that India can set even more aggressive target of achieving under $1 per kg within a decade. This will make India the first country globally to achieve $1 per 1 kilogram in a decade—the 1-1-1 target for green hydrogen,” Ambani said.

RIL has been focusing on a shift from oil and gas to new energy at a time when globally, a consensus is building for action against climate change. Energy majors including Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron Corp., and Exxon Mobil Corp. are being pushed by environmentally concerned investors to cut emissions.

As part of the plan with an investment of ₹60,000 crore, RIL will build an integrated solar photovoltaic module factory, an advanced energy storage giga factory and an electrolyser giga factory to manufacture modular electrolyzers used for captive production of green hydrogen for domestic use as well as for global sale.