RIL boosts green energy push with two more deals

New Delhi, October 13

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries will buy a German maker of photovoltaic solar wafers and signed a deal with a Danish firm to manufacture hydrogen electrolysers as the oil-to-retail conglomerate acquired end-to-end technology for its multi-billion-dollar clean energy portfolio.

Expands clean energy portfolio

• Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, will acquire NexWafe GmbH for Rs218 crore. It will also license Stiesdal A/S’s technology for the hydrolysers, the company said
• The deals come within three days of Reliance announcing two back-to-back acquisitions — a $771-million buyout of Norway-based solar panel manufacturer REC Solar Holdings and buying 40% stake in Shapoorji Pallonji Group’s Sterling & Wilson Solar

Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL), a unit of the nation’s most-valuable company, will acquire NexWafe GmbH for 25 million euros (Rs 218 crore), Reliance said in a late stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

It will also license Stiesdal A/S’s technology for the hydrolysers, it said in a separate statement.

The deals come within three days of Reliance announcing two back-to-back acquisitions — a $771-million buyout of Norway-based solar panel manufacturer REC Solar Holdings and purchase of a 40% stake in Shapoorji Pallonji Group’s Sterling & Wilson Solar.

The acquisitions and tie-ups in the new energy business put in place the initial building blocks of technology and expertise that Reliance needs to set up the four proposed Giga factories in the coming years.

The collaboration with Denmark-based Stiesdal provides access to technology for producing hydrogen electrolysers in India and this partnership could potentially be extended to obtain technology for fuel cells too.

This completes the technology requirement for end-to-end solar PV module manufacturing. — PTI