Oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd expects to start production at its upcoming battery Gigafactory in the second half of next year, according to the company’s Chairman Mukesh Ambani.
The plant, which will have an annual capacity of 30 GWh, will initially assemble battery systems and packs, later expanding to cell manufacturing and chemical production.
“We have already begun construction of an integrated advanced chemistry-based battery manufacturing facility with a 30 GWh annual capacity at Jamnagar. Production will commence by the second half of next year,” Ambani told investors at the company’s annual general meeting.
The facility is coming up at Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex spanning 5,000 acres in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The company has already set up a 50 MWh per year capacity pilot line for manufacturing lithium-ion battery cells, through its subsidiary Lithium Werks that can be scaled up for commercial-scale production.
“We will start by assembling Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for utility-scale applications and pack solutions for residential, commercial, industrial, telecom and mobility markets. Progressively, over the next few quarters, we will integrate backward to cell manufacturing and eventually to battery chemicals production,” he said.
Reliance Industries has qualified for the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme of advanced chemistry cell battery manufacturing and has been allocated 5 GWh capacity under the scheme. The company has also bid for another 10 GWh capacity under the scheme.
Apart from Reliance Industries, companies including Ola Electric, Amara Raja, Exide Industries and GODI India are setting up Gigafactories in India. India’s battery manufacturing capacity is likely to reach 150 GWh by the end of this decade, while advanced chemistry cell manufacturing is at a nascent stage in the country.
“The modular design [of gigafactory] will allow us to rapidly expand annual capacity in multiples of 30 GW, responding to both domestic and global demand while meeting diversity requirements from stationary to mobility applications,” Ambani said.
Reliance Industries looks to leverage electrochemical and product innovation expertise from its subsidiaries Lithium Wreks and Faradion to drive the fully integrated battery Gigafactory. It boasts a team of nearly 150 technologies to deliver next-generation batteries and storage solutions with a focus on safety, stability and reduced life cycle costs.
It is also working on the commercialisation of its sodium-ion battery technology and has plans to industrialize sodium-ion cell production at a megawatt level by next year.
Read more: Amara Raja likely to boost planned battery capacity at Gigafactory by over 50%