Mukesh Ambani signs deal with European company, to source technology for...

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, is the richest man in Asia. The 67-year-old built his fortune mostly on fossil fuels. According to Forbes, he has a real-time net worth of Rs 943950 crore. His Reliance has now signed an agreement with Norway's Nel ASA for sourcing technology to make electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen. This development is part of the billionaire's pivots toward green energy. In 2022, Ambani announced plans to invest USD 75 billion in renewables infrastructure including generation plants, solar panels and electrolyzers.

The agreement with Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser AS, a fully owned subsidiary of Oslo-based Nel ASA, "provides Reliance with an exclusive license for Nel's alkaline electrolysers in India and also allows Reliance to manufacture Nel's alkaline electrolysers for captive purposes globally," the Norwegian firm said in a statement. Green hydrogen -- made by splitting water using clean electricity in an electrolyser -- is seen as crucial in emissions reduction goals.

Reliance is building a green energy business to supply the equipment India will need for its green energy revolution. Reliance has committed to being a net zero carbon emission company by 2035, which is earlier than the target of any other energy company in the region. Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance, which aims to turn net zero by 2035, plans to produce 100 gigawatts of renewable energy, a fifth of the nation's target for non-fossil capacity by the end of the decade.

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The Indian government has set a target of 500GW of installed renewable energy by 2030. Of this, solar is expected to account for the largest share with 280GW. "The signing of this agreement is a great milestone in Nel's history. Reliance is an impressive company with enormous ambitions as a global producer of renewable hydrogen, and I am proud that they have selected Nel as their technology partner. In addition to supporting Reliance in achieving their global aspirations, Nel will through this agreement get a revenue stream from a rapidly growing market Nel could not have accessed on its own," says Nel's President and CEO, Håkon Volldal.

The statement said Reliance, a Fortune 500 company and India's largest private sector corporation, "is renowned for its capacity to execute large-scale projects and robust investments in technology and innovation.

"Both partners will also collaborate on future performance improvements and cost optimization through research and development (R&D), value engineering, standardization and modularization to improve the competitiveness of the alkaline technology platform," the statement said. According to the agreement, Nel can procure equipment from Reliance for its own projects. Nel will continue to serve the Indian market with technology platforms that are not covered by the agreement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)