Brookfield Asset Management has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India’s largest private-sector enterprise, Reliance Industries, to explore opportunities for manufacturing of clean energy equipment in Australia.
The MoU aims to accelerate and de-risk Australia’s energy transition with local production of PV modules, long-duration battery storage, and components for wind energy, stated Brookfield.
Brookfield and Reliance will explore avenues of direct capital investment and the development of skills, knowledge, and expertise in Australia’s renewable energy sector. The two partners will evaluate the setting up of advanced manufacturing operations to ensure a consistent supply of equipment to all renewable energy players in the market, including Origin Energy Markets, a company being acquired by Brookfield.
Reliance Industries is currently setting up one of the world’s largest integrated renewable energy manufacturing facilities in India, including gigafactories for PV panels, energy storage, electrolyzers for green hydrogen, and fuel cells. Its 10 GW solar cell and module factory is set to commence production by 2024. The company plans to double the facility’s capacity to 20 GW by 2026 and also aims for 50 GWh of annual cell-to-pack battery capacity by 2027. It claims to have a defined technology improvement roadmap to stay ahead in PV manufacturing.
Brookfield has a track record of committing long-term capital to enable the energy transition. Through the MoU with Reliance, it intends to ensure a consistent and adequate supply of the clean energy equipment required to develop up to 14 GW of new, large-scale generation and storage capacity in Australia.
“Australia has a proud history of manufacturing and an abundance of raw materials, but the industry is not currently cost-competitive. The energy transition creates an opportunity to bring advanced manufacturing processes created offshore to Australia, which would secure the supply of critical equipment for the transition to help drive down Australia’s emissions faster and contribute significantly to job creation,” said Luke Edwards, Brookfield Renewable Head of Australia. “We are establishing these types of global partnerships in manufacturing now to allow us to get started as quickly as possible given the ever-reducing timeline for Australia to reach its first emissions-reductions targets in 2030.”
Anant Ambani, director of Reliance New Energy Ltd, said, Reliance is firmly committed to the mission of creating a global clean energy ecosystem that is both beneficial to humanity and compatible with nature. Towards this end, it is pursuing opportunities for investment in India and globally with great enthusiasm and passion. “We are confident that Reliance and Brookfield will explore avenues in green energy in Australia, accelerating the nation’s transition to a Net Zero future and providing a fillip to the global green energy movement,” he added.
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