Reliance Industries Acquires 100% Stake In UK-Based Solar Battery Company Faradion For 100 Million Pounds

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries on Friday announced that it will buy UK-based solar battery company Faradion Ltd at an enterprise value of GBP 100 million to strengthen its multi-billion dollar clean energy portfolio.

The oil-to-retail conglomerate said in its regulatory filing to stock exchanges today that Reliance New Energy Solar Limited (RNESL), a wholly-owned arm of Reliance, has entered into definitive agreements to acquire a 100 per cent stake in Faradion for a venture. signed on. Value of GBP 100 million.

The renewable energy arm will invest an additional £25 million in development capital to accelerate commercial roll-out, the company said in a statement.

Based out of Sheffield and Oxford in the UK and with its patented sodium-ion battery technology, Faradion is one of the leading global battery technology companies. It has a competitively superior, strategic, broad reach and comprehensive IP portfolio covering many aspects of sodium-ion technology.

Since October 10, India’s most valuable company through RNESL has made a wave of acquisitions and strategic investments to shape its green energy business that spans solar, battery and hydrogen investments. The direction has mainly been towards acquiring or achieving state-of-the-art technology that can reduce the cost of renewable energy generation, especially in solar power generation.

It partnered with REC, Nexsafe, Sterling & Wilson, Stisal & Ambry to acquire expertise and technology portfolio to begin building a fully integrated end-to-end renewable energy ecosystem through solar, battery and hydrogen. has invested 1.2 billion USD in And in this episode, it has now invested in the British battery maker.

“Faradian’s sodium-ion technology offers significant advantages compared to alternative battery technologies, particularly lithium-ion and lead-acid,” the statement said.

These advantages do not include the dependency and use of cobalt, lithium, copper or graphite. Sodium is the sixth most abundant element on the planet.

In addition, it is patented zero-volt safe transport and storage, low cost and has the capability of fast charging. It utilizes existing lithium-ion manufacturing infrastructure and has already been proven with several commercial manufacturing partners. With an energy density comparable to lithium-ion phosphate and a wide operating temperature range of -30℃ to 60℃.

“It all combines to offer a next generation, high-density, safe, sustainable and low-cost energy storage technology solution,” it said.

“Reliance will utilize Faradion’s state-of-the-art technology at its proposed fully integrated energy storage giga-factory as part of the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex project in Jamnagar, India.” Speaking about the acquisition, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries said that the acquisition will further strengthen the firm’s ambition to create one of the most advanced and integrated new energy ecosystems and put India at the forefront of leading battery technologies.

“Sodium-ion technology developed by Faradion provides a globally leading energy storage and battery solution that is safe, sustainable, delivers high energy density and is significantly cost-competitive. In addition, it includes a wide range of applications from mobility to grid-scale Applications are using storage and backup power,” he said.

“Most importantly, it uses sodium, which will secure India’s energy storage needs for its vast renewable energy and rapidly growing EV charging market.” Ambani said Reliance will work with Faradion’s management and accelerate its plans to commercialize the technology through integrated and complete giga-scale manufacturing in India.

“We believe this will be one of many steps that will enable, accelerate and secure the massive energy storage requirements for our Indian partners, growing and transforming India’s EV mobility and transportation sector.” James Quinn, CEO of Faradion also commented, “Faradion has been one of the first to champion sodium-ion battery technology. Reliance is the one to support Faradion’s growth in the rapidly growing Indian market and jointly accelerate transformation.” is the ideal partner in the global energy market”.

“Being part of the Reliance Group testifies to the incredible work our team has done in advancing sodium-ion technology. With Reliance, Faradion can bring British innovation to India and globally, as the world increasingly looks beyond lithium. We look forward to being a part of India’s Net Zero Mission.” Chris Wright, president and co-founder of Faradion, said, “Dr. Jerry Barker, Ashwin Kumaraswamy and I founded Faradion in 2010 to develop sodium-ion technology and bring it to market, with funds from Marcia Asset Management. This deal with Reliance firmly establishes Faradion’s sodium-ion battery as an integral part of the global value chain for cheaper, cleaner, more sustainable energy for decades to come.”

Reliance, which is expected to continue investing in technology – such as fuel cells and key materials for the clean energy sector, is likely to commercialize acquired technologies and set up manufacturing plants in India.

It is targeting 100 GW of solar manufacturing and a green hydrogen cost of US$1 per kilogram by 2030. It is planned to spend 10 billion USD on new energy business over the next 3 years to achieve these goals.

Earlier, Reliance had announced the acquisition of REC Solar Holdings from China National Bluestar for USD 771 million.

REC is a well established manufacturer of polysilicon, PV cells and modules with plants in Norway and Singapore. Using REC’s technology, Reliance will build a new integrated solar manufacturing plant in Jamnagar and expand capacity globally.

Ambani’s firm is investing USD 45 million in Nexwaf to jointly develop and commercialize monocrystalline green solar wafers and acquire 40 per cent in leading solar EPC and O&M provider Sterling & Wilson Solar Ltd (SWSL). has been

It has also signed an agreement with Steesdal of Norway for technology development and manufacturing of Steisdal’s hydrogen electrolysers in India.

A further USD 50 million has been invested in US-based Ambari for the development and commercialization of Ambari’s liquid metal battery for energy storage.

Reliance is also in talks with Ambari to set up a large-scale battery manufacturing facility in India.

At the company’s shareholders’ meeting in June, Ambani announced his plans to invest USD 10 billion in low-carbon energy, marking another chapter in the company’s transformation.

Over the next 3 years, Reliance will spend Rs 60,000 crore to build four ‘Giga factories’ to manufacture integrated solar PV modules, electrolysers, fuel cells and batteries to store energy from the grid.

The sites of these plants will be located in the new 5,000-acre Green Energy Giga Complex in Jamnagar. An additional Rs 15,000 crore will be used for investments in the value chain, technology and partnerships for the new energy business.