Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), along with strategic investors Paulson & Co. Inc. and Bill Gates, and a few other investors, has announced an investment of $144 million in Ambri Inc, an energy storage company based in Massachusetts, USA.

RNESL will invest $50 million to acquire 42.3 million shares of preferred stock in Ambri.

"The investment will help the company commercialise and grow its long-duration energy storage systems business globally," Reliance Industries said in a regulatory filing.

RNESL and Ambri are also in discussions for an exclusive collaboration to set up a largescale battery manufacturing facility in India, which could add scale and further bring down costs for Reliance’s green energy initiative.

Addressing the shareholders in June this year, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani had announced plans to build a Giga Factory in Jamnagar for the storage of intermittent energy, as part of the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex project.

Ambri can cater to projects that require energy storage systems from 10 MWh to over 2 GWh.

The company will manufacture calcium and antimony electrode-based cells and containerised systems that are more economical than lithium-ion batteries, capable of operating safely in any climatic condition without requiring supplemental air conditioning and meant to last for over 20 years with minimal degradation, the company release added.

First Published:Aug 10, 2021 6:33 AM IST