REC Group of Norway, the solar module manufacturer has caught the eye of Indian billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani as media reports suggest his company Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is looking to buy the European module maker.
Leading business daily Mint referred to unidentified sources who shared the development without revealing further details.
RIL's possible interest in REC Group should stem from the company's recent announcement to get seriously into integrated solar PV module manufacturing and set up a gigafactory in Gujarat's Jamnagar. The idea is to manufacture raw silica, convert it to polysilicon and then into ingot and wafers, to finally be assembled into solar cells and modules, Ambani shared during his June 2021 address to shareholders.
RIL's plans also include adding 3 more gigafactories, one each for advanced energy storage battery, electrolyzer and fuel cell, for an estimated investment of INR 600 billion at the same location (see Indian Billionaire Wants 4 New Energy Gigafactories).
Wallstreet brokerage firm Bernstein recently said in a note, picked up by several media outlets, that RIL's low carbon energy plans could build a clean energy business worth $36 billion, and if the plans shared are realized by the given timeline, the new energy business may contribute almost 10% of the company's total EBITDA by FY2026.
REC Group has been around since 1996 with its operational headquarters at Singapore having a total annual module production capacity of 1.8 GW (see REC Group Begins Production At 600 MW HJT Fab).
TaiyangNews reached out to REC Group to confirm the development, but till the time of this story being published, response was awaited.