Reliance Industries, a Fortune 500 company and India’s largest private-sector enterprise, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (Mou) with Brookfield Asset Management to boost onshore renewable power and decarbonisation equipment manufacturing in Australia.
The agreement is aimed at accelerating and de-risking Australia’s energy transition through the local manufacturing of clean energy equipment, such as PV modules, long-duration battery storage and components for wind energy.
Brookfield will collaborate with Reliance in exploring avenues of direct capital investment and the development of skills, knowledge, and expertise in the Australian renewable energy sector.
Both companies will assess the establishment of advanced operations in Australia to make or assemble equipment required in renewable energy projects supplying equipment to all players in the market, including Origin Energy Markets.
The MoU with Reliance is one of Brookfield’s key initiatives to bring manufacturing technology and expertise to 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, head of Australia at Brookfield Renewable.
Brookfield signed a binding agreement with EIG in March to acquire Origin Energy Markets and has mapped out a plan to invest between $20 billion and $30 billion over the next 10 years to help accelerate Australia’s energy transition.
“We want to help kickstart a new era in local manufacturing that will benefit domestic renewables developers, including Origin Energy Markets, and many communities around 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,” Edwards said.
An independent analysis commissioned by Brookfield has revealed that the establishment of onshore sovereign manufacturing capability for the energy transition has the potential to create approximately 18,000 direct and indirect jobs, many of which are needed in regions most impacted by the transition, such as the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, and the La Trobe Valley in Victoria.
Reliance, which boasts expertise in solar panel technology and long-duration battery storage solutions, is currently establishing one of the world’s largest integrated renewable energy manufacturing facilities in India.
“At Reliance, we are 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, Reliance is pursuing opportunities of 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,” said Anant Ambani, director of Reliance New Energy Limited.
