Reliance to invest in NexWafe as strategic lead investor

NEW DELHI: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries has invested EUR 25 million in German solar wafer maker NexWafe GmbH to use the firm’s technology to set up giga-scale wafer manufacturing facilities in India.

“NexWafe GmbH (NexWafe) today announced the induction of Reliance New Energy Solar Limited (RNESL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (Reliance) as a strategic lead investor in its EUR 39 million ($45 million) Series C financing round with an investment of EUR 25 million ($29 million) in phase one,” the Indian firm said in a late Tuesday evening statement.

The investment by Reliance will accelerate product and technology development for NexWafe, including the completion of the commercial development of NexWafe’s solar photovoltaic products on prototype lines in Freiburg.

Reliance and NexWafe have also entered into an India Strategic Partnership Agreement, providing for joint technology development and commercialisation, at scale, of high-efficiency monocrystalline ‘green solar wafers’.

“Reliance, through this partnership, will secure access to NexWafe’s proprietary technology and plans to build large-scale wafer manufacturing facilities in India, using the NexWafe processes and technology,” the statement said.

NexWafe is developing and producing monocrystalline silicon wafers grown directly from inexpensive raw materials, going directly from the gas phase to finished wafers.

This proprietary process obviates the need for costly and energy-intensive intermediate steps, such as polysilicon production and ingot pulling on which traditional wafer manufacturing relies upon.

RNESL also signed a cooperation agreement with Stiesdal A/S for technology development and manufacturing of Denmark-based firm’s HydroGen Electrolyzers in India.

Stiesdal is founded by Henrik Stiesdal, a wind power pioneer and leading thought leader in the global renewable industry.