[Funding alert] Reliance, Bill Gates invest in US-based battery storage company Ambri Inc

Reliance Industries Ltd’s wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL), Bill Gates, Fortistar, Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates, Japan Energy Fund, and others have invested a total of $144 million in Massachusetts-based energy company, Ambri Inc.

According to an official statement, RNESL will invest $ 50 million to acquire 42.3 million shares of preferred stock in Ambri. Both parties are in talks for an exclusive collaboration to set up a large scale battery manufacturing facility in India to help add scale and bring down costs for Reliance’s green energy initiative.

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“Reliance Industries sees this strategic partnership with Ambri as an important step in its journey of achieving its decarbonization goals. Our investment in Ambri is part of our broader plan to develop the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex, which will be amongst the largest integrated renewable energy manufacturing facilities in the world and the epicenter of India’s Green Economy movement,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd in a statement.

This announcement comes in after Mukesh Ambani announced its 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. 

US-based Ambri, founded in 2010 by Donald Sadoway, David Bradwell, and Luis Ortiz, is involved in developing and commercialising a new, long-duration battery technology that will enable widespread use of renewable energy sources, reduce electricity costs, and enable power systems to operate more reliably and efficiently. 

“Based on patented technology and designed to last between 4-24 hours, Ambri’s long duration energy storage systems will break through the cost, longevity, and safety barriers associated with lithium-ion batteries used in grid-scale stationary storage applications. They will enable a crucial energy storage solution capable of supporting the increasing amounts of renewable energy being integrated into electric power grids,” the official statement noted.

The company is looking to deploy the funds to design and construct high-volume manufacturing facilities in the US and internationally.

“This financing supports the commercial growth of our company and technology. Further, these funds are instrumental to driving our efforts to scale the company’s operations and establish our manufacturing infrastructure to meet rapidly expanding customer demand. We are delighted that our newest shareholders, who are world class investors and strategic partners, are joining Ambri’s journey,” said Dan Leff, Ambri Executive Chairman in a statement.