Indian independent power producer ReNew Power Pvt Ltd today unveiled a plan to build a 2-GW solar cell and module factory in the state of Gujarat to supply its own projects and also sell components to other sector players.

The company will develop the greenfield facility on 100 acres of land in Dholera Special Industrial Region (DSIR), about 100 km outside the city of Ahmedabad. The vertically integrated plant will utilise monocrystalline PERC (Passivated Emitter & Rear Contact) and large wafer technology. Operations are expected to commence in fiscal 2023, which starts on April 1, 2022.

"The Indian Government's Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for solar photovoltaic (PV) modules has opened up several avenues for domestic manufacturing in the renewable energy sector. ReNew plans to manufacture both solar cells and modules in the Dholera manufacturing facility with the goal of creating a globally competitive manufacturing unit," said Sumant Sinha, founder, chairman and CEO of ReNew Power.

As noted by M K Das, the additional chief secretary to the chief minister of Gujarat and chairman of Dholera Industrial City Development Ltd, the new production facility will help reduce the import dependency of the solar sector. The announcement of ReNew Power’s plan comes just as India initiated an anti-dumping probe into imports of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells made in China, Vietnam and Thailand.

ReNew Power said that local production will allow the company to avoid paying high customs duties on imported components, which are seen to come into force beginning next April.

As previously announced, the company is in the process of merging with blank check company RMG Acquisition Corporation II (NASDAQ:RMGB) to secure a US listing on Nasdaq in a deal with an enterprise value of USD 8 billion (EUR 6.59bn). Completion of that transaction is planned for the second quarter of 2021.