Indian energy players team up for green hydrogen

Indian Oil, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and ReNew Power have formed the Green Hydrogen joint venture in a move to enable India’s decarbonisation push.

Indian Oil, the country’s refiner, L&T, India’s engineering and construction firm, and ReNew, India’s renewable energy company, signed a binding term sheet for the formation of a joint venture (JV) company.

The Green Hydrogen JV is to develop the green hydrogen sector in India. It brings together L&T’s credentials in EPC projects, IndianOil’s expertise in petroleum refining along with its presence across the energy spectrum, and the expertise of ReNew in utility-scale renewable energy solutions. 

Additionally, IndianOil and L&T have signed a binding term sheet to form a JV with equity participation to manufacture and sell electrolyzers used in the production of green H2. 

The JVs are to enable India’s transition from a grey hydrogen economy to a greener economy that increasingly manufactures hydrogen via electrolysis powered by renewable energy. 

SN Subrahmanyan, CEO & MD, L&T, said: “India plans to rapidly march ahead in its decarbonisation efforts and production of green H2 is key in this endeavor. The JV will focus on developing green H2 projects in a time-bound manner to supply green H2 at an industrial scale…We consider this partnership as a significant step in India’s quest for alternative energy.”

“Both these JVs aim to enable the nation’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ mission to rapidly build, expand and bring in economies of scale to make green H2 a cost-effective energy carrier and a chemical feedstock for many sectors.” 

Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, chairman of ndianOil, also commented: “IndianOil is forging this alliance to realise India’s green H2 aspirations, which is in sync with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of making India a green H2 generation and export hub. To start with, this partnership will focus on green hydrogen projects at our Mathura and Panipat refineries. Alongside, other green H2 projects in India will also be evaluated.” 

Sumant Sinha, CEO of ReNew Power, said: “The timing for these proposed JVs is excellent as they will help support Government of India’s recently announced green H2 policy to boost India Inc.’s decarbonization journey.” 

In February, the central government notified the green H2 policy. The policy wants to boost the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia. This is to help the nation become a global hub for the environmentally friendly version of the element. 

For countries like India, green hydrogen can also help provide crucial energy security by reducing the overall dependence on imported fossil fuels. 

It is estimated that the demand for H2 will be 12 MMT by 2030 and around 40 per cent of the element produced in the country (around 5 MMT) will be green. 

By 2050, nearly 80 per centof India’s hydrogen is to be ‘green’ – produced by renewable electricity and electrolysis. Green hydrogen may become the most competitive route for hydrogen production by around 2030.