Green Hydrogen Catches Momentum in India with NTPC and L&T inking major partnerships

After Nitin Gadkari made a show riding in a green hydrogen-powered car to the parliament, things are further looking greener for Green Hydrogen. In recent news, NTPC signed an agreement with Gujarat Gas to blend green hydrogen in Piped Natural gas (PNG) network at its Kawas facility. This will be used for cooking applications in NTPC’s Kawas township. The initial blending rate is fixed at 5% and can be later increased after successful implementation.

This green hydrogen will be produced from an existing NTPC’s floating solar power project. NTPC has 69 GW of installed capacity currently, and is targeting to install 60 GW of renewable energy capacity additions over the decade. The utility company is also executing several green hydrogen projects in this regard. This hydrogen blending project is first of its kind in India and if successful could be a big step towards decarbonization in the cooking industry. Not only this, green hydrogen could enable renewable energy production at a larger scale in the country. It is expected to play an important role in India’s energy security which has become of utmost importance given the recent scheme of events.

L&T has also signed two separate agreements with IOC and ReNew Power for green hydrogen. The company established a separate JV with IOC to manufacture and sell electrolysers used in green hydrogen production. According to L&T, green hydrogen is expected to reach ~$2 billion market opportunity in the next two years. L&T’s partnership with IOC and ReNew will focus on green hydrogen projects at IOC’s Mathura and Panipat refineries. It will also evaluate other projects across the country at the same time. This JV is expected to boost green hydrogen production in India as it aims at supplying green hydrogen at an industrial scale in the country.

India could become a hub for green hydrogen given its abundant renewable energy capacity. The National Hydrogen Mission is targeting to increase the production of green hydrogen to 5 million metric tonnes by 2030. This could meet ~40% of the country’s domestic requirements. India is at the cusp of transiting from grey (produced using ammonia and natural gas) to green hydrogen which could be used by oil refiners and fertiliser manufacturers. These agreements could be a big step towards achieving this target. In addition, the Indian government is also considering a Rs 15,000-crore PLI scheme for electrolyzers and is planning to introduce mandates requiring oil refining, fertilizer, and steel sectors to procure a certain proportion of their requirements from green hydrogen.