Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and ReNew Power signed an agreement to form a joint venture to collaborate for green hydrogen with the three companies holding an equal stake in the venture.
In addition, L&T entered into a binding contract with IOCL for another joint venture with equity participation to manufacture and sell electrolysers, which is used in producing green hydrogen.
The government had announced in February that the first part of the National Hydrogen Mission policy on green hydrogen and green ammonia to boost production of hydrogen and ammonia using renewable energy.
The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of L&T, S N Subrahmanyan said, ““The IndianOil-L&T-ReNew JV will focus on developing green hydrogen projects in a time-bound manner to supply green hydrogen at an industrial scale.”
L&T would bring its engineering, procurement and construction expertise to the table with IOCL bringing its chemical processes and refining that provide research and development capabilities in many aspects of the green hydrogen value chain. ReNew Power will add its presence in the renewable energy sector to the partnership.
Indian Oil Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said, “To start with, this partnership will focus on green hydrogen projects at our Mathura and Panipat refineries. Alongside, other green hydrogen projects in India will also be evaluated. While the usage of hydrogen in the mobility sector will take its due time, however, the refineries will be the pivot around which India’s green hydrogen revolution will materialize in a substantial way.”
Notably, hydrogen generated from electrolysis of water when the entire process is done on renewable energy is referred to as green hydrogen. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘National Hydrogen Mission’ on the last Independence Day from Red Fort with the aim to boost the growth of green hydrogen in the country to work towards being energy independent.
The Chairman and CEO of ReNew Power said, “The timing for these proposed JVs is excellent as they will help support the Government of India’s recently announced green hydrogen policy to boost India Inc.’s decarbonisation journey.”
Around the world, countries are looking at green hydrogen technology which offers scalability in clean energy with worsening climate change and global warming.
India’s demand for hydrogen is estimated at around 12 metric million tonnes (MMT) by 2030. According to the government, while most of the hydrogen produced in India comes from coal and gas, around 40 per cent or 5 MMT is expected to be from green sources by 2030.