Indian Oil, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and ReNew Power announced their joint venture to tap the green hydrogen business in India.
IndianOil and L&T will also form a JV with equity participation to manufacture and sell Electrolyzers used in the production of Green Hydrogen.
The JVs aim to enable India’s transition from a grey hydrogen economy to a greener economy that increasingly manufactures hydrogen via electrolysis powered by renewable energy.
The central government in February notified the Green Hydrogen policy aimed at boosting production of green hydrogen and green ammonia to help the nation become a global hub for the environmentally friendly version of the element.
While nearly all hydrogen produced in India today is grey, it is estimated that demand for Hydrogen will be 12 MMT by 2030 and around 40 percent of the element produced in the country (around 5 MMT) will be green, as per the draft National Hydrogen Mission guidelines.
By 2050, nearly 80 percent of India’s hydrogen is projected to be ‘green’ – produced by renewable electricity and electrolysis. Green hydrogen may become the most competitive route for hydrogen production by around 2030. This may be driven by potential cost declines in key production technologies and in clean energy technologies such as solar PV and wind turbines.
Today, hydrogen is mainly used in the refining, steel and fertilizer sectors, which will be the focus of the JVs’ initial efforts. The country’s refining sector consumes approx. 2 MMT of grey hydrogen every year, with IndianOil owning one of the largest shares of its refining output.