L&T, ReNew Power ink partnership to tap emerging hydrogen biz in India

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) in partnership with ReNew Power (ReNew) will be tapping the emerging green hydrogen business in India.

While the contours of the partnership are yet to be worked out, the two companies signed an agreement on Thursday under which, L&T and ReNew will jointly develop, own, execute and operate green hydrogen projects across the country.

“This partnership with ReNew is a significant milestone in the journey towards building a green energy portfolio for L&T. It is synergistic and brings together the impeccable track record of L&T in designing, executing, and delivering EPC projects and the expertise of ReNew in developing utility-scale renewable energy projects,” S N Subrahmanyan, chief executive officer and managing director of Larsen & Toubro, said in the conference call held today.

It is anticipated that green hydrogen demand in India for applications such as refineries, fertilisers and city gas grids will grow up to 2 million tonne per annum by 2030 in line with the nation’s green hydrogen mission. This would call for investments upward of $60 billion.

“Green hydrogen will be a key driver of the transition to cleaner sources of energy.  I expect this partnership to set new benchmarks in the Indian renewable energy space and look forward to working together with L&T,” Sumant Sinha, chairman and chief executive officer at Gurgaon-based ReNew, said.

The two partners refrained from giving any details on investments as well as partnership ratio.

ReNew Power, a subsidiary of ReNew Energy Global PLC, is presently the only company in wind energy sector in India with over 5 GW of operational capacity.

In August this year, the company forayed into hydro energy segment via acquisition of L&T's 99-megawatt (Mw) hydro power project. As part of the deal with L&T, ReNew also took over L&T Uttaranchal Hydropower, which owns the Singoli-Bhatwari Hydroelectric Project (SBHEP), from L&T Power Development, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

Green hydrogen produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen in an electrolyzer by using renewable-powered electricity can help the world meet its net zero emissions targets, said L&T in its release.

Many countries, including India (through its National Hydrogen Mission), have announced specific policy interventions to push for the widespread adoption of green hydrogen, it said.

For countries like India, with its ever-increasing energy import bill, it can also provide energy security by reducing the overall dependence on fossil fuels. It is also expected to provide a green alternative for “hard-to-abate” industries, like refineries, fertilisers, steel and transport.

Alongside, in a bid to be part of National Hydrogen Mission, large companies such as Reliance Industries, NTPC and GAIL among others have announced green initiatives in the last few months. Reliance Industries plans to invest Rs 600 bn in a 5,000-acre, green energy integrated complex called Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat, while state-owned GAIL has floated a global tender to procure an electrolyser as it plans to set up a 10 MW capacity green hydrogen plant in Madhya Pradesh.