With an aim to develop, execute and own green hydrogen assets in India, state-owned oil refiner and retailer Indian Oil Corporation, EPC company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and renewable energy producer ReNew Power will launch a joint venture (JV) with equal stake.
Additionally, IndianOil and L&T have signed a binding term sheet separately to form a JV to manufacture and sell electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen.
All the partners bring to the table their respective experience with ReNew offering and developing utility scale renewable energy solutions, IndianOil with its petroleum refining experience and presence across the country, and L&T designing and delivering EPC projects.
The strategic partnership under the binding term sheet will initially target green hydrogen supply for refining, steel and fertilizer sectors, especially since IndianOil alone owns one of the largest shares of the national refining output. Currently, the refining sector consumes about 2 million metric tons (MMT) of grey hydrogen annually.
IndianOil said the partnership will initially focus on its Mathura and Panipat located refineries, while it evaluates other green hydrogen projects in India. "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," added IndianOil Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya.
L&T CEO and MD SN Subrahmanyan explained that both the JVs aim to enable the nation's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) mission to rapidly build, expand and bring in economies of scale to make green hydrogen a cost-effective energy carrier and a chemical feedstock for many sectors.
The partnership has been announced after India came out with an official Green Hydrogen/Green Ammonia Policy, under which it aims for 5 million tons of green hydrogen by 2030 (see India Launches Green Hydrogen Policy).