TKIL in talks with OMCs, steel companies to set up green hydrogen projects at their sites | Company Business News

TKIL Industries Pvt Ltd is in discussions with oil refining companies and steel manufacturers to set up green hydrogen producing units using solar energy at their premises and help them reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have approached oil marketing companies (OMCs) and steel companies and most of them want to do a pilot first… once there is enough demand, we have kept funds of ₹1,500 crore to ₹2,000 crore for expansion,” Vivek Bhatia, managing director and CEO of TKIL Industries, told Mint. “100 MW is up for taking… and if someone comes with a 200-MW project, we will not say no to them.”

The company, formerly known as thyssenkrupp Industries India Pvt Ltd, is targeting 100 MW of electrolyser capacity by 2025 and plans to scale it up to meet demand. Electrolysers split water into hydrogen and oxygen and are a critical technology for producing low-emission hydrogen from renewable or nuclear electricity. A 10 MW electrolyser can produce 200 kg of hydrogen in an hour if it takes 50 kWh of energy to produce 1 kg of hydrogen.

Bhatia said OMCs can set up the hydrogen-producing units at their existing retail fuel outlets and that will address the issue of availability of hydrogen as the country prepares for wider usage of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

TKIL acquired a minority stake in SoHHytec Ltd, a company based in Lausanne, Switzerland, which has a patent-protected technology to harness solar energy to general renewable fuel and energy. SoHHytec has global orders for green hydrogen projects worth $1.5 billion.

“In the pipeline, we have projects in Spain, France, and parts of Italy,” said Saurabh Tembhurne, CEO and founder of SoHHytec. “Another big chunk of projects is also coming up in the US.”

Hydrogen mission

The global pipeline for the next three years is already quite full, he added. In India, the company is in talks with chemical, fertiliser and power producers for green hydrogen projects. TKIL will be the exclusive partner in India for SoHHytec to manufacture and supply equipment and machinery as well as implement and install green hydrogen projects.

India aims to achieve energy independence by 2047 and net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2070. To realise these goals, the country launched the National Green Hydrogen Mission, under which green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 million metric tonnes per year and 60-100 gigawatts of electrolyser capacity will be established. The government has initiated pilot projects focusing on the use of green hydrogen in shipping, long-haul mobility, and the steel industry.

“Given the government’s National Hydrogen Mission that was announced last year, this particular portion of business is starting to grow in India, where a number of companies are looking to make investments to produce green hydrogen,” said Gaurav Moda, partner and energy industry leader, EY India.

Moda explained that green energy can be used in sectors such as iron and steel, metals, and oil and gas, where it is difficult to reduce emissions directly. These sectors use hydrogen for their own consumption, which can be replaced by green hydrogen.

An additional benefit is that green hydrogen can be converted into other chemicals that can be supplied to the global markets, Moda said.

The Adani group plans to spend $9 billion to build manufacturing and transportation infrastructure for the first phase of its ambitious venture to produce the world’s cheapest green hydrogen. The plan includes a $5 billion investment in manufacturing and operating electrolysers, Mint reported earlier. Adani’s potential rivals in green hydrogen include Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Acme Group and Oil India Ltd.