Gujarat: Reliance, L&T Lead Race To Establish Green Hydrogen Hub At Deendayal Port

Major companies like Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Greenko Group and Welspun New Energy have obtained land at Gujarat's Deendayal Port to establish facilities for producing green hydrogen and green ammonia.

It may be recalled that back in February 2023, the Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) called for global expression of interest (EOI) to establish a green hydrogen hub at Deendayal Port in Kandla.

In October 2023, the authority got interest for 14 plots of land, each 300 acres in size, with each parcel earmarked for 1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of green ammonia production.

Last month, DPA allotted the plots to the four companies, with RIL securing six plots, L&T five, Greenko Group two, and Welspun New Energy one, reports Economic Times.

“DPA offered 14 plots with around 4,000 acres of land in total. Of these, RIL has been allotted six plots, L&T has been allotted five, Greenko Group has bagged two and Welspun New Energy has been allotted one plot. These four companies had bid the highest in the auction," said one of the executives, as quoted by Economic Times.

Deendayal Port has been identified as one of the three ports to be developed as “Hydrogen Hub” in line with the Maritime India Vision 2030.

DPA has large parcels of land available under its possession and would utilise these land parcels for developing green hydrogen based facilities (production, bunkering, logistics-loading/unloading) along with renewable energy park which will feed the required green power to the electrolysers.

Green hydrogen is the hydrogen produced via electrolysis, the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen with electricity generated from renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind.

It is essential for decarbonisation: to replace fossil fuels in steelmaking, ammonia production for fertilisers and possibly shipping and trucking — processes which are difficult to electrify. Ammonia is a key end-user segment for green hydrogen and plays a crucial role in scaling up its production.

Kandla Port is targeting green ammonia production of 7 MTPA and 1.4 MTPA of green hydrogen. It is envisaged that the green hydrogen produce shall be used to cater to domestic demand as well for export to other countries using the port infrastructure.