Karnataka Bags Another Mega Deal In Renewables, ACME Group To Set Up $6.7 Billion Green Hydrogen And Ammonia Plant

Leading renewable energy firm ACME Group will invest Rs 52,000 crores ($6.70 billion) in Karnataka over the next five years to set up a green hydrogen and ammonia plant, the state government announced on Monday (Jun 6).

The investment comes as a big boost to India's ambition to manufacture five million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030 to meet its climate targets and become a production and export centre for the fuel.

On 15 August 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of National Hydrogen Mission (NHM) with an aim to make India a global hub for green hydrogen production and export.

The investment will be made over the next five years in two phases, according to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in the presence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

The MoU was signed between Additional Chief Secretary (commerce & industries) E V Ramana Reddy and Acme Cleantech COO Sandeep Kashyap. Energy Minister V Sunill Kumar and Acme Group vice president Shashi Shekar were present.

In the first phase, Rs 5,300 crore will be invested by Acme group while the second phase will see investment to the tune of Rs 46,565 crore.

The green hydrogen and ammonia plant, is expected to create about 2,000 jobs, will have the capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes per annum. It will also have a solar power unit attached.

Acme group is currently setting up a large scale facility at Special Economic Zone at Port of Duqm in Oman to produce Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia. Upon completion, the plant will be an integrated facility using 3 GWp of solar and 0.5 GWp of wind energy to produce 2,400 TPD of green ammonia with an annual production of approx. 0.9 million tons.

ACME Group is also in the process of commissioning the world’s first integrated green hydrogen and green ammonia plant in Bikaner, India. Green hydrogen will be produced using 5 MWp, expandable to 10 MWp, from the solar plant, which is an integral part of the project.

Earlier in May, Karnataka signed a $6.4 billion agreement with U.S.-listed ReNew Power over a 7-year period on energy projects in the state. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Swiss ski resort town. The company will be expanding and establishing solar, wind, green hydrogen and renewable energy plants in Karnataka.

Read: India's Hydrogen Economy: The Story In Mission Mode