India’s state-owned fossil fuel corporation Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Greenko, one of the biggest renewable energy developers in the world, have formed a strategic cooperation to develop a 1.3 GW green hydrogen project powered by 24/7 renewable energy.
The two companies reached an agreement to form a joint venture to build a $6 billion project. According to the memorandum of understanding, the project would require an enormous 6-7 GW of new wind and solar installations, supported by pumped-hydro storage, to provide 1.4 GW of continuous power to John Cockerill alkaline electrolysers.
According to ONGC, the project is scheduled to start production “around the year 2026,” and the produced hydrogen will be used to produce one million tonnes of green ammonia per year.
The levelized cost of green hydrogen decreases when the electrolyser operates more hours per year. Thus, continuously manufacturing hydrogen should lead to a very cost-competitive product.
Greenko and Belgium's John Cockerill, the world's largest electrolyser supplier, are building a new 2 GW plant in India and it may supply the electrolysers for the project.
“The green ammonia produced from the project is intended to be sold at international markets where there is high demand for alternative molecules derived from green energy as the source,” said ONGC.
The company pointed out that this project will help India achieve the target of producing 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by the year 2030.
With a $30 billion net worth, India's largest oil corporation, ONGC, has previously launched a plan to build up to 10 GW of renewable energy by 2040.
Greenko, with an installed capacity of 7.3 GW of wind, solar and hydropower, is one of the world’s leading renewable energy developers.
