India’s Odisha state approves green hydrogen, ammonia, methanol projects

MUMBAI (ICIS)–India’s eastern state of Odisha has approved three separate projects that will produce environmentally friendly or “green” hydrogen, ammonia and methanol.

These projects, which were cleared on 24 November, will help “Odisha state remain at the forefront in the Indian green hydrogen sector”, a local government official said.

Details of the projects were disclosed by the Odisha government on 27 November but without specific construction timelines.

Welspun New Energy Ltd plans to set up an Indian rupees (Rs) 138.6bn ($1.7bn) green ammonia plant in the Kendrapada district which will have a 700,000 tonne/year capacity.

The company is a subsidiary of Indian multinational company Welspun Group, which operates textiles, pipes and infrastructure businesses, among others.

Sembcorp Green Hydrogen India, a subsidiary of Singapore-based energy firm Sembcorp, has also received approval to build a 720,000 tonne/year green ammonia manufacturing unit at Gopalpur at a cost of Rs130bn.

Meanwhile, ReNew E-Fuels Pvt Ltd (REFPL), a special purpose vehicle set up by renewable energy firm ReNew Power Pvt Ltd will set up two green hydrogen-based methanol plants in Odisha.

The company will build a plant that will produce 100,000 tonnes/year of green hydrogen, which will be fed into a 500,000 tonne/year methanol facility at Malkangiri for around Rs100bn.

A separate 60,000 tonne/year hydrogen plant is planned to be constructed at Rayagada, along with a 300,000 tonne/year methanol plant at a cost of Rs90bn.

Separately, the Odisha government has also approved a Rs10bn ammonia storage tank project at Gopalpur by Aegis Vopak which will be able to store 80,000 tonnes of liquid ammonia.

Aegis Vopak is a joint venture between two logistics companies – Dutch Royal Vopak and Indian Aegis Group. It operates a network of 11 terminals across five strategic ports along the east and west coast of India.

($1 = Rs83.37)