The investment will be made through Essar’s newly formed entity Essar Energy Transition for the purpose, and comes close on the heels of India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission, aimed at taking the country to Net Zero emissions by 2070.
Essar Group will invest $1.2 billion in India’s green hydrogen and low carbon fuels, as a part of a total $3.6 billion outlay for green energy for the UK and India. Essar will use the proposed India investment to develop a cost-efficient global supply hub for low carbon fuels, including green hydrogen and green ammonia, the company said in a statement. The investment will be made through Essar’s newly formed entity Essar Energy Transition for the purpose, and comes close on the heels of India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission, aimed at taking the country to Net Zero emissions by 2070.
The government, this year, had approved provisions of the National Green Hydrogen Mission for Rs 19,774 crore. Union minister Anurag Thakur had maintained that Rs 17,490 crore from the sanctioned amount will be allocated for strategic interventions, while Rs 1,466 crore will be used to conduct pilot projects, and Rs 800 crore for R&D component. The company also stated that EET estimates “approximately two-thirds of its aggregate cash flows could come from diversified low carbon sources before the end of the decade”.
As much as $2.4 billion will be invested in the UK, spent across blue and green hydrogen, ammonia, biofuels, and the decarbonisation of the refinery at Stanlow, between Liverpool and Manchester. EET is focused at reducing about 20 per cent of the industrial emissions in North West England, which is around 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. “The launch of EET is a major milestone in Essar’s long-standing commitment to put the UK at the forefront of low carbon energy,” said Prashant Ruia, Director, Essar Capital. The UK government is targeting to achieve 10GW of hydrogen production by 2030 while also developing low carbon hydrogen infrastructure, expertise and significant customer demand.
What will EET include?
- Essar Oil UK, the company’s refining and marketing business in North West England;
- Vertex Hydrogen, which is developing 1 gigawatt (GW) of blue hydrogen for the UK market, with follow-on capacity set to reach 3.8GW;
- EET Future Energy, which is developing 1 GW of green ammonia in India, targeted at UK and international markets;
- Stanlow Terminals Ltd, which is developing enabling storage and pipeline infrastructure; and
- EET Biofuels, which is investing in developing 1 MT of low carbon biofuels.
Besides this, other sustainability investments by the Group include the creation of an LNG value chain in India, including LNG truck manufacturing and LNG fuel stations, setting up a pellet plant in Odisha, and a 4-million tonnes per annum green steel complex at Ras-Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia.
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/essar-to-invest-1-2-bln-in-indias-green-hydrogen-low-carbon-fuels-total-36-bln-outlay-for-uk-india/2994164/