Indian engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has commissioned a green hydrogen plant at its engineering complex in Hazira, Gujarat.
The plant, which was inaugurated by Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, chairman of the Indian Oil Corp, began production of green hydrogen based on an alkaline electrolysis process, L&T said in a press release.
The plant will produce 45 kg of green hydrogen daily, which will be used for captive consumption in the company’s Hazira manufacturing complex.
According to the company, the green hydrogen plant is designed for an electrolyser capacity of 800 kW comprising both Alkaline (380 kW) and PEM (420 kW) technologies and will be powered by a rooftop solar plant of 990kW peak DC capacity and a 500kWh battery energy storage system.
As part of the first phase of the project, a 380-kW Alkaline electrolyser has been installed, while the 420 kW PEM electrolyser along with solar plant capacity augmentation to 1.6 MW peak DC, will be part of future expansion.
Green hydrogen is a ‘promising alternative fuel’
“We are proud that our engineers have set up the green hydrogen generation plant at Hazira complex and integrated it with the existing manufacturing shops for use of the green hydrogen,” Subramanian Sarma, whole-time director and senior executive vice president of L&T, said in a statement.
He added that the initiative is in line with L&T’s climate leadership targets of Lakshya-2026 to reduce emissions by approximately 300 tonnes/annum.
“We believe that green hydrogen is a promising alternative fuel, and this plant is a testimony that we are committed to creating a greener tomorrow,” Sarma added.
The hydrogen plant is spread across 3000 sq. meters, and the first phase of the project has been installed, tested, and commissioned. The scope involves the generation of high purity green hydrogen (99.99%) and oxygen, and their captive consumption in the manufacturing shops.
A blend of 15% hydrogen with natural gas will be used as a fuel, and oxygen will supplement the existing usage in cutting and welding applications.
To ensure safe operation and production, the plant design incorporates both active and passive safety systems and will be operated through state-of-the-art control systems with remote monitoring functionality. In addition, an integrated data analytics platform designed by L&T will provide insights into the performance of the electrolysers and the overall plant.
As part of its ESG commitments, L&T has also pledged to achieve water neutrality by 2035 and carbon neutrality by 2040.
Indian energy companies are stepping up sustainable energy production, with two of the country’s largest private-sector concerns — Reliance Industries and Adani Group — pledging to spend billions of dollars on renewable projects.
