In order to meet the rising demand for low carbon energy in India, Singapore, and around the world, Keppel Infrastructure Holdings Pte Ltd (Keppel Infrastructure) and Greenko Group (Greenko), through their subsidiaries, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). India will begin exporting green energy to singapore in 2025, with the first shipments going to a Singapore power plant under an MoU signed by an India-based company.
When the MOU was signed, Gan Kim Yong, the minister of trade and industry, was present. Sri Hardeep Singh, India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, also took part virtually.
They were joined by His Excellency Periasamy Kumaran, High Commissioner of India to Singapore, Cindy Lim, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure, Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel Corporation, Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, CEO, Managing Director, and Founder of Greenko, and Mahesh Kolli, President, Joint Managing Director, and Founder of Greenko Group.
The Greenko group and Singapore’s Keppel Infrastructure will work toward a 250,000 tonne per year contract to supply hydrogen to Keppel’s new 600Mw power plant in Singapore as part of the MoU to investigate options in green hydrogen potential in India.
This is set against the backdrop of the Indian government’s plan to allocate around 6,000 crores from the 20,000 crore green hydrogen programme for production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for electrolyzers and green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen is created by separating water into hydrogen and oxygen in an electrolyzer fueled by renewable energy sources like sun and wind.
From its current level of 6.7 million metric tonnes (mmt), India’s total hydrogen demand is predicted to reach 11.7 mmt by 2029–30. A cabinet note outlining the mission’s requirements for research and development, pilot programme funding, and green hydrogen consumption obligations has been moved by the ministry of new and renewable energy.
The green ammonia production facility will be powered by a portfolio of solar and wind energy projects with a combined installed capacity of up to 1.3 GW, supplemented by pumped hydro-storage, according to the announcement.
A 2 GW electrolyzer factory, one of the biggest in the world, is being planned for India by the Greenko Group and Belgium’s John Cockerill through their joint venture. $500 million will need to be invested in the factory.
“The pillar of Greenko’s plan for future growth is the change of India from an importer of carbon-based fossil energy to an exporter of renewable energy-derived products like green hydrogen, green ammonia, and other green molecules. Partnerships like these with Keppel, along with Greenko’s Intelligent Renewable Energy Storage Platform (IRESP) and foray into electrolyser manufacturing, are important enabling factors in an accelerated execution of this vision, according to the statement from Greenko’s CEO and managing director Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty.
India uses 6.7 mmt of hydrogen annually, or about 54%, for the manufacturing of fertiliser and the remaining 2 mmt for the refining of petroleum. But this is “grey” hydrogen, made from fossil fuels like naphtha or natural gas.
With the European Union introducing the first carbon tax in history, Indian steel and aluminium producers are attempting to lessen their carbon footprint by switching from coal and acquiring more green power, among other strategies. An example is the recent agreement for the provision of 1 GW of green energy that Jindal Steel and Power signed with Greenko.
Mahesh Kolli, President and Joint Managing Director of Greenko Group, added that the contract for the export of green ammonia would also be expanded to cover bunker fuel through the Keppel network in Singapore’s network of bunker fuel supply to ships.
In addition, Greenko has invested $5 billion in the storage of green hydrogen energy that is carbon-free throughout India, according to Kolli.
He emphasised that “this is the first time we are producing carbon-free energy at the lowest cost, indicating that this energy is of great quality.
Greenko and South Korean steel and power manufacturer Posco agreed to a deal last month under which Greenko will provide one million tonnes of green ammonia annually. The delivery is also anticipated to begin in 2025 or 2026.
According to him, Greenko intends to create over three million tonnes of green ammonia overall, enough to meet domestic demand, Greenko’s green ammonia will minimise India’s imports of urea and ammonia, which total roughly six million tonnes.
International interest in using green ammonia as a direct feedstock for carbon-free energy generation is rising as more nations work to achieve net zero emissions in the fight against climate change. This is because green ammonia produces no CO2 when used as a fuel. In order to provide green hydrogen solutions for challenging industries like the chemical and heavy industries, green ammonia can also be employed as a hydrogen carrier. Green ammonia could also be utilised to replace bunker fuels in order to decarbonize the worldwide shipping sector. Ammonia was acknowledged by the International Energy Agency as a crucial fuel for the production of power in the future, along with hydrogen.
Green ammonia has the potential to be a key player in the decarbonization of the energy and heavy industry sectors as a carbon-free fuel, energy storage medium, and transportation vector for hydrogen. Cindy Lim, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure, stated that this MOU with Greenko “further underlines Keppel’s strategy to be at the forefront of offering creative, sustainable energy solutions to help the globe tackle climate change.”
The partnership between KI and Greenko is expected to help India achieve its aim of producing five million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030 and turning the country into a centre for the fuel’s production and export.
Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, CEO and Managing Director at Greenko, said, “As the global energy transition efforts leveraging green hydrogen and derivatives gain momentum, we are committed to Hon’ble PM Shri Modi Ji’s vision of India’s leadership in combating climate change, establishing the nation as a reliable, sustainable source of the lowest cost green molecules and to catalyse India’s and the world’s decarbonization.”
