Greenko secures electrolysers, off-take for renewable projects in India

By Julian Atchison on February 12, 2023

Himachal Pradesh

John Cockerill’s 5 MW, single stack, pressurised alkaline electrolyser. Twenty-eight of these units will be delivered next year to Greenko for a renewable ammonia project in northern India. Source: John Cockerill.
Click to learn more. John Cockerill’s 5 MW, single stack, pressurised alkaline electrolyser. Twenty-eight of these units will be delivered next year to Greenko for a renewable ammonia project in northern India. Source: John Cockerill.

Greenko has ordered 140 MW worth of electrolysers for its under-development renewable ammonia plant in Himachal Pradesh, northern India. John Cockerill will supply twenty-eight 5 MW, alkaline electrolyser units early next year, with the ammonia plant due to be commissioned by June 2024. The project will produce 100,000 tonnes per year of renewable ammonia, powered by Greenko’s “round-the-clock renewable energy solutions” (including a ~500 MW pipeline of hydroelectric assets in Himachal Pradesh). Greenko and John Cockerill are also partnered in a giga-scale electrolyser manufacturing facility that will be built in southern India (see more below).

Greenko is working towards reindustrialization solutions for a low-carbon economy and is committed to contributing to the success of India’s “National Green Hydrogen Mission”…this agreement is the latest example of our tangible efforts to accelerate India’s green hydrogen ambitions as part of a wider program that will see India run the world’s largest energy transition program.

Greenko CEO & MD Anil Chalamalasetty in his organisation’s official press release, 2 Feb 2023

Andhra Pradesh

Map of Greenko’s operational presence in India, including its renewable generating assets. A full list can be found here. Source: Greenko.
Click to enlarge. Map of Greenko’s operational presence in India, including its renewable generating assets. A full list can be found here. Source: Greenko.

Kakinada in southern India will be the location of Greenko and John Cockerill’s electrolyser gigafactory. Kakinada will also be home to another Greenko renewable ammonia production plant. The multiphase project is expected to reach one million tonnes in size by 2027, with phase one to produce 250,000 tonnes per year of renewable ammonia. Power will be provided by Greenko’s renewable energy assets across India, assisted by the firming capacity of the Pinnapuram Integrated Renewable Energy Storage Plant (also in Andhra Pradesh), and an on-site pumped hydro facility in Kakinada. Greenko reports this setup will allow the production plant to have a load factor “upwards of 85%” on an annual basis.

Exclusive ammonia off-take for phase one will go to European energy giants Uniper. The pair will negotiate a “first of its kind innovative pricing, supply and tenure structure for a supply and purchase agreement…for Green Ammonia”. The agreement helps establish the first India-Europe ammonia export supply chain, with the pair to collaborate on the production of other renewable hydrogen derivatives in India.

Greenko has been one of the most agile players in the green molecule market in this region. With Uniper as the offtake partner for green ammonia, the partnership will benefit from the additional value added through Uniper’s global commodity trading and logistics network.

Uniper CEO (Middle East) John Roper in Greenko’s official press release, 7 Feb 2023