TotalEnergies is teaming up with Indian conglomerate Adani to develop a huge green hydrogen production programme for India.
The French energy major is buying a 25% stake in Adani New Industries (ANIL) from Adani Enterprises to create what the companies call the world’s biggest such clean fuel “ecosystem”.
ANIL is ready to invest $50bn over 10 years to transform the energy landscape globally and domestically.
In the initial phase, the group will develop green hydrogen production capacity of 1m tonnes per year before 2030.
TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said the deal strengthens ties with Adani and taps into India’s “abundant low-cost renewable power potential”.
And shipping is in the frame for a major boost of green fuel supply.
“This future production capacity of 1m tonnes per annum will be a major step in increasing TotalEnergies’ share of new decarbonised molecules, including biofuels, biogas, hydrogen and e-fuels to 25% of its energy production and sales by 2050,” he added.
Pouyanne said his group wants not only to decarbonise the hydrogen used in its European refineries by 2030, but also pioneer the mass production of green hydrogen to meet demand, “as the market will take off by the end of this decade”.
Adani said it will bring its knowledge of the Indian market, rapid execution capabilities, operational excellence and capital management philosophy to the partnership.
Financial strength
The French partner will add expertise in underlying technologies and an understanding of the global and European market, credit enhancement and financial strength to lower costs.
The idea is to produce the cheapest green hydrogen on the market.
ANIL is eyeing the whole value chain, from the manufacturing of renewables and green hydrogen equipment such as solar panels, wind turbines and electrolysers, to large-scale generation of green hydrogen, as well as downstream facilities producing derivatives.
Adani and TotalEnergies have previously teamed up on LNG terminals, gas utilities and renewables.
“The strategic value of the Adani-TotalEnergies relationship is immense at both the business level and the ambition level,” said Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group.
“In our journey to become the largest green hydrogen player in the world, the partnership with TotalEnergies adds several dimensions that include research and development, market reach and an understanding of the end consumer.
“This fundamentally allows us to shape the market.”
Norwegian classification society DNV said on Tuesday that hydrogen has a crucial role to play in decarbonising the world’s energy system, but uptake will be too slow.
It urged governments to make urgent, significant policy interventions.
DNV’s Hydrogen Forecast to 2050 predicts the amount of hydrogen in the energy mix will be only 0.5% in 2030 and 5% in 2050.
To meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, uptake would need to triple to meet 15% of energy demand by mid-century.
“Hydrogen is essential to decarbonise sectors that cannot be electrified, like aviation, maritime and high-heat manufacturing, and should therefore be prioritised for these sectors,” said Remi Eriksen, DNV’s chief executive.
