New Delhi, March 20
Sterling Generators has signed an MoU with a Spanish company called Tecnicas Reunidas to develop a 1 Mega Watt electrolyzer at its Silvassa plant.
This will pave the way for the company to get into the hydrogen economy.
"Our relationship with this company has been developing over the last six months. We had a lot of due diligence activities going back and forth...India and Spain enjoy an excellent business relationship. It's also very easy to work with the Spanish companies...," said the CEO of Sterling Generators Private Limited, Sanjay Jadhav, after the MoU signing ceremony held on Tuesday.
Managing Director, TREI-TECNICAL - Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain), Ignacio Rodriguez, said the project is going to be ready at the end of 2024.
"This agreement is a technical collaboration between Tecnicas Reunidas from Spain and Sterling and Wilson from India to develop a 1 MW electrolyzer demo plant which is going to be installed in Silvassa in Maharashtra and is going to be ready at the end of 2024," Rodriguez said.
"We're hoping that this demo will be one of many to come in India...We think that this technology is going to be the driving force in India in the coming future. We understand that our agreement with Sterling and Wilson was a natural one. We have been talking for a long time, we know each other well, and I think our cultures, both from Spain and India are very similar...," he added.
India has a huge edge in green hydrogen production owing to its favourable geographic conditions and the presence of abundant natural elements.
Union Cabinet in early January 2023 approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission, aiming to make India a global hub for the production, utilization, and export of such technologies.
The green hydrogen mission will gradually lead to the decarbonization of industrial, transport, and energy sectors, a reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels, among others.
India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through imports, and this green hydrogen mission is seen as an avenue to reduce the dependence of imported fuel.
The initial financial outlay for the mission is pegged at Rs 19,744 crore, which includes research and development activities.
Under this mission, the government aims to raise annual green hydrogen production to 5 million tonnes, renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 gigawatts, attract over Rs 8 lakh crore in investments, lakhs of jobs, and most importantly over Rs 1 lakh crore cumulative reduction of fossil fuel imports.