Amara Raja bags India’s first Green Hydrogen Fueling Station project

Delhi, 13th June 2022

National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC) has awarded the project of setting up India’s first green hydrogen fueling station in Leh, Ladakh to Amara Raja Power Systems Ltd. The successful completion of the project would usher in a new era of emission free transport in and around Leh, and India would be amongst few countries to take a lead in this green mobility space. To begin with, NTPC plans to ply 5 hydrogen fuel cell buses in the region.

This pilot project is being set up in Leh’s extreme conditions at a height of 3600 mts above sea level with a temperature variation of – 14 degrees to + 20 degrees Celsius and Amara Raja Power Systems, a part of the $1.3 billion Amara Raja group was selected to execute this initiative based on their technical expertise. This is one of the first initiatives by the government in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of achieving net zero by 2070. A part of the National Hydrogen Energy Mission, this would be a precursor to large scale green hydrogen mobility and storage projects and would be useful for studying and deploying multiple fueling stations across length and breadth of the country.

Green hydrogen will be produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, using electrolysis process powered by electricity generated by renewable energy sources. The hydrogen produced in this manner will leave no carbon footprint. Speaking about this coveted project, Executive Director of Amara Raja, Vikramadithya Gourineni said “We have been in the power systems and energy storage business for three decades and through this time we have constantly endeavored to be at the cutting edge of technology. The potential for Hydrogen as an energy source of the future is substantial and projects such as these are critical to showcase this. We are honored to continue to serve NTPC as a trusted contractor.”

Dwarakanadha Reddy, Business Head of the EPC division added “This challenging project will reaffirm our EPC expertise, and we are very excited about being the first to enter the green hydrogen infrastructure space.”

This pilot project will produce a minimum of 80kg/day of 99.97% pure hydrogen which will be compressed, stored and dispensed.