The metals-to-infrastructure conglomerate Essar Group intends to invest Rs 30,000 crore over the course of the following four years in order to build a green hydrogen facility in Jamnagar, Gujarat for the company to advance to the next stage, sustainable energy is an essential component.

According to Prashant Ruia, director of Essar Capital, which oversees the group’s investment portfolio, the conglomerate plans to decarbonize long-haul heavy trucks by building a green steel mill in Saudi Arabia, decarbonizing its oil refinery in the UK and developing an LNG and electric ecosystem. Critical mineral mining is also being researched. The majority of applications for these minerals include solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and wind turbine magnets.

The company is planning to develop 1 gigawatt (GW) of hydrogen capacity aligned with associated green molecules capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum in Jamnagar over the period of next four years. 

Essar plans to break water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen using 4.5 GW of renewable energy provided by its sister company Essar Renewables. The world’s cleanest energy source, hydrogen, can be manufactured and used to power industry, cars, buildings, and even to heat homes and offices.

Since hydrogen burns only to produce water, it cannot be moved; instead, it is utilized to create green ammonia, which is readily transportable.

Ruia added,” The idea is to create green molecules that can be transported directly rather than green ammonia. Because you carry green ammonia and then you convert it into hydrogen. That cost is very high. So, we are trying to build a complex which can make green molecules from hydrogen and largely in the biofuels space and export that.”

The idea is to grow to about 10,000 megawatts (MW) over the next 3-5 years.

In order to fulfil Gujarat’s base-load demands, Essar Power is expanding its 1,200 MW Salaya-DevBhoomi Dwarka thermal power plant to 1,600 MW. In order to decarbonize large, long-distance vehicles and make the transportation sector greener, he claims that Essar is focusing on creating an LNG and electric environment. He claims that it has a fleet of between 450 and 500 LNG-powered trucks that are used for logistical needs by different enterprises. Trucks are the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide on the road, producing an estimated 110 tons annually.