$5 Billion green hydrogen project launches between Adani and TotalEnergies

The renewable H2 initiative is meant to help India to cut back on its oil and coal imports.

TotalEnergies SE and Adani Enterprises Ltd. intend to move ahead with a $5 billion investment into a green hydrogen project that will involve steps relating to H2 in India.

The country has been making ambitious moves to help in its strategy toward decarbonization.

As one of the top greenhouse gas emissions producers in the world, India has been taking aim at rapid decarbonization of its entire economy by 2070. The government has been releasing ambitious strategies widely focused on H2. A component of this effort involves a green hydrogen project in which TotalEnergies acquiring a 25 percent stake in Adani New Industries Ltd for an amount that was not yet disclosed at the time of the writing of this article. This was announced in a recent Adani Enterprises Ltd. exchange filing.

Adani New Industries is a closely held Adani Enterprises company. It is the coal-to-ports conglomerate’s flagship firm.

The purchase is an additional boon for Adani, which as been aiming to obtain global investors and has made a commitment to spend as much as $70 billion by 2030 throughout the length of the renewable H2 value chain.

Investments into this green hydrogen project will likely be helpful to India as a whole.

TotalEnergies is enhancing its clean-energy output as it backs off on its fossil fuel product sales in the face of climate change demands from shareholders. The French company has previously worked with Indian billionaire Adani for investments into natural gas and renewables in India. In 2019, Total purchased a 37.4 percent stake in what was then called Adani Gas Ltd., but that is now known as Adani Total Gas Ltd.

In 2021, TotalEnergies acquired 20 percent of Adani Green Energy Ltd. as well as a 50 percent stake in a solar assets portfolio.

The green hydrogen project focus will involve using renewable electricity to power electrolysis, which splits water into oxygen and H2. The outcome could be a boost in the clean fuel’s output by 18 times current levels, reaching about 11.6 tons per year by 2030 assuming solid government policy support.