The Hydrogen Stream: Larsen & Toubro to commission electrolyzer factory this fiscal

Larsen & Toubro’s electrolyzer factory in Hazira, Gujarat, will produce electrolyzers in sizes up to 4 MW.

May 13, 2024 Uma Gupta and Sergio Matalucci

Image: Goran Tek-en, Wikimedia Commons

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) will commission its [giga-scale] electrolyzer factory in Gujarat the next nine months or so. The factory will produce electrolyzers in sizes up to 4 MW, said P. Ramakrishnan, head of investor relations, at L&T.

L&T has incorporated L&T Electrolysers Ltd as a subsidiary to manufacture pressurised alkaline electrolyzers using the technology from McPhy Energy, France. The company spearheaded the complete value chain from engineering to manufacturing, in collaboration with Indian vendors and suppliers.

Ramakrishnan said the board of L&T has approved an overall investment of around INR 500-odd crore to set up this electrolyzer factory. The factory will come up at A M Naik Heavy Engineering Complex in Hazira, Gujarat.

The PosHYdon pilot project has started onshore testing at an InVesta site in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. PosHYdon aims to produce green hydrogen on an operational gas platform in the Dutch North Sea. The project developer said it will be the first time that three offshore energy systems will be integrated. Hydrogen will be transported to land with gas via an existing pipeline. Following this onshore testing period, the electrolyzer will be transferred offshore to the Q13a-A platform, located 13 kilometers off the coast of Scheveningen, with the first offshore hydrogen production planned for the fourth quarter of this year.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that US west coast refiners are increasingly relying on hydrogen purchased from merchant suppliers rather than their own production. “From 2012 to 2022, hydrogen purchased by refiners in the region increased 29% to about 550 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). Over the same period, on-site refinery-produced hydrogen production from natural gas fell 20% to about 330 MMcf/d,” said the US federal agency. It noted that merchant suppliers accounted for more than 62% of the hydrogen consumed by west coast refineries in 2022.

Hyzon has unveiled North America’s first hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric refuse truck, a Class 8 fuel-cell-powered electric refuse collection vehicle. New Way and Hyzon will collaborate on developing the technology of the Class 8 FCEV as they gather more information during customer demonstrations throughout the rest of 2024. “After Waste Expo, the truck will test on routes in California starting with Recology, the San Francisco-based hauler,” said Hyzon.

Stokota and Worthington have joined forces to accelerate the design and production of compressed hydrogen transport technology. “Geography also played a role in combining design and production strengths. Stokota has two facilities in Poland near Worthington’s plant in Słupsk, Poland,” said the two companies. “This will bring the advantage of shortening and securing the supply chain, and help ensure that the companies deliver their first co-produced systems – two 20-foot containers for transporting hydrogen at 380 bar – later this year.”

Everfuel said it has signed a letter of intent with “a large German industrial offtaker” for the initial supply of 10,000 tons of green hydrogen per year from 2028. “The undisclosed customer’s initial demand is expected to match the hydrogen output from an operationally optimized 100 MW electrolyzer,” said the Danish company. The arrangement is the first step toward a final commercial agreement, conditional upon several factors, including establishing hydrogen pipeline infrastructure between Denmark and Germany.

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