Weak green hydrogen demand puts L&T's 1 GW plan on ice

Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has pushed back its plan to expand electrolyser manufacturing capacity to 1 GW, as weak green hydrogen demand weighs on investment, people familiar with the development said.

L&T Electrolysers Ltd (LTEL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of L&T Energy GreenTech Ltd, had planned to invest Rs 450-550 crore to establish the 1 GW manufacturing capacity at Hazira in Gujarat by March 2027. Its capacity currently stands at 400 MW.

"Demand for green hydrogen has not panned out as L&T expected, so the company has decided not to expand the capacity from 400 MW right now," an industry executive said on condition of anonymity.


Derek Shah, MD and CEO at L&T Energy GreenTech, told ET in an email response that the company's assembly line/robotic line capacity was sufficient to cater to the current domestic market demand.

"We are poised to quickly ramp up the assembly/manufacturing line to 1 GW as soon as the market open up and more projects are announced in the green hydrogen/green ammonia/green methanol space," Shah said.

Shah said that if all the projects announced for the domestic market and exports from India materialise, L&T's manufacturing facility can be ramped up to 1 GW within 12 to 18 months.

"Since the projects of green hydrogen and green ammonia plants typically take upwards of 30/40 months for completion, we do not envisage a challenge to ramp up the manufacturing of the electrolyser plant to required levels to meet the demands of the industry," he said.

L&T has so far invested ₹293 crore in the project. LTEL manufactures electrolysers based on pressurised alkaline technology under a technology licensing agreement with France-based McPhy Energy.