Malaysian clean energy co Gentari aims for 20% share in India's green hydrogen market

Navjit Gill, Country Head, Gentari Renewables India.

Gentari Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian clean energy firm and subsidiary of the state-run Petronas Group, is keen to enter India's fledgling green hydrogen market and scale up its contribution to around 20 percent of the country's production, Navjit Gill, Country Head, told Moneycontrol in an exclusive interview.

The company is currently evaluating plans to develop green hydrogen/ammonia projects in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

"If we are able to contribute close to about 20 percent of the National Hydrogen Green Mission by 2030 by producing up to 1 million tonnes of of green hydrogen, I think that would be a well aligned contribution," Gill said.

Under the centre's Green Hydrogen Mission, India aims to be a leading producer and supplier of Green Hydrogen in the world and targets setting up of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonne) per annum of green hydrogen capacity with an associated renewable energy capacity of about 125 giga watts GW by 2030.

As of now, the installed capacity for green hydrogen production is still relatively small and is being implemented on a pilot project basis. However,  projects in the pipeline, government polices and investments by industry heavyweights, are expected to drive significant growth in the coming years.

The company is already developing a green hydrogen project with Greenko, a leading renewable energy company in India, in Andhra Pradesh. Further to this, Gill said, "there could be initiatives  in hydrogen or ammonia in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka."

Hydrogen can be generated through a process called electrolysis, where an electric current is passed through water (H₂O). When this process is powered by renewable energy sources such as wind or solar, the resulting hydrogen is termed green hydrogen, as it is produced with zero carbon emissions. As India inches towards energy security, green hydrogen is expected to play key role in reducing emissions in hard-to- abate sectors such as steel, fertilisers, refinery, cement and mobility.

However, as of now, there is no market for green hydrogen since it's expensive compared to grey hydrogen and most producers are exporting in European markets. "It's in a nascent stage as of now and there will be definitely a niche for this requirement in the country too, as far as hydrogen is concerned, Gill added.

Expansion plans

Gentari, formed in 2022, has been rapidly expanding in India's clean energy sector via greenfield capacities and by buying existing projects.  It is currently operating at its full peak capacity of 1800 MW and has 230 MW of utility based projects.  The company operates across several platforms in the renewable energy sector, primarily focusing on solar, hydrogen, and electric mobility.  As of now, Gentari operates in regions including Malaysia, Australia, India.

"We have now developed significant in house capabilities for doing large organic projects be them be it solar, wind, hybrids or even looking at storage also. So as far as the RE (renewable energy) space is concerned, it's not only that inorganic, if there are some opportunities which are quality assets and which meet our requirements, we will evaluate them.  We are generally now developing projects in the organic space," Gill said.

According to reports, the clean energy firm is  in pole position to buy a chunk of Brookfield's India solar assets. Gill declined to comment when asked about the development and said, "We don't comment on speculations."

"We will continue to look at opportunities in terms of organic growth and if there are any inorganic opportunities, we are not close to that, but we continue to evaluate," he added.