Adani, Ashok Leyland and Ballard Power Design a Green Hydrogen Fueled Truck

Gautam Adani, the boss of Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL). (photo: twitter @ians_india)

JAKARTA - India's Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) announced on Tuesday January 17 that it has signed an agreement with Ashok Leyland and Ballard Power Canada to launch a pilot project in developing a hydrogen fuel cell electric truck (FCET) for logistics and mining transport.

The project, led by Adani, will ensure Ballard supplies fuel cell engines, while Indian truck maker Ashok Leyland will provide vehicles and technical support for the project.

“FCET is scheduled to be launched in India in 2023,” the Adani Group said in a release cited by Reuters.

Hydrogen, made by splitting water by an electrical process called electrolysis, can be used as a fuel. If the device that does that, the electrolyzer, is powered by renewable energy, the product is called green hydrogen.

In the next ten years, the Adani Group, which is led by Asia's richest man Gautam Adani, has plans to invest more than USD 50 billion (IDR 755 trillion) in green hydrogen and related ecosystems for a capacity of up to 3 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually.

The government of India recently approved an incentive plan of 174.9 billion rupees (Rp 31.8 trillion) to promote green hydrogen and has set green hydrogen consumption targets for several industries earlier this month.

Indian companies such as Reliance Industries, Indian Oil, NTPC, Adani, JSW Energy, ReNew Power and Acme Solar have big plans for green hydrogen.

Adani has a partnership with French energy company TotalEnergies as part of a deal to set up a new green hydrogen project in India. India itself plans to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2070.