ACME signs term contract for supply of green ammonia to Japan’s IHI Group

ACME Group, a leading renewable energy company in India, and Japanese heavy industry group IHI Corporation on Tuesday signed a long-term contract under which ACME will supply 4 lakh tonnes of green ammonia from its plant in Odisha to Japan annually.

Acme Group chairman Manoj Upadhyay and president and CEO of IHI Corporation, Hiroshi Ide, signed the term sheet in the presence of union minister for power and new and renewable energy R K Singh and Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Suzuki.

The term sheet with IHI covers supply of 0.4 million tonnes per annum of green ammonia from Phase-1 of ACME’s Odisha project in Gopalpur to Japanese ports on a long-term basis. 

Both companies have proposed partnership across the value chain, starting from production to logistics, supply to Japanese customers and creating market for green ammonia. Japan will be using green ammonia in a range of applications, including power generation and various industrial uses to reduce overall emissions.

Speaking at the function, union minister for power and new and renewable energy R K Singh described it as the first and largest agreements in the world in the field of green hydrogen and green ammonia. He said this collaboration in renewable energy in going green will further strengthen India-Japan partnership. 

“India’s cost of making green hydrogen and green ammonia is already among the most competitive in the world. We are going to emerge as one of the largest manufacturers of green hydrogen and green ammonia in the world,” Singh said.

“Our partnership with Japan is strategic; it will grow stronger. Japan and other developed countries have huge requirements for green hydrogen and green ammonia, which India shall be able to supply at most competitive rates,” he added.

The agreement, he said, is a landmark in the new world where clean fuels like green hydrogen and green ammonia replace fossil fuels and carbon. He congratulated Acme and IHI for the partnership. 

Ambassador Hiroshi Suzuki said the signing of the term sheet marked a major milestone. “The partnership between Acme and IHI will bring remarkable success, given the potential of globally competitive green hydrogen in India. I express the government of Japan’s unwavering support in taking forward the collaboration between India and Japan in the energy sector.”

He said the India-Japan Clean Energy Partnership, established by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, has been driving the cooperation between the two countries. 

The ambassador also suggested that the two countries sign a joint declaration of intent on promotion of green hydrogen and green ammonia.

“India is well positioned to develop the renewable resources and produce competitive green molecules for export as well as domestic consumption in applications which are otherwise difficult to decarbonise,” president and director of Acme Group Ashwani Dudeja said. He also sought the help of both the central and state governments in developing the green ammonia project in Odisha.

“This agreement builds upon our earlier MoU with ACME and represents the strong relationship and alignment between the two companies in developing the market for this new generation fuel,” director and managing executive officer of IHI Corporation Jun Kobayashi said.

ACME’s green hydrogen and ammonia project at Gopalpur, Odisha has a planned capacity of 1.2 MTPA. The project will be developed in phases and the first production is likely within 2027. Over its life cycle, the project will help reduce global GHG emissions by 54 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, says a government release.