State-run power giant NTPC on Tuesday said its arm, NTPC REL, will set up the country’s first green Hydrogen Mobility project in Ladakh. “NTPC REL, a 100 per cent subsidiary of NTPC, signed a MoU with the Union Territory of Ladakh, to set up the country’s first green Hydrogen Mobility project in the region,” a company statement said. According to the statement, the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also marked with the inauguration of NTPC’s first solar installations in Leh in the form of solar trees and a solar carport.
The MoU will enable NTPC to help Ladakh develop a carbon-free economy based on renewable sources and green hydrogen. This is also in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of a carbon neutral’ Ladakh, it added. The MoU was signed in the presence of Lt Governor R K Mathur, senior dignitaries of the government, NTPC and public representatives. The LG mentioned that he would like Ladakh to become a hydrogen state and is happy to partner with NTPC to achieve this long-term goal. NTPC has plans to ply five hydrogen buses, to start with, in the region and the company will be setting up a solar plant and a green hydrogen generation unit in Leh towards this end.
This will put Leh as the first city in the country to implement a green hydrogen-based mobility project. This would be zero emission mobility in true sense. NTPC has been aggressively pushing for greening its portfolio and the green hydrogen project is another step towards achieving a low carbon footprint. NTPC has also been promoting usage of green hydrogen-based solutions in sectors like mobility, energy, chemical, fertilizer, steel etc. NTPC has recently revised its target of achieving 60 GW renewables capacity by 2032, almost doubling the earlier target. Recently, NTPC has commissioned India’s largest floating solar project of 10 MW at Visakhapatnam.
