India’s accelerating green hydrogen ambitions took a technical leap on June 23, 2025, as Adani Enterprises commissioned the country’s first off-grid 5 MW green hydrogen pilot plant in Kutch, Gujarat.
Developed and operated by Adani New Industries Limited (ANIL), the facility operates entirely on solar power and integrates a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to enable fully autonomous operation, marking a significant advancement in renewable-powered hydrogen production.
While India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission has identified industrial decarbonization as a critical pathway to achieve net-zero targets by 2070, infrastructure bottlenecks and power intermittency remain persistent challenges. Adani’s project seeks to address both with a grid-independent configuration capable of dynamically matching hydrogen output to real-time solar availability—a capability that could prove pivotal as the country targets 5 MMT of annual green hydrogen production by 2030.
Unlike conventional electrolysis systems that rely on grid-stabilized inputs, ANIL’s plant runs through a fully automated closed-loop electrolyzer system. The integration with BESS allows for energy smoothing and operational continuity, even under variable solar irradiance. Such architecture positions the plant as both a pilot and a live testbed for off-grid hydrogen generation—an increasingly critical use case for remote or industrial zones seeking self-sufficient energy systems.
According to the company’s press release, the system architecture enables “dynamic adaptation to renewable energy availability,” a feature aligned with global efforts to minimize curtailment losses in renewables and reduce dependency on fossil backup.
The timing of this commissioning dovetails with growing policy pressure under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which has earmarked INR 17,490 crore (approx. USD 2.1 billion) in incentives for green hydrogen production and electrolyser manufacturing. The mission explicitly targets emissions-heavy sectors such as refining, fertilizer manufacturing, and long-haul freight—areas where hydrogen’s high energy density offers strategic advantages.
Adani’s Kutch project is framed as a precursor to its proposed Green Hydrogen Hub in Mundra, Gujarat, a facility that is expected to operate at a much larger scale and integrate with port infrastructure for potential hydrogen or derivative exports. Given Gujarat’s planned role as a key hydrogen corridor under India’s hydrogen roadmap, this pilot further consolidates the state’s positioning in the national energy transition.
While the project’s output—5 MW translating to an estimated 2.5 tonnes per day under optimal solar load—is modest by global standards, the technical structure of the plant is of particular relevance. Few projects globally are built to operate off-grid with BESS integration at this scale. If successful over a sustained operational period, it could serve as a replicable model for future distributed hydrogen production sites.
Market observers are likely to interpret this development as a signal of execution capability from Adani Enterprises in the green hydrogen value chain, particularly after the group’s substantial investment announcements in 2023 and 2024. The move may also bolster investor confidence amid increased scrutiny on project delivery timelines in the clean-tech sector.
Stay updated on the latest in energy! Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X for real-time news and insights. Don’t miss out on exclusive interviews and webinars—subscribe to our YouTube channel today! Join our community and be part of the conversation shaping the future of energy.
