With projects in India, Europe, and Southeast Asia moving into advanced planning or early deployment phases, hydrogen’s transition from a policy aspiration to a commercial reality is gaining traction—though challenges remain, particularly around scale, capital expenditure, and offtake certainty.
In India, ACME Group is advancing a major green hydrogen and ammonia facility at Gopalpur, Odisha, reaffirming its timeline and international export ambitions. The facility, situated within Tata SEZ, is designed to produce 400,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually and is backed by a long-term offtake agreement with a major Japanese corporation. Exports are set to begin in 2029.
Anil Kumar Taparia, COO of ACME’s Green Hydrogen Strategic Business Unit, confirmed the project is on track and expected to create over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs. With the plant’s entire output committed for export, the project reinforces India’s positioning in the global clean ammonia market—a segment gaining momentum as countries like Japan and South Korea seek long-term low-carbon fuel supply chains.
Indonesia: €2.3 Billion Pipeline Positions Hydrogen as Energy System Backbone
Hydrogène de France (HDF Energy) is expanding its footprint in Asia through a tripartite agreement with Indonesia’s state-owned utility PLN and infrastructure financier PT SMI. The parties aim to unlock financing for 23 hydrogen and ammonia projects totaling €2.3 billion in investment. These projects are part of Indonesia’s national roadmap to integrate hydrogen into its energy mix, particularly for power generation.
This collaboration is indicative of the Southeast Asian region’s emerging hydrogen agenda—one that blends industrial strategy, grid decarbonization, and sovereign energy security. For HDF, the deal provides a path to scale in an energy system heavily reliant on fossil fuels, while PLN and PT SMI gain access to international technology and investment.
Europe: Technological Focus Shifts to Infrastructure and Industrial Demand
In Europe, the emphasis is shifting toward technological integration and infrastructure readiness. Thyssenkrupp Nucera has initiated front-end engineering design (FEED) for a 600 MW hydrogen project targeted at hard-to-abate industries. While the project’s customer and location remain undisclosed, the move suggests rising momentum for sector coupling and decarbonization in steel, chemicals, and refining—areas where hydrogen’s abatement potential is highest.
In parallel, Thyssenkrupp Uhde and Uniper have formalized a partnership to scale up ammonia cracking—a critical missing link in future hydrogen import chains. A demonstration plant with a daily capacity of 28 tonnes of ammonia will be built at Gelsenkirchen-Scholven, Germany. This pilot will inform a future-scale terminal at Wilhelmshaven, aligning with Germany’s ambition to become a central hydrogen import hub for Europe.
The significance of this lies in the shift from export-oriented hydrogen to import infrastructure readiness—an essential pivot as Europe seeks to diversify energy inputs and reduce reliance on pipeline-based fossil fuels.
Spain: Electrolyzer Innovation Targets Component Validation
Spain-based Tecnalia has developed a flexible 50 kW electrolyzer platform capable of testing core components—particularly the stack—across different use conditions. With the capacity to produce 1 kg of hydrogen per hour, the system is currently being used for over 50 hydrogen R&D projects involving both domestic and international companies.
This reflects the growing importance of validation infrastructure as the hydrogen sector matures. Component testing and certification—especially for stacks, membranes, and catalysts—are increasingly critical for cost transparency, lifecycle predictability, and investor confidence. Tecnalia’s system offers a bridge between lab-scale innovation and commercial deployment, a gap that remains under-resourced in much of the global hydrogen ecosystem.
Africa-Asia Nexus: Amea Power and Kyuden Build Transcontinental Framework
Meanwhile, Dubai-based Amea Power has signed a cooperation agreement with Japan’s Kyuden International to fast-track large-scale green hydrogen development. By combining Amea’s project pipeline with Kyuden’s technology expertise, the partnership seeks to expand project bankability and derisk technical execution.
As more Japanese utilities and conglomerates seek upstream access to green hydrogen and ammonia, partnerships like this serve to create multi-regional risk-sharing mechanisms—crucial in nascent hydrogen markets where government guarantees and sovereign funds remain limited.
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