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Green energy exports: $10-bn green ammonia project positions India as global clean-fuel supplier; Kakinada plant nears key milestone – The Times of India

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Green energy exports: -bn green ammonia project positions India as global clean-fuel supplier; Kakinada plant nears key milestone – The Times of India


A $10-billion green hydrogen and green ammonia project at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh is set to cross a major construction milestone, reinforcing India’s ambition to emerge as a global supplier of clean energy to markets such as Germany, Japan and Singapore.The first major equipment erection ceremony of AM Green’s Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia Complex will be held on January 17 and will be attended by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Konidala Pawan Kalyan, state government officials said, PTI reported.Billed as one of the largest clean-energy investments in India to date, the project involves a total outlay of $10 billion and is expected to generate up to 8,000 jobs during the construction phase, besides substantial high-skill employment during operations and across allied sectors including renewable energy, logistics, storage and port services.AM Green is developing India’s first and the world’s largest green ammonia complex at Kakinada, with a planned capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum, through the brownfield conversion of an existing ammonia-urea facility. The project will be commissioned in phases, beginning with 0.5 million tonnes per annum by 2027, scaling up to 1 million tonnes by 2028 and reaching full capacity by 2030.Once operational, the facility will enable India’s first exports of green ammonia, which is increasingly being adopted globally as a clean shipping fuel, for power generation and as a carrier for green hydrogen.The integrated project spans 7.5 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity, 1,950 megawatts of electrolyser capacity and 2 gigawatts of round-the-clock renewable power, supported by pumped hydro storage, including India’s first such facility at Pinnapuram in Andhra Pradesh.AM Green has already signed long-term supply agreements with Germany-based utility Uniper and is in advanced discussions with potential buyers in Japan and Singapore, establishing India’s first green-energy export linkages with Europe and advanced Asian economies.The project is aligned with Andhra Pradesh’s Integrated Clean Energy Policy, 2024, which seeks to position the state as India’s primary hub for green hydrogen and green ammonia. Once fully commissioned, the facility is expected to mark a structural shift from energy import dependence towards clean-energy exports, placing Andhra Pradesh at the centre of the global green-energy value chain.AM Green, backed by the founders of the Greenko Group, is developing the project through AM Green Ammonia, a partnership involving Malaysia-based Gentari, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Construction at the Kakinada site is already under way, placing it among a limited set of large-scale green ammonia facilities globally that meet Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) standards.Beyond production, the project showcases an end-to-end clean-energy ecosystem within a single state, encompassing large-scale renewable generation, round-the-clock green power backed by storage, hydrogen and ammonia production, and port-based export infrastructure.AM Green has also moved to strengthen global linkages. In May last year, it announced a partnership with the Port of Rotterdam Authority to create a dedicated green-fuel corridor linking India with north-western Europe, aimed at enabling annual trade of up to 1 million tonnes of green fuels valued at nearly $1 billion. Earlier, it tied up with global logistics firm DP World to develop green fuel storage and export facilities in India and overseas.“This is not merely an industrial project, but a strategic step in positioning Andhra Pradesh and India as leaders in clean-energy exports and climate action,” the state government said.



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Anthropic officially designated a supply chain risk by Pentagon

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Anthropic officially designated a supply chain risk by Pentagon



The supply chain risk designation of the artificial intelligence firm is a first for a US company.



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FDA official calls UniQure’s gene therapy a ‘failed’ treatment for Huntington’s disease

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FDA official calls UniQure’s gene therapy a ‘failed’ treatment for Huntington’s disease


Thomas Fuller | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

UniQure needs to run another study to prove that its gene therapy “actually helps people with Huntington’s disease,” a senior U.S. Food and Drug Administration official said on a call with reporters Thursday.

The official, who requested anonymity before discussing sensitive information, confirmed the agency has asked the company to run a placebo controlled trial of its treatment, which is administered directly into the brain. UniQure has said that type of study isn’t ethical because it would require putting people under general anesthesia for hours, a characterization the official disputed.

“So what is really going on? UniQure is the latest company to make a failed therapy for Huntington’s patients,” the official said. “They likely acknowledge or understand at some deep level that their trial failed years ago, and instead of doing the right thing and running the correct clinical study, UniQure is performing a distorted or manipulated comparison in the mind of FDA.”

The comments mark the latest development in a messy public spat between UniQure and the FDA, and as the agency comes under fire for a number of recent drug approval application rejections, including some where companies have accused it of going back on previous guidance. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick last week seemingly criticized UniQure’s gene therapy for Huntington’s disease. Makary didn’t name UniQure but described its treatment.

UniQure then accused the FDA of reversing its stance that the company’s clinical trial data would be sufficient to seek approval. UniQure’s study used an outside database to measure how patients with Huntington’s disease might decline without treatment, known as an external control. UniQure has said it wouldn’t be feasible to run a true randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, considered the gold standard, because it wouldn’t be ethical to make people undergo a sham hours-long brain surgery.

The FDA official said the agency “never agreed to accept this distorted comparison” and the FDA “never makes such assurances.” Instead, the “FDA will always say, ‘Well, we have to see the data when we get it.'”

UniQure didn’t immediately comment.

The company’s stock rose more than 10% on Thursday and has fallen 58% this year as of Thursday afternoon.



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US mortgage rates rise to 6% after three-week slide as oil-driven bond yields climb – The Times of India

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US mortgage rates rise to 6% after three-week slide as oil-driven bond yields climb – The Times of India


The average long-term US mortgage rate edged higher this week, ending a three-week decline as bond yields rose amid oil-price pressures linked to the war with Iran.The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 6% from 5.98% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said on Thursday. A year ago, the average rate stood at 6.63%, AP reported.The modest uptick breaks a three-week slide in borrowing costs, with mortgage rates having hovered close to the 6% mark for most of this year. Last week’s average had marked the first time the rate dipped below 6% since September 2022, reaching its lowest level in nearly three and a half years.Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate policy, investor expectations about inflation and economic growth, and movements in the bond market.They typically track the direction of the 10-year US Treasury yield, which lenders use as a benchmark for pricing home loans.The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.14% at midday Thursday, up from around 4% a week earlier.Treasury yields have moved higher in recent days as rising oil prices added fresh inflation concerns, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s plans to cut interest rates.



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