Zhero, a green energy venture co-founded by ex-ACWA Power CEO Paddy Padmanathan, is making headway with its green hydrogen and green ammonia projects in Africa and the United States. Speaking at a webinar organised by Project Finance International (PFI), Padmanathan revealed that the company is developing four projects, with two targeting only green hydrogen production and two producing green ammonia. All four projects are at 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes per year scale.
Despite the higher cost of green hydrogen compared to the fossil fuel version and the transportation inefficiencies of green ammonia, Padmanathan said there is a market willing to pay a premium for these sustainable energy sources. “Japan, [South] Korea, and California are paying significant levels of subsidies that would accommodate all those conversions,” he explained.
Padmanathan added that while the initial projects would command a premium, driving costs down and bringing more capacity into the system would eventually encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. He noted that the main challenge for green hydrogen projects is supply chain issues, rather than demand or finance. The surging global demand for solar panels, wind turbines, and electrolysers has resulted in delays and shortages.
On the way ahead, Padamanthan said he is betting on electrolyser technology making a leap from alkaline to solid oxide, bypassing Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology. He also believes that the cost of rare minerals will start coming down by 2025/2026, as more supply comes onstream and the global recessionary environment pulls back on demand, positively affecting component availability.
Zhero’s co-founders include two ex-senior executives from SNAM, Marco Alverà and Alessandra Pasini, as CEO and President, and Enrico Vitali, a former managing partner of law firm Tremonti Vitali Romagnoli Piccardi e Associati. The Australian mining to new energy giant Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) is one of its investors.
