Green Hydrogen Research Centre to be established in Chennai at a cost of Rs 180 crore
The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) and Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), in collaboration with Guidance Tamil Nadu (the nodal investment promotion agency of the state government), have established the design of the Hyundai HTWO Innovation Centre.
The centre will be located at IIT Madras’ Discovery Campus in Thaiyur and is scheduled to become operational by 2026.
The initiative is part of a collaboration signed during the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024. HMIL and the Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF) have jointly committed Rs 100 crore to this facility, contributing to a total project cost of Rs 180 crore.
The centre will cover an area of 65,000 sqft and is supported by the Government of Tamil Nadu, as stated in the press release.
The facility will have advanced experimental and computational laboratories for green hydrogen research.
It will house digital twin simulations of hydrogen infrastructure, test rigs, fabrication lines, and containerised pilot zones to evaluate electrolyzers and fuel cells at an industrial scale.
IIT Madras will oversee the development and operation of the centre, as mentioned in the release.
The project is being jointly driven by Hyundai’s HTWO brand, IIT Madras faculty, and key government partners. The launch event was attended by officials from Hyundai, IIT Madras, CSIR-NCL, the Korean Consulate, and other stakeholders from academia, industry, and government.
IIT Madras Director Prof. V. Kamakoti noted that the centre would serve as a platform for collaboration across academia, research labs, industry, and policy sectors.