Andhra Fishermen Fear Livelihood Loss as Kakinada Green Hydrogen, Ammonia Plant Raises Pollution Concerns

Environmental clearance questions

Environmental advocates say India’s green hydrogen projects require closer scrutiny, particularly when located near sensitive coastal ecosystems and dense settlements.

In India, green hydrogen plants are from obtaining mandatory environmental clearance, according to current rules. AM Green has also sought a waiver from public consultation, a process under the Environmental Impact Assessment framework meant to assess, predict and mitigate the environmental and social impacts of a proposed project.

AM Green has sought a waiver from public consultation, a process under the Environmental Impact Assessment framework meant to assess, predict and mitigate the environmental and social impacts of a proposed project.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is considering the project.

Scientists for People, a collective of technical analysts and environmental advocates, has asked the ministry to defer appraisal of the project. It says the plant poses risks to the surrounding ecosystem and to Kakinada’s roughly 400,000 residents.

K Babu Rao, chief of the collective, said the project was being developed at the site of a now-defunct fertiliser plant that produced ammonia and urea. He said the earlier environmental clearance, granted about 30 years ago, was for a different industrial activity that never commenced.

“The current plant is a large-scale green hydrogen, green ammonia production and export hub, involving massive new infrastructure — alkaline electrolysers, cryogenic air separation units, large-bore hydrogen pipelines and a new 20-inch cross-country liquid ammonia pipeline to the port,” he said. “This is not an incremental amendment; it is a qualitatively different industrial enterprise.”

The collective has called for a public consultation, a quantitative risk assessment, an off-site emergency plan and clearance from the National Board for Wildlife because of the nearby Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary.

Rao also alleged that the project was not fully green because grey hydrogen production was also planned. He said the project could pollute nearby ecosystems, including marine ecology, and affect fishing and farming livelihoods.

Desalination concerns

Water use is another concern for local communities and environmental experts. AM Green’s desalination unit is expected to meet , estimated at 1,042 cubic metres per hour.

Desalination plants produce brine, a highly saline waste stream that may also contain chemicals and be warmer than surrounding seawater. Environmental experts say brine discharge can reduce oxygen levels in water and affect marine organisms, with possible impacts across the food chain.

The United Nations Environment Programme has warned that brine discharge from desalination can contribute to hypoxia, or low oxygen conditions, harming organisms living at the bottom of water bodies.

Fishermen fear such impacts could further reduce fish populations and affect their livelihoods. AM Green did not respond to emailed questions about the proposed desalination unit or concerns raised by scientists, fishermen and activists.

The Andhra Pradesh government, which oversees the project, also did not respond to emailed questions. (LINK WAS INVALID)

Experts say similar concerns may emerge around other green hydrogen plants proposed near ports, including in Mundra and Kandla in Gujarat, as India expands its green fuel export ambitions under international collaborations.