Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured an order worth ₹2,500 crore for the fabrication and supply of pipe rack modules for a 2.3-MMTPA urea plant for Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilizers Pty in Australia.

The company is looking for land spaces near the sea for its hydrogen business.

The contract was awarded to L&T Energy Hydrocarbon by Saipem & Clough JV (SCJV) and the plant will be constructed in the Burrup Peninsula, about 20 km north of Karratha, Western Australia. 

It will be the largest urea plant in Australia and one of the largest in the world. 

Australia imports urea from West Asia for domestic use. Perdaman will utilise 50 per cent of urea from the plant for domestic supply and the rest will be exported.

Modular project

Seventy per cent of the plant will be fabricated in India at L&T’s Kattupalli modular fabrication facility. About 1,160 mt of equipment will be delivered in 25 months and 50,000 mt of modules in 32 months. 

The urea plant order was awarded to L&T against stiff international competition, with a company from China being the second-highest bidder. 

“The state-of-the-art facility will help ensure that Australia has a secure and reliable source of high-quality urea and therefore food security. Larsen and Toubro has gone through SCJV’s meticulous tender process and has been awarded a significant package of modular fabrication based on their technical expertise, quality, health, safety and environment (HSE) and operational excellence,” said Vikas Rambal, Chairperson, Perdaman. 

L&T stated that the contract is the largest modular the company has received.

“This project award is yet another testament to our capabilities, reinforcing our position among the leading module fabricators globally. This aligns with our strategic goal of expanding geography and client base and underscores our commitment to extend the concept of modularisation to onshore projects,” said Subramanian Sarma, Whole Time Director and Senior Executive Vice-President (Energy), L&T Green Hydrogen Business.

Looking for land

L&T is looking at land spaces closer to the sea for the expansion of its green hydrogen business. 

The new land space will be used mainly for export of hydrogen products. The company currently has a plant in Hazira, Gujarat, and in Kattupalli, Tamil Nadu. 

Further, L&T also has plans to hive off its electrolyser manufacturing business into a separate entity and offload a stake to Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL). The company will start manufacturing electrolysers from a unit in Hazira by the year-end. 

Electrolysers are used to produce green hydrogen, and L&T has licensed the technology from France-based McPhy Energy.

Skilled workforce

Larsen & Toubro is also looking to hire 35,000 labourers of different skill sets. However, it’s CEO SN Subrahmanyan stated that labourers lack skills and the company is facing supply issue due to this. Subrahmanyan stated that L&T up skills it’s labour force. .

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