Hydrogen ground power units rented to airports that make their own hydrogen
TL;DR Apronvolt rents fuel-cell ground power units and runs small hydrogen vehicle pilots on the airside of Indian airports that already produce green hydrogen. The airport operator pays a monthly fee per unit. It only works where hydrogen is on site and grid power at the stands is short, so the first market is narrow.
Indian airports are setting emission targets that they'll struggle to meet on the ground. Kochi's airport aims for net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2040[3], and Scope 1 means the fuel its own vehicles and equipment burn. Mobile ground power units, tugs and buses on the apron mostly run on diesel today.
Kochi went further than most. In February 2024 it signed with BPCL for a 1,000 kW green hydrogen plant and fuelling station on airport land, with the first output meant for airport vehicles[1][2]. Once that plant runs, the airport has hydrogen and hardly any machines that can use it. Nobody publishes how many airside hydrogen vehicles or power units India has, and I found none on offer from an Indian supplier.
What it does, in regulatory terms: it stores and uses compressed hydrogen on an airport's airside, so it needs PESO approvals for gas storage and the airport operator's airside permits. It makes no aircraft modification and needs no DGCA airworthiness approval.
Apronvolt owns a small fleet of fuel-cell ground power units and leases them to the airport for parked aircraft and for night maintenance work. A second line converts one or two airside vehicles, such as a crew bus or baggage tug, in a supervised pilot. Apronvolt refuels from the airport's own hydrogen station, logs the diesel displaced and hands the operator an emissions report it can use in its carbon disclosures.
The seed proposed fuel cells inside aircraft, and I've reframed it. The most advanced developer is still working toward 10–20 seat regional aircraft, and its latest milestone is a US certification step for a 600 kW electric engine[4]. A startup can't certify an aircraft powertrain in India, full stop. The ground side of the airport is where hydrogen can be used this decade.
The airport operator pays, whether that's a private concessionaire or a company like CIAL. Ground handlers are a second buyer if they hold the GPU contracts at a given airport. Pricing would be a monthly lease per unit plus a fuel pass-through. No public price exists for hydrogen ground power in India, so the first contract sets the benchmark. Plan to price against the diesel GPU running cost it replaces, plus a premium the airport accepts for its carbon targets.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission set aside ₹496 Cr for mobility pilots up to 2025–26 out of a ₹19,744 Cr total[5]. Kochi's plant was expected to run in 2025[3]. In the UK, a project announced in August 2026 is testing hydrogen ground equipment and power units at a live airport[6], so a working reference design will exist soon.
There is no public figure for hydrogen ground power or hydrogen ground equipment in India. The firm signal is a single airport with on-site hydrogen production planned at 1,000 kW[1]. The adjacent figure is the ₹496 Cr mobility pilot allocation under the hydrogen mission[5], which covers all transport and is not specific to airports. Count Apronvolt's market airport by airport.
No Indian company that rents hydrogen ground power to airports turned up in my research. In the UK, one firm hires out hydrogen power units as a full service that includes fuel and support, selling to events, film sets, construction and datacentres[7]. Its unit is part of a UK airport trial led by a hydrogen-aviation developer[6]. BPCL runs Kochi's hydrogen plant but sells fuel, not equipment.
The gap is a party that owns the machines and the airside operating risk.
| Difficulty | Hard (62/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹3–6 Cr |
| Time to launch | 15–24 months |
The units are imported and expensive, and the customer list is one or two airports long. Safety approvals for hydrogen on an apron will take time, because every party involved is doing it for the first time. Operations are unforgiving too - a unit that fails at a parked aircraft delays a flight, and the airport will remember.
Yes. You handle compressed hydrogen on an airport apron, so gas safety and airport permits come first.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't trust AI with any decision on aircraft power quality or hydrogen safety on the apron. Your engineers and the airport's safety team own those.
Want to work out the AI layer for Apronvolt? Talk to Yash →
This suits a founder with airport ground handling or industrial gas experience and a relationship with an airport that already has hydrogen. If you're hoping to sell to dozens of airports soon then I'd skip it. First prove that one airport will sign a paid lease for two units after a 90-day trial, at a price that covers the import cost within five years.
Plan for roughly ₹3–6 Cr, mostly for importing the first fuel-cell ground power units and running a supervised trial.
Yes. PESO approvals cover hydrogen storage and handling, and the airport operator must permit every unit airside. You modify no aircraft, so no airworthiness approval should apply.
Yes, wherever an airport makes or buys its own hydrogen. Check your local gas safety rules and the airport's airside permits first.
The free Apronvolt validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the gas safety and airside permit checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for airport operators and ground handlers, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Apronvolt or something close to it? The make-or-break work is getting hydrogen approved on an apron and signing the first airport to a paid lease, and that's the sort of thing I help founders plan. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.