IndianOil to set up green hydrogen plants at its Mathura and Panipat refineries by 2024
new Delhi:
India’s largest oil firm Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will set up ‘Green Hydrogen’ plants at its Mathura and Panipat refineries by 2024 to replace carbon-emitting units as it is a watershed moment in the country’s energy transition, announced recently. Oversees the Green Hydrogen Policy. Which will help in cutting down the cost.
SSV Ramkumar, director of research and development at IOC, says the new policy will help cut the cost of manufacturing green hydrogen by 40-50 per cent.
“This (policy) is the biggest proponent for production of green hydrogen by the state,” he said.
Oil refineries, fertilizer plants and steel units use hydrogen as a process fuel to produce finished products.
Hydrogen is used in refineries to remove excess sulfur from petrol and diesel. This hydrogen is currently produced from fossil fuels such as natural gas or naphtha and results in carbon emissions.
The IOC plans to replace this ‘gray hydrogen’ with ‘green hydrogen’ – also known as ‘clean hydrogen’ – by using electricity from renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, to split water into two hydrogen atoms. To split and oxygen atoms through a process called electrolysis.
“The headline cost of renewable electricity at Rs 2 per kWh (or per unit) is actually the cost of the generating site (say a solar farm in Rajasthan or Ladakh). It is Rs 4 to 7 after adding the individual charges during its transit. per unit. Through transmission lines in different states,” he said.
At factory-gate cost of Rs 4 to 7 per unit, green hydrogen production cost comes to Rs 500 per kg. This cost compares with the current gray hydrogen cost of Rs 150 per kg.
Under the green hydrogen policy announced on February 17, renewable energy used for green hydrogen production will get open access without central surcharge and zero inter-state for 25 years for projects commissioned before June 30, 2025. Transmission fee will be available.
“This will essentially reduce the cost of green hydrogen production by 40 to 50 percent,” he said.
He said the cost would be further reduced if the electrolysers used to split water into two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom were manufactured indigenously instead of the current practice of importing them.
He said that IOC has planned to set up a 40 MW electrolyser at Mathura Refinery and a 15 MW unit at Panipat unit in Haryana. total consumption up to that time.
The government on February 17 announced the first phase of policies to encourage the development of green hydrogen and ammonia in the country, with plans to reach 5 million tonnes per annum of production by 2030.
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