IOC Wants Green Hydrogen To Meet 10% Of Energy Requirements By 2030

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State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has said in its annual report that the multinational PSU wants to replace a tenth of its grey hydrogen produced with the use of fossil fuels in its refineries with green hydrogen which is carbon free. The decision is aimed at de-carbonization efforts of the company. Today, the petroleum refining industry alone accounts for almost 42 per cent of the total hydrogen demand in the world.

IOC has declared that it will be setting up green hydrogen plants at the Panipat and Mathura refineries first. It said, “The company is venturing into green hydrogen production and is targeting 5 per cent of hydrogen produced by it as green hydrogen by 2027-28 and 10 per cent by 2029-30.”

IOC informed that at present, the refineries are the major consumption centres for hydrogen, used for de-sulfurisation. Presently, the process of dominant hydrogen generation is highly carbon-intensive since it relies on the Steam Methane Reforming process.

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On the other hand, green hydrogen, that is, hydrogen produced from the electrolysis of water, using renewable energy, has a zero-carbon profile, making it the preferred form of hydrogen in the context of a carbon neutral future, IOC opined in the report.

Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, Chairman, IOC, said, “Aligning with the national priority, Indian Oil will be producing green hydrogen in stages at the Mathura and Panipat refineries. As a first step, we will be implementing a 5 KTA (40 MW) green hydrogen plant at Mathura Refinery and a 2 KTA (16 MW) plant at Panipat Refinery.”

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The report mentions that IOC has collaborated with players for the development of green hydrogen making assets, renewable assets and electrolysers manufacturing. The company says that electrolysers contribute to 30 per cent of the cost of green hydrogen. The Chairman of IOC firther added that the PSU is also exploring multiple hydrogen production pathways, including solar electrolysis, biomass gasification and bio-methanation.

Vaidya has said that the hydrogen produced will be used for fuelling 15 fuel cell buses to establish the efficacy, efficiency and sustainability of the fuel cell technology and hydrogen production processes. In addition, IOC will commission a hydrogen dispensing station at the Gujarat Refinery to enlarge hydrogen-based mobility coverage.

The Central Government has announced the Green Hydrogen and Ammonia Policy to boost green hydrogen production to 5 million tonnes by 2030 and make India an export hub of electrolysis.