Hydrogen blending to be explored in India

New Delhi gas distribution company Indraprastha Gas is partnering with the cleantech solution provider ACME Group to set up a green hydrogen supply infrastructure in India.

Under the agreement, the two companies intend to create a demand for green hydrogen in India with the exploration of potential business opportunities and the promotion of its adoption by customers.

The companies also intend to explore the opportunity of setting up hydrogen generation plants including the setting up of electrolysers to blend hydrogen into Indraprastha Gas’s existing pipeline networks suppling gas to households and industrial and commercial operations as well as compressed natural gas for vehicles.

Pawan Kumar, Director (Commercial) at Indraprastha Gas, says the company is in a continuous process of business diversification.

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“Recently, the government has released several incentives for production of green hydrogen, which will help to attain [its] commercial viability in future.”

Indraprastha Gas has previously piloted hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas in a project in Delhi with the Indian Oil Corporation.

With hydrogen nascent in the automobile sector, the company intends to explore its potential.

Green ammonia production from green hydrogen is another potential business opportunity that will be investigated.

Ashwani Dudeja, President and Director (Green Hydrogen and Ammonia) at ACME Group said the company would offer its experience and expertise, while Indraprastha Gas has a ready-made network to blend hydrogen.

“We will also cooperate on policy matters and help the industry and government to bring in enabling regulatory framework that facilitates and incentivizes the customers to provide long term offtake commitments for green hydrogen and green ammonia.”

Indraprastha Gas is headquartered in New Delhi and supplies natural gas to more than 2 million domestic households and almost 10,000 I&C operations there and in other areas in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

The company also supplies compressed natural gas for more than 1.7 million vehicles.

The approximately $2 billion green hydrogen incentive scheme, which is yet to go into operation, is proposed to give producers initially around 10% of their costs.

Earlier in the year ACME Group entered an agreement with Japan’s heavy industry manufacturer IHI Corporation to explore the potential business opportunities of green hydrogen, including production, handling, transportation, distribution and power generation. Under the agreement, IHI also is able to participate as an investor or take offtake in one or more of ACME’s projects in Oman, India, the USA or Egypt.