GAIL commissions its first green hydrogen plant under national green hydrogen mission

The first hydrogen green plant by GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd) was inaugurated on Friday in Madhya Pradesh. The plant marks a major step towards new and alternate energy and has been installed in line with the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The plant was inaugurated by the Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Pankaj Jain, and GAIL Chairman and Managing Director Sandeep Gupta.

According to GAIL, this Green Hydrogen plant can produce 4.3 TPD of hydrogen through 10MW PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) Electrolyzer units, by electrolysis of water using renewable power. The purity of hydrogen from this plant shall be 99.999 per cent (by vol.) and will be produced at a pressure of 30 Kg/cm2.

Initially, the hydrogen produced from this unit will be used as a fuel along with natural gas for captive purposes in the various processes and equipment running in the existing plant at Vijaipur.

Further, this hydrogen is planned to be dispensed to retail customers in the nearby geographies, and transported through high-pressure cascades.

GAIL says besides sourcing renewable power through open access it is also setting up around 20 MW of solar power plants at Vijaipur (both ground-mounted and floating) to meet the requirement of green power for the 10 MW PEM Electrolyzer.

The National Green Hydrogen Mission is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, and aims to foster the development and adoption of green hydrogen technologies in India.

With a target of establishing 5 million tonnes of annual green hydrogen production capacity by 2030, the mission represents a significant step towards realising India's ambitions in the hydrogen economy.

The government has made substantial progress in this regard, having awarded tenders for incentives to support green hydrogen production of a total of 412,000 tonnes per annum.

Additionally, tenders have been awarded for the establishment of electrolyser manufacturing capacity amounting to 1,500 MW per annum, further strengthening India's capacity to produce green hydrogen at scale.