Largest, INOX-built, liquid hydrogen tank is a "cryogenic marvel"

INOXCVA, a part of the US$ 3 billion capital INOX group of companies, is a globally acclaimed company offering comprehensive solutions in cryogenic storage, vaporization, and distribution engineering, has unveiled a 283m3 liquid hydrogen storage tank which it claims is the largest manufactured in India.

The bulk cryogenic storage tank, built to European standards to meet Korean Gas Safety requirements, is departing the company’s Kandla facility for a clean energy demonstration project in South Korea. 

Calling it a ‘cryogenic marvel’, Siddharth Jain, Executive Director, INOX Group, commented on the achievement, saying that the delivery is ‘empowering India’s vision of becoming a green hydrogen hub.”

This tank, which is the first in a series of many such solutions to be manufactured at our Kandla facility, will strengthen India’s hydrogen infrastructure and support the country’s vision of becoming a green hydrogen hub., Jain has said. 

In 2020, Doosan Corporation announced the construction of South Korea’s very first hydrogen liquefaction plant of 5 Tons Per Day capacity for the Changwon Hydrogen Liquefaction Project with Gyeongnam Province, Changwon City, at Doosan’s site at the Changwon Port.

The plant is slated to start commercial operations in 2023, offering supplies to hydrogen charging stations nationwide for buses, trucks and trams, that need to be recharged with hydrogen as ultimate clean fuel.

Doosan Corporation had signed an agreement with Air Liquide Engineering & Construction to support the construction of this liquid hydrogen plant as an enabler of clean transport development in the country.

Under this framework, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction, France, placed the order for the design, manufacturing and supply of the bullk liquid hydrogen tank.

Hydrogen is liquefied at a cryogenic temperature of -253°C, making it dense enough to be stored and transported as liquid hydrogen, with its gaseous volume reduced 800 times when liquified.

This new liquefier is in line with the South Korean Government’s plan to considerably densify the network of hydrogen stations in the country with 310 stations and more than 67,000 hydrogen vehicles across the country.

INOXCVA also flagged off its 100th LNG Semi-Trailer for the Indian market in a ceremony held at its Kalol Plant in Gujarat India for Green Line, a subsidiary of Seros Group, reports H2-View.com. The firm has been developing small scale LNG distribution in India for more than 14 years.

In April, IRM Energy inaugurated its 1st LCNG Mother Station for full commercial operations in Gujarat.

The LCNG Station will provide clean energy in the region and cater to several CNG daughter stations to feed the growing population of CNG vehicles as well as supply piped natural gas to domestic households and commercial customers.

Shell chooses Ohmium for green hydrogen projects

Shell India has picked up Ohmium International to partner with for green hydrogen projects, reports Business Line. The US-headquartered Ohmium International, is India’s only manufacturer of electrolysers (equipment that split water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity); it has its factory in Bengaluru. 

The report says learnt that both parties will jointly work towards building green hydrogen projects, sources said. Simply put, Shell will use Ohmium’s electrolysers, customised to its needs, for producing green hydrogen. 

Rasool Aghatehrani, Ohmium’s Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, has told Business Line that it’s electrolysers have “very flexible features”. Based on the market segment and the project specifics, the features could potentially create optimisation opportunities (or savings), or even potentially additional revenues, he said. 

                                      Dr Rasool Aghatehrani, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Ohmium

Shell and Ohmium would set up joint working groups to do a techno-commercial analysis for bringing down the total cost of ownership. Ohmium’s electrolysers are based on ‘Proton Exchange Membrane’, or PEM technology, and are modular. The company has been promoted by a US-based investment vehicle Fenice Investment Group, which was created by a group of investors many of whom were associated with the solar energy company, SunEdison. Ohmium is very active in India, where it has its only manufacturing facility. It has exported some electrolysers back to the US. In July, Ohmium entered into an MoU, similar to the one with Shell India, to jointly develop green hydrogen projects in Spain and Portugal. In India, Ohmium has announced partnerships with Hero Future Energies, a renewable energy company, for 1 GW of green hydrogen projects and, more recently with on-site gas production systems manufacturer, Spirare, for green hydrogen.  

High Energy Batteries wants to plunge into ‘hydrogen-related areas’

High Energy Batteries Ltd, part of the Seshasayee Paper Boards group, is a smallish, but highly profitable company that makes batteries. Its principal customer is India’s Defense, for whom it makes an assortment of batteries, including for missiles. In 2021-22, the company achieved a turnover of Rs 800 million and made a net profit of Rs 180 million. Few companies boast of a net profit to sales ratio of 22.5 per cent. 

And now, the company wants to plunge into hydrogen. 

High Energy Batteries intends to: a) carry on the business in Hydrogen related areas, including its generation handling, transportation and storage; b)carry on the business of Hydrogen as fuel source, produced and used in various applications towards Hydrogen economy; and c)pursue all Hydrogen related activities, pertaining to all types of batteries, fuel cells, flow batteries, metal ion- based, metal-air based and the related electro chemical cells, batteries and systems. 

Not much details are known, but getting into hydrogen business is one of the issues for which the company took shareholders’ permission, at its annual shareholders’ meeting held on June 29, 2022. 

 

IOC targets 5% GH2 by 2027-28 and 10% by 2029-30

Indian Oil Corporation, India's biggest oil refiner, has said in its Annual Report for 2021-22 that it targets 5% of hydrogen produced by it as green hydrogen by 2027-28 and 10% by 2029-30.

To start with, the nation's largest oil firm is setting up green hydrogen plants at its Panipat and Mathura refineries, IOC said in its latest annual report.

Petroleum refining accounts for almost 42 per cent of total global hydrogen demand. At present, the refineries are the major consumption centres for hydrogen, used for desulfurisation. The current dominant hydrogen production process is highly carbon-intensive being based on the Steam Methane Reforming process.

"On the other hand, green hydrogen i.e. hydrogen produced from 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 said.

In the annual report, IOC Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said to meet the net-zero commitment, the Indian government has announced the Green Hydrogen and Ammonia Policy to boost green hydrogen production to 5 million tonne by 2030 and make India an export hub for this clean fuel.

"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," he said.

To sync with the entire hydrogen value chain, the firm has forged crucial collaborations to develop green hydrogen production assets, associated renewable assets and manufacture electrolysers.

"This will be a gamechanger as electrolysers contribute to approximately 30 per cent of the overall cost of green hydrogen," he said.

IOC, he said, is also exploring multiple hydrogen production pathways, including solar electrolysis, biomass gasification and bio-methanation.

"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, we will commission a hydrogen dispensing station at the Gujarat Refinery to enlarge hydrogen-based mobility coverage," he said.

IOC said it is looking to expand its footprint in the renewable power space from the present level of about 240 MW capacity.

While renewable energy plants currently produce electricity equivalent to 5 per cent of its electricity consumption, IOC is targeting nearly 5 GW of renewable electricity generation capacities by 2025 for use at its oil refineries.

The refinery sector is an emissions-intensive sector, accounting for 3 per cent of global carbon emissions.

Hydrogen will grow in India 11 % pa till 2027, says report

 

The "India Hydrogen Generator Market Outlook (2021-2027): Market Forecast By Technology (Ammonia Cracker Hydrogen Generator, Methanol Cracker Hydrogen Generator, Steam Methane Reforming Hydrogen Generator, Electrolysis Hydrogen Generator) And Competitive Landscape." report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. 

India Hydrogen Generator Market Synopsis 

The India hydrogen generator market witnessed significant growth during the 2017-2019 period owing to growth in key application sectors such as the refining sector, petrochemical, and edible oil industries. Further, the period witnessed increased adoption of new technologies such as electrolysis and methanol cracking. 

According to the report, the India Hydrogen Generator Market revenue size is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11.0% during 2021-2027. Hydrogen gas is considered as a potential solution to the world's sustainability challenges, India's National Hydrogen Mission aims to cut down carbon emissions by increasing the use of renewable sources of energy to align India with global practices in terms of technology, policy & regulations, and intends to produce three-fourths of its hydrogen production from renewable resources by 2050. 

Furthermore, government and private firms such as Indian Oil, NTPC, Reliance group, and Adani Group have ambitious plans to embrace hydrogen as a fuel on account of the nation's transitions towards carbon-free fuel. Additionally, government institution Indian Oil Corporation IOC is also working on a technology to develop hydrogen-spiked compressed natural gas, or H-CNG to use hydrogen as a transportation fuel. In addition to that, government initiatives such as the Renewable and Clean Hydrogen Program, Advanced Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program would further augment the demand for hydrogen generators in the country. 

Market by Technology Analysis 

In terms of Technology, steam methane reforming hydrogen generator has captured 65.9% of the market revenues in 2020. Steam methane reforming hydrogen generator accounted for maximum revenue share in 2020 due to the rise in oil & gas production, and petrochemical production. Further, since major application industries such as refineries, and petrochemical processing were operating during the nationwide lockdown demand for steam methane reforming hydrogen generator held up in India. 

 

Ohmium joins hands with Spirare Energy to produce G-H2 at NTPC campus

Ohmium International is collaborating with Spirare Energy, a leading provider of on-site energy generation systems, to generate green hydrogen at the NTPC NETRA Campus. Spirare Energy will manage the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of the project while Ohmium will provide the hydrogen electrolyzers to Spirare. Ohmium’s unique interlocking modular PEM electrolyzers provide a safer, modular, flexible, easy to install and maintain alternative to customized electrolyzers. The project will supply up to 52 tons of green hydrogen annually for the power generation and energy storage application. 

“Green hydrogen offers India the opportunity to become a global energy leader–and with Spirare and NTPC we’re delivering on that potential. NTPC is pioneering the green hydrogen sector in India and we’re thrilled that they are utilizing our Made in India electrolyzers,” said Arne Ballantine, CEO of Ohmium International. “We look forward to showing how our modular, high-volume, low-cost PEM electrolyzers can scale rapidly and efficiently to reach megawatt to gigawatt applications.”   

“Ohmium’s PEM electrolyzers provide us a reliable, scalable green hydrogen solution that is the best on the market. We’re excited to be moving forward  with Ohmium to complete what is among the most important green hydrogen projects in the country,” said Suhas Bhasin, Managing Director of Spirare.   
 

The Spirare-Ohmium project is part of NTPC’s NETRA Green Campus Project. NTPC, the largest power utility in India, has recognized the potential of cutting-edge technology in further enhancing its services and efficiency, and NETRA (NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance) was set-up in 2009 to deliver on that vision. 

Ohmium manufactures standardized interlocking modular Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzers that produce pressurized high-purity hydrogen. Individual electrolyzers can be stacked to significantly reduce installation and maintenance costs while enabling unlimited configurations of deployment sizes. Ohmium’s proprietary electrolyzer stack technology can sustain a differential pressure across the membrane without compromise, which enhances cost-effective operation. For more information: https://www.ohmium.com