GAIL (India) Ltd's maiden green hydrogen plant at Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh has been commissioned, making a major step for the nation's largest natural gas transmission and distribution firm's foray into new and alternate energy, the company said.

The 10-megawatt proton exchange membrane electrolyser for the green-hydrogen producing unit at the Vijaipur complex has been imported from Canada.

The plant will produce about 4.3 tonnes of green hydrogen per day, with a purity of about 99.999 per cent by volume. It uses electricity produced from renewable sources, such as the sun's solar energy, to split water to produce green hydrogen.

In a statement, GAIL said the plant was in line with the National Green Hydrogen mission, which has set out a goal of 5 million tons of annual green hydrogen production capacity for the country by 2030.

The country is putting increased focus on hydrogen as an alternative fuel source to lower its carbon emissions, while also meeting its growing energy needs.

"Initially the hydrogen produced from this unit shall be used as a fuel along with natural gas for captive purpose in the various processes and equipment running in the existing plant at Vijaipur," it said. "Further, this hydrogen is planned to be dispensed to retail customers in the nearby geographies, transported through high pressure cascades." Besides sourcing renewable power through open access, GAIL is also setting up around 20 MW Solar power plants at Vijaipur (both ground mounted and floating) to meet the requirement of green power for the 10 MW PEM Electrolyzer.

While GAIL is blending hydrogen with natural gas on an experimental basis in Indore in its CGD (city gas distribution) network to test its success, it aims to escalate blending ratios with the necessary approvals based on the test results.

Current regulations provide for blending only 5 per cent hydrogen with natural gas. GAIL is conducting joint studies with Engineers India Limited and IIT Kanpur to further blend hydrogen with natural gas.

by thehindubusinessline