Hydrogen

The public sector energy company has opened a compact reformer plant at Delhi Transport Corporation’s Rajghat bus depot. The facility will produce hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas as a bus fuel. A trial period will see 50 gas-powered buses run on the blended fuel with fuel economy and emissions monitored.

India is in mission mode on researching different aspects of the hydrogen economy, including hydrogen production, storage and utilization for stationary, power generation and transport applications. The need is to demonstrate the scaled versions at a faster rate. 

International thinktank IEEFA says there are 50 viable green hydrogen projects under development with an estimated renewable energy capacity of 50 GW and the potential to produce 4 million tonnes of the fuel annually.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have identified sites where hydrogen could be produced via PV electrolysis at prices ranging from $1.90/kg to $4.20/kg in the United States by the end of the decade.

The Indian energy thinktank and the US-based consulting firm will research to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen as a sustainable solution for India’s energy needs. 

Researchers from India’s Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) have developed a coordination polymer based catalyst for hydrogen production that exhibited exceptionally high durability for 70 hours at a high current density of −300 mA/ cm2.

The government is acquiring lithium mines abroad to ensure raw material availability for electric vehicle battery production. Among other technology alternatives for EVs, it is looking at developing indigenous hydrogen fuel cells with hydrogen derived from biomass.

The software giant has begun testing hydrogen fuel cells as a back-up power source at one of its U.S. data centers. A 250 kW pilot system successfully powered part of the facility for 48 hours and the company is now eyeing 3 MW systems to replace back-up diesel generators.

Covid-19 crisis has provided system operators with insights on keeping the grid stable with high levels of renewable penetration. Post Covid-19, this may be the new norm, Gautam Adani said in a LinkedIn post recently.

A report by Norwegian energy consultant DNV GL has considered the opportunity for long-term energy storage to play a role in balancing annual supply and demand fluctuations in a renewables-led grid. Using 58 years of Dutch weather and energy consumption data, the study found long-term solutions such as green hydrogen could make a valuable contribution – but perhaps not as much as some analysts believe.