Indian Oil Corporation is contemplating setting up green hydrogen generation units in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the PSU oil major is in talks with the State governments, a senior official of the company said while outlining the company’s proposed ₹54,000 crore investments, including the ₹35,580-crore greenfield refinery project, in Tamil Nadu.
The company has evinced to set up green hydrogen production units on a pilot basis in two States and will be seeking support by way of land and electricity.
“We have discussed this with the government of Tamil Nadu. We are having a meeting with the state government officials next week. The fuel has already been tested and if the state government provides land and power we will be able to take it forward,” V C Asokan, Executive Director & State Head, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, said here.
He said IOC has been doing extensive research in the area of green hydrogen, which is seen as the fuel of the future. Its R&D centre already has a hydrogen dispensing station that is up and running and the company has already taken 15 fuel cell electric buses for undertaking pilots.
Explaining the cost for the proposed unit in Tamil Nadu, Asokan said the investment would be made depending on the requirement of the users. For example, if we spend about ₹50 crore in a unit, we will be able to meet the requirements of only 10-12 fuel cell buses,” he added.
Meanwhile, IOC is engaged in establishing a 7 KTPA green hydrogen capacity at its Panipat refinery. A demonstration facility for hydrogen dispensing at its Baroda refinery in Gujarat has also been installed using the hydrogen from the refinery unit.
The company’s R&D centre at Faridabad is one of the 8 research organisations in India that are engaged in R&D and demonstration (RD&D) projects on hydrogen production.
Charging stations
IOC will add 300 more EV charging stations in Tamil Nadu during this fiscal, taking the total number of EV stations in the State to 700.
Earlier Asokan highlighted various projects that would be executed at a total investment of ₹54,000 crore in Tamil Nadu over a period of time.
A major portion of the planned investment (₹35,580 crore) will be made in the proposed new 9 mmtpa grass-roots refinery at Nagapattinam over 1,300 acres. “A JV company has already been formed and land acquisition is getting completed,” he said.
Other projects
IOC has recently commissioned a new ₹466-crore POL terminal at Asanur (₹466 crore). It is constructing a captive POL/LPG jetty at Kamrajar Port at a cost of ₹921 crore. It is also setting up what it calls the “world’s second largest Integrated Lubes Complex” at Ammulvoyyal village involving an outlay of ₹1,398 crore.
Its other investments will include ₹2,600 crore in product pipelines, ₹2,225 crore in gas pipelines (including LPG), ₹7,570 crore in CGD projects, and about ₹2,500 crore in new retail outlets and modernisations.