New Delhi: The Union government is considering setting up green hydrogen refueling stations for green ships along the southern coast of India to cater to vessels on the Indian Ocean, said Abhay Bhakre, mission director for the National Green Hydrogen Mission, said on Thursday.
Speaking at a conference on green hydrogen organized by The Energy And Resources Institute (Teri), Bhakre said that such centres would provide green ammonia and green methanol, both derivatives of green hydrogen, to the ships as per their requirement. Green ammonia is produced using green hydrogen and nitrogen, while green methanol is produced by combining green hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide.
“We are even trying if we can refuel the ships which are passing through southern part of India. We can put the green ammonia or green methanol depending on their requirement…If they are passing through the Indian Ocean, India can refuel them,” he said, adding that the government is in discussions with vessel companies to retrofit and convert their ships to green ships which would run on these cleaner fuels.
He said that five ships have already been converted, while there is an order for converting a total of 50 ships and another 200 may be converted going ahead.
Use of biomass
The official also noted that there is a consideration that in the case of green hydrogen refueling stations on highways, priority should be given to using green hydrogen produced through biomass.
“We are planning many fuel stations and definitely there are proposals that when we are putting stations along highways, let’s use biomass,” he said.
The report released by Teri during the programme noted that globally the use of green hydrogen directly or through green ammonia or green methanol for shipping is being tried out and India could do the same on a modest scale to begin with.
“Kerala could set a target date when all vessels being used for tourism would be carbon free. This would enhance the brand value of Kerala tourism. This can be done by the state facilitating the transition without any financial burden as the higher cost would be passed on to the tourists. Then some coastal green shipping pilot projects can be implemented in a similar manner,” it said.
In February, the Union ministry of new and renewable energy rolled out guidelines for undertaking pilot projects for using green hydrogen in the shipping sector under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The mission was launched on 4 January 2023, with an outlay of ₹19,744 crore up to FY30.
