PIL’s initiative is one of the first projects related to hydrogen blending in the transmission space in India, aligned with the government’s launch of India’s National Hydrogen Mission in August 2021, targeting 5 million tonnes per annum of hydrogen production by 2030. In conjunction with fiscal support and other incentives, the Mission aims to leverage the nation’s significant renewable energy potential to transform India into a green hydrogen hub, help meet national climate goals and enable India to become a major producer and exporter of hydrogen to Japan, South Korea, and Europe.
Drawing upon DNV’s expertise in assessing the technical impacts on gas pipelines of using hydrogen at different blending ratios, PIL will be provided with technical advice on the readiness of its infrastructure to incorporate hydrogen. Furthermore, DNV will help PIL assess the suitability of its existing network and related assets to incorporate hydrogen at a range of blending levels (5%, 10%, 15%, 50% and 100%).
Brice Le Gallo, Vice President and Regional Director APAC, Energy Systems at DNV, said: “Repurposing natural gas pipelines for hydrogen is 10–30% of the cost of building new pure hydrogen networks. DNV is pleased to play a role in this by supporting PIL to transition its gas network to incorporate blended hydrogen to support local industries. In doing so, DNV will leverage its technical expertise and methodology to help our clients meet their emission reduction goals while retaining the use of their existing infrastructure.”
Blending hydrogen with natural gas in existing infrastructure will facilitate the use of a cleaner gas that can help countries such as India smoothly transition to a decarbonized future. Aside from rapidly and significantly lowering India’s carbon footprint, incorporating blended hydrogen in the transportation, power generation and industrial sectors can also offer new business opportunities.
