India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission is expanding its focus on the use of green hydrogen in petroleum refining and other industrial applications.
The government is implementing the mission with the objective of establishing India as a major producer, user and exporter of green hydrogen and its derivatives.
The petroleum and refining sector has been identified as an important potential consumer because hydrogen is already used extensively in refinery processes.
Refineries use hydrogen in processes such as hydrocracking and hydrotreating, where it is required to remove impurities and produce cleaner fuels.
Replacing a portion of conventional hydrogen produced from fossil fuels with green hydrogen could therefore reduce the carbon intensity associated with refinery operations.
The shift also creates new requirements for plant infrastructure.
Green hydrogen production typically involves electrolysers that use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
A refinery integrating green hydrogen would require additional systems for hydrogen production, compression, storage, transportation and integration with existing process units.
Water supply and treatment are also important because water is a key input in electrolysis.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission is supporting projects across production, utilisation and technology development.
The government has also been working on incentives and programmes designed to encourage domestic manufacturing of electrolysers and development of green hydrogen production capacity.
For existing refineries, integration is expected to involve a combination of new equipment and modifications to existing plant infrastructure.
This could create demand for compressors, pumps, valves, piping, instrumentation, electrical equipment, control systems and hydrogen-compatible materials.
India’s refining industry is among the country’s largest industrial energy consumers, making it an important sector for industrial decarbonisation.
The expansion of green hydrogen applications is expected to develop gradually as production costs, infrastructure and availability of renewable electricity improve.
The government’s current programmes are aimed at developing both the production ecosystem and industrial demand needed for a larger green hydrogen economy.
Plant insights that matter — straight to your inbox.
