GAIL starts India's maiden project of blending hydrogen into the CGD network

State gas utility GAIL (India) Limited on Monday, January 31, 2022, said that it has commenced India's first-of-its-kind project of mixing hydrogen into the natural gas system at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The hydrogen blended natural gas will be supplied to Avantika Gas Limited, one of GAIL's Joint Venture (JV) companies with HPCL, operating in Indore.

The company in a statement said, "In line with the National Hydrogen Mission, GAIL has started hydrogen blending as a pilot project to establish the techno-commercial feasibility of blending hydrogen in City Gas Distribution (CGD) network. This project marks the stepping stone of India's journey towards hydrogen-based and carbon-neutral future."

GAIL started injection of grey hydrogen at City Gate Station (CGS), Indore. This grey hydrogen would subsequently be replaced by green hydrogen. GAIL has already obtained the necessary regulatory permissions to commence the project. GAIL has also engaged domain experts to carry out the impact assessment of blending hydrogen in natural gas.

GAIL has always been committed to the growth of a gas-based economy in India and India's vision of a greener and cleaner environment. As our country is moving forward with an ambitious goal of achieving a carbon-neutral and self-reliant future, this project is a significant step in that direction.

It is expected that this pilot project would help in the creation of a robust standard and regulatory framework in India to cover the aspects of injecting hydrogen into natural gas. This will pave the path for carrying out more similar projects in India.

Zero-emission hydrogen is gaining momentum around the world and depending on the source, the hydrogen can be classified into green, blue and grey.

Green hydrogen is the hydrogen that is obtained by splitting water by electrolysis using electricity from renewable energy sources like solar and wind. The process helps in the production of only oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen is used and oxygen is vented into the atmosphere with no negative impact.

Similarly, blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas with a process of steam methane reforming, where natural gas is mixed with very hot steam and a catalyst. A chemical reaction occurs creating hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Water is added to that mixture, turning the carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide and more hydrogen. If the carbon dioxide emissions are then captured and stored underground, the process is considered carbon-neutral, and the resulting hydrogen is called blue hydrogen.

Grey hydrogen is made from natural gas reforming like blue hydrogen, but without any efforts to capture carbon dioxide by-products.

India's commitment

India is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 and hydrogen together with renewable energy is seen as key to achieving that goal. For the transition, natural gas is the fuel and the government is looking to raise its share in the primary energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030 from the current 6.2 per cent.