MECON, a government of India enterprise offering design, engineering, consultancy, and contracting services, has issued a request for proposal for pilot projects on green hydrogen injection in existing blast furnaces and direct reduced iron (DRI)-making units.

The last date to submit the bids is October 28, 2024. Bids will be opened on October 29.

The projects involve using hydrogen in the blast furnace to reduce coal/coke consumption and injecting hydrogen in the vertical shaft-based DRI-making unit to partially substitute the natural gas/ other reducing gas and maximize the use of hydrogen.

The scope of work includes preparing and submitting the detailed project report, designing, engineering, procuring, and installing a system for injecting hydrogen through tuyeres into the blast furnace, which will dovetail with the existing system and vertical shaft DRI-making units.

The tender has been issued as part of the National Hydrogen Mission, under which the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) proposes implementing pilot projects to replace fossil fuels and fossil fuel-based feedstock with GH2 and its derivatives.

The Mission supports setting up pilot projects in the steel sector to assess the potential for using green hydrogen in the industry. These pilot projects will be implemented through the Ministry of Steel.

Under the Green Hydrogen Mission, the steel sector has been allocated a total budgetary outlay of Rs. 455 crore until the financial year 2029-30.

Bidders should be either a central or state public sector undertaking or a private company operating a blast furnace in India.

For the DRI-making unit, bidders must have a vertical shaft-based DRI-making unit operating in India.

Bidders must assess the status of their existing blast furnace for hydrogen injection, including all associated infrastructure requirements, and submit a concept report on the experimental project indicating hydrogen consumption and a breakdown of the capital cost (excluding the cost of producing hydrogen, land, etc.).

Bidders must make arrangements for the supply of hydrogen. Alternatively, they can indicate the consumption of hydrogen on a per annum basis, based on which MNRE can initiate the selection of green hydrogen producers/ suppliers through a competitive bidding process.

To be eligible, the bidders’ net worth should be positive.

The successful bidders must furnish a security deposit in the form of a bank guarantee for 3% of the funding amount within two weeks of receiving in-principle approval.

Recently, Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) and Jindal Renewables said they would invest in green hydrogen production for steel making in Angul, Odisha. JSPL plans to incorporate green hydrogen into its DRI units.