SJVN has started the commercial operation of its multi-purpose (combined heat and power) green hydrogen pilot project at its 1.5 GW Nathpa Jhakri hydropower project in Himachal Pradesh.

The project will generate electricity through its 25-kW fuel cell and produce green hydrogen for the hydropower project’s High-Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) Coating facility.

It is expected to produce 14 kgs of green hydrogen during its daily 8-hour operational window. The project has the facility to store the green hydrogen at a pressure of 30 bars in 12 m³  tanks.

The green hydrogen will be produced using alkaline electrolyzers of 20 Nm³/hour capacity, fueled by clean energy supplied from SJVN’s 1.3 MW solar power project in Wadhal, Shimla.

Besides producing power, green hydrogen will be utilized to coat the turbine’s underwater parts for HVOF.

“Aligned with National Green Hydrogen Mission of the Government of India, SJVN’s Green Hydrogen Pilot Project is poised to accelerate the development of green hydrogen production infrastructure in the power sector, thus establishing green hydrogen as a clean energy source, “ said the Chairperson and Managing Director of SJVN, Geeta Kapur.

SJVN also announced the centralized operation of its 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri hydropower project and 412 MW Rampur hydropower project.

In February this year, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) released an implementation framework to incentivize the production of 200,000 MT of green hydrogen annually. The incentives will be granted for three years.

With an aim to decarbonize the shipping, steel, and transportation sectors, the government has launched pilot projects to use green hydrogen in trucks and buses, the shipping, and the steel industry. The program plans to support the deployment of green hydrogen through fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE) based trucks and buses in phases.