Exploration and Production giant Oil India Limited (OIL) has commissioned the country’s first 99.999% pure green hydrogen plant in the Jorhat district of Assam. The plant comes with a capacity of producing 10kg of hydrogen per day which will be increased to a production capacity of 30kg per day in the near future. The current plant was set up within 3 months.

It is being reported that the plant is also India’s first to use the anion exchange membrane (AEM) technology. A 500-kW solar plant using a 100-kW AEM electrolyzer array is being used to produce green hydrogen from electricity.

OIL is also in talks with the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati on mixing green hydrogen with natural gas for commercial usage of the blended fuel. Green Hydrogen which does not emit carbon dioxide has the capability to replace fossil fuels and can act as an alternate fuel choice in transportation, power generation, and other industrial and commercial activities.

Green Hydrogen is a type of hydrogen gas wherein renewable energy resources that do not cause greenhouse gas emissions such as solar and wind power are used for its production. Hydrogen reacts with oxygen to produce electricity and water vapour in a fuel cell that converts the energy of a chemical to electricity and thus acts as a power generating source. Sushil Chandra Mishra, Chairman and Managing Director of OIL said, “The company has taken an important step towards fulfilling the vision for an Energy-Independent India.”

Recently, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had also started using a green hydrogen-based car as a pilot project in a bid to shift the Indian car market towards green fuel options and see its feasibility on the Indian roads.