SJVN inaugurates India’s first multipurpose Green Hydrogen pilot project

Power major SJVN Ltd has achieved a significant milestone with the inauguration of India’s first multipurpose Green Hydrogen Pilot Project at its 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station (NJHPS) in Himachal Pradesh’s Jhakri, the Ministry of Power said on Thursday.

The Green Hydrogen produced from the combined heat and power project will be utilised for the High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) coating facility of NJHPS to meet its combustion fuel requirements. In addition, it will also generate electricity through its fuel cell of 25 kW capacity.

The state-of-the-art Green Hydrogen pilot project is set to produce 14 kg of Green Hydrogen daily in eight hours of operation.

The hydrogen produced will be stored at a pressure of 30 bars in six storage tanks, with a total storage capacity of 12 m3. The project will produce hydrogen using an alkaline electrolyser of 20 Nm3/hour capacity, which would be powered by renewable energy supplied from the 1.31 MW solar power plant of SJVN in Wadhal, Shimla.

Besides generating power, the Green Hydrogen will also be used for high-velocity oxygen fuel coating of turbine underwater parts.

SJVN Chairperson and Managing Director Geeta Kapur, who inaugurated the project on Wednesday, said, “The pilot project is poised to accelerate the development of Green Hydrogen production infrastructure in the power sector in accordance with the Government of India’s Green Hydrogen Mission.”

During her visit, the SJVN Chairperson also inaugurated a first-of-its-kind centralised operation of the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station (NJHPS) and 412 MW Rampur Hydro Power Station, by remotely operating Unit-2 of the plant from the NJHPS Control Room at Jhakri.

The Rampur HPS is being successfully operated on a tandem operating system with NJHPS.