On February 18, 2021, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with Greenstat Hydrogen India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Greenstat Norway for setting up of Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen (CoE-H) including CCUS and Fuel Cells.
- It will be set up through Indo-Norwegian Hydrogen Cluster companies/organizations which will facilitate the transfer and sharing of technology, know-how and experience for R&D (Research & Development) projects in Green and Blue Hydrogen.
- The agreement has been signed by both the companies in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), Ambassador of Norway to India Hans Jacob Frydenlund, and senior officials of MoPNG.
Key Points:
–The CoE will act as a think-tank for developing standards for best industrial practices, safety, product protocols and regulations in the area of hydrogen and fuel cells.
–CoE-H will be a vehicle for promoting R&D projects in Green and Blue Hydrogen between Norwegian and Indian R&D institutions/universities.
–This pact is on the lines of the government pledge to focus on generating hydrogen from green power sources in order to develop efficient energy infrastructure.
–The CoE will also aid in developing cost-efficient and sustainable technological solutions along with piloting fuel cell research.
–Central Government is working towards making India a global hub for manufacturing and developing hydrogen centric technologies on the lines of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Additional Info:
–The Union Budget 2020-21 unveiled National Hydrogen Mission (NHM) to accelerate plans to generate the carbon-free fuel from renewables.
–India is the third-largest energy consumer with growing energy demand.
–Already, a pilot project for blending hydrogen with compressed natural gas for use as a transportation fuel is running at Rajghat Bus depot in Delhi for 50 buses.
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- The New Delhi-based Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) launched a month long pan-India campaign ‘SAKSHAM 2021 (Sanrakshan Kshamata Mahotsav)’ from January 16, 2021 to February 15 2021 to create awareness about the adverse impact of fossil fuels on health and environment, and to convince the consumers of fossil fuels to switch towards cleaner fuels.
About Indian Oil Corporation(IOC):
Chairman– Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
Headquarter– New Delhi
About Greenstat:
Manager for Greenstat Hydrogen– Tomas Fiksdal
Headquarter– Bergen, Norway
