BPCL teams up with BARC to scale up alkaline electrolyzer tech for green hydrogen production
Bharat Petroleum Corp. (BPCL) plans to assist in the development of a 1 MW electrolyzer production capacity in the nation by 2025 using green hydrogen technology developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
The research and development department of BPCL is collaborating with BARC to scale up the alkaline electrolyzer technology for the creation of green hydrogen. According to Bharat L. Newalkar, chief general manager (R&D), BPCL, some technological and financial advancements might potentially reduce the price of an alkaline electrolyzer by half.
He added that the alkaline electrolyzers made at the suggested factory will probably cost 20–30% less than the going rate of roughly $800 per kilowatt, which the business intends to procure from a third party.
A kilogramme of green hydrogen may be made using about 55 kwh of renewable electricity. According to Ravikumar V, head of R&D at BPCL, capital and operating costs must decrease for green hydrogen to be commercially feasible. He continued that innovation as well as government assistance would be required to lower the price of green hydrogen. Green hydrogen production currently is three times more expensive than grey hydrogen.
The majority of state-run refineries intend to start producing green hydrogen to partially replace the large amount of grey hydrogen they currently use, which is primarily used to remove sulphur from the gasoline. According to Ravikumar, the R&D department at BPCL has also created a more effective LPG cooking stove burner that can help a household save a cylinder of gas annually.
Market-available stoves have a fuel efficiency of 68%, but the new model from BPCL has a 74% efficiency. Cost-wise, neither hob differs. Customers have already purchased more than 70,000 stoves employing BPCL burners, the speaker claimed.
Source : ET
