India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat state government to invest Rupee 5 trillion ($67.71 billion) into renewable energy and renewable hydrogen assets.
RIL would invest an additional Rupee 600 billion in component manufacturing for solar PV modules, including polysilicon, wafer, cell and module elements; electrolyzers, batteries; and fuel cells, it added. “In consultation with the government of Gujarat, RIL has started the process of scouting land for 100 GW renewable energy power project in Kutch, Banaskantha and Dholera,” RIL said.
New Zealand’s Refining NZ said that together with Fortescue Future Industries it is studying the “feasibility of production, storage, distribution, and export of industrial-scale green hydrogen from Marsden Point.” The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which is part of the company’s work on “identifying repurposing opportunities for Marsden Point, once refining operations cease.” Work on the study will begin in early 2022. Refining NZ has previously said that its Marsden Point refinery will transition to an import-only fuel terminal from April 2022. In November 2021, the company’s board took the final investment decision confirming the change of operations to a terminal called Channel Infrastructure. In the next four months, the company will focus on “the ongoing operation of our refinery” and the “safe shutdown and decommissioning of refinery assets,” it also said Dec. 16.
BP Australia is undertaking a feasibility study into the production of green hydrogen at the site of the Kwinana refinery. It will work on the project in partnership with Macquarie Capital and with funding from the Western Australian government. The company plans to repurpose the site as a clean energy hub, “which will include the production of renewable fuels,” it said. BP also said it was “already underway with plans to develop a renewable fuels plant at the site, producing sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel.” BP announced its plan to shut the refinery in October 2020 and wind down refining activities over the following six months.
Existing entries
SK Innovation and Energy has selected Honeywell UOP for a feasibility study to retrofit the hydrogen plant at the Ulsan refinery with carbon capture. SK will “explore capturing and sequestering 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide” from the existing hydrogen production assets. From 2026, the CO2 will be reinjected in depleted natural gas reservoirs, Honeywell said. “With the global demand for hydrogen expected to grow significantly within the next decade, hydrogen producers need a low-cost carbon capture system to help them meet their sustainability goals,” said Ben Owens, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Sustainable Technology Solutions.
IOC-owned Gujarat refinery’s capacity expansion project is set to be over by Sept. 30, 2024, a delay of one-and-a-half years from the previous deadline. The delay is primarily a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The initial deadline was contemplated for 2020. The existing smaller capacity atmospheric unit and vacuum units will be replaced by a large atmospheric vacuum unit (AVU). The project also involves a revamp of the existing hydrogen generation unit, a new n-butanol processing unit and a revamp of the linear alkylbenzenes (LAB) unit. IOC plans to raise the capacity of the Gujarat refinery to 360,000 b/d by March 2023 from the current 275,000 b/d.
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