Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) plans to set up a small green hydrogen plant at its premises in Kochi, in collaboration with Oil India Limited. The two major Central PSUs signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Noida on February 22 to explore opportunities in the domain of green hydrogen, including green ammonia/green methanol and other derivatives.
It is learnt that FACT is already exploring possibilities of setting up a solar farm at its massive water reservoir on its Ambalamedu campus. The Initial explorations and study of potential is under way. The solar power generation facility will be carried out by FACT on its own, while the Green Hydrogen project will be a joint venture towards more environment-friendly operations and a sustainable future.
Apart from State grid power, FACT now meets its energy requirement through use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is considered a clean fuel when compared to other fuels used earlier by the company. FACT consumes around 10 million mmBtu worth of LNG a year. FACT previously used a variety of fuels since its inception including firewood. In the late 1940s, firewood used to be brought in country boats from Malayattoor forests to be used to produce ammonia through wood gasification process.
Setting up the green hydrogen plant will begin with a feasibility study which will cover areas like technology, capital cost, and operating cost. FACT’s Engineering and Design Organisation (FEDO), is expected to be involved in the planning process and feasibility study.
The MoU between FACT and OIL was signed by R. Manikkuttan, Executive Director (Production Coordination) on behalf of FACT and Santanu Kumar Saikia, general manager (Business Development) on behalf of OIL in the presence of Ranjith Rath, CMD, OIL, S. Sakthi Mani, director, finance, FACT, K.B. Jayaraj, CGM (FEDO and FEW) and other senior officials of FACT and OIL.