New Delhi: NTPC and Siemens Ltd have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to demonstrate the feasibility of hydrogen co-firing blended with natural gas in Siemens V94.2 gas turbines installed at NTPC Faridabad gas power plant, an official statement said on Wednesday. The total installed capacity of Faridabad gas power plant is 432 megawatt (MW) with two V94.2 gas turbines operating in combined cycle mode. The MoU was signed by both the companies in the presence of Ujjwal Kanti Bhattacharya, Director (Projects), NTPC, and Satya Prakash Chowdary N, General Manager, Siemens Ltd.
Achieving de-carbonising targets require a concerted and wide-ranging roadmap across all energy-intensive sectors. As part of this roadmap, hydrogen co-firing in gas turbines can play a key role in reducing CO2 emissions. "NTPC Ltd, being the largest power generator in India, intends to play a major role in energy transition and achieving the COP-26 commitments. As a part of this initiative, NTPC is exploring various new hydrogen generation technologies along with hydrogen usage so as to ensure future readiness, develop the required capabilities, technical expertise, align with the national decarbonising and hydrogen mission targets," said the statement.
Under this MoU, both the companies will collaborate to study the feasibility of introducing hydrogen co-firing in Faridabad gas power plant. Based on the feasibility studies, a pilot project for 5% (by volume) hydrogen co-firing may be implemented for demonstrating the capability and the hydrogen required for the project shall be arranged by NTPC.
"NTPC is pioneering various hydrogen related initiatives and is carrying out various R&D works in this field so as to bring in a technology which can provide green, affordable, reliable and sustainable power for all. This MoU is one of the few steps taken by NTPC to meet these targets. Hydrogen co-firing can help in utilizing the existing NTPC gas assets, lowering the cost of electricity from gas plants when green hydrogen is available at a lower cost. Also, these gas turbines can help in providing flexibility to the grid during renewable era and help in stabilizing the grid. We believe that partnering with Siemens Limited that has global expertise in this technology will help us meet our objectives under the National Hydrogen Mission." said, Manish Kumar Srivastava, Executive Director, NTPC Ltd.
"This MoU demonstrates that India has accelerated its energy transition and decarbonisation journey. We take great pride in collaborating with NTPC as we believe that together we can make existing and future power systems more efficient, flexible and sustainable" said Ashish Sareen, Head of Service & Digital, Energy – Siemens Limited.
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