Nine companies have made presentations before a technical panel of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for establishing a pilot project for hydrogen production and storage.
The presentations were made last week in response to an Expression of Interest (EoI) invited by the KSEB for hydrogen production using electrolysis or “other proven methods.”
The proposals, Power department officials said, will be evaluated by the technical committee.
While the KSEB plan is still in a nascent stage, the state-run utility has identified its own land at the Brahmapuram Diesel Power Plant (BDPP) in Ernakulam district as a possible location for the pilot project.
According to the KSEB, the hydrogen produced can be supplied to industries, or stored and converted to electricity during peak demand hours using fuel cells. The KSEB had invited the EoI in September 2022 for setting up the hydrogen production system.
In July last year, the KSEB director board had given the go-ahead for inviting an EoI, observing that future energy systems would need large scale storage of electricity and that hydrogen is one of the most promising options for storing energy from renewables.
In December 2022, the KSEB had decided that the production facility would have a capcity of 500 kg per day. The storage capability will be for 3500 kg. The KSEB also dropped an earlier option it had explored where the hydrogen would be blended with natural gas as the KSEB lacks liquified natural gas (LNG) plants or tie-ups with LNG firms.
Eight firms had participated in the pre-bid meet held on December 14, 2022.
