Strengthening Port Areas
About 10 ports in India are projected to be the first mover in providing hydrogen & ammonia bunkering services.
Fuel bunkering
Ports can play a pivotal role as they produce plans and strategies to deliver Government policies and they often have policies for air quality and climate change. Many ports have the capacity to develop large quantities of renewable energy and hydrogen. A wide range of activities are carried out in port areas and regions. These not only include the servicing and refuelling of vessels but also the operation of vehicles in the ports such as cars, vans, heavy duty trucks and buses. Heavy machinery such as yard tractors and lifting machinery can also be converted to hydrogen.
The Indian government has announced plans for new developments in gas grid infrastructure, connecting major demand centres with ports to help the latter become major import/export hubs.
The industry sector has also become involved, with some major companies (e.g. Adani, Arcelor Mittal, the Indian Oil Corporation, NTPC, Reliance Industries and the Solar Energy Corporation of India) announcing ambitious plans to develop projects for low-carbon hydrogen production.
To enable hydrogen and ammonia fuel use in shipping , ports will need to build corresponding bunkering infrastructure. It is expected that ports with hydrogen bunkering infrastructure will remain fairly limited till 2030, with most being first mover advantage in India to the already established LNG/gas terminals such as – Kochi Terminal, Mundra Port, Kakinada Port, Dhamra Port etc.
Presently, there are eight operational LNG terminals in India of cumulative capacity 57 MTPA. Two terminals are likely to get commissioned in year 2022 having a cumulative capacity of approximately 9 MTPA.