i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

ScienceDirect

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he

Opportunities for green hydrogen production in

petroleum refining and ammonia synthesis
industries in India

Joydev Manna, Prakash Jha, Rudranath Sarkhel, Chandan Banerjee,

A.K. Tripathi, M.R. Nouni*
Hydrogen Energy Division, National Institute of Solar Energy, Gwal Pahari, Gurugram, Haryana, 122003, India

highlights

Hydrogen production capacities assessed for petroleum refineries and ammonia synthesis units in India.

Capacities of electrolysers and solar photovoltaic system to be installed for replacing existing hydrogen systems estimated.

Values for levelised cost of hydrogen estimated for such a combination of technologies.

Estimation made for water and land requirement for green hydrogen production, CO2 emission avoided and investment needed.

article info abstract

Article history: Increasing penetration of renewable electricity in the power systems coupled with
Received 27 July 2021 reduction in its cost has resulted in increased interest in green hydrogen globally. Industry
Received in revised form has been using fossil fuel-based hydrogen as an input for several decades. This paper
6 September 2021 makes an assessment of existing hydrogen production capacities in petroleum refineries
Accepted 7 September 2021 and ammonia synthesis units in India along with estimating the potential for installing
Available online 27 September 2021 solar photovoltaic (SPV) powered alkaline electrolysers for producing green hydrogen and
SPV capacity required for this purpose. Levelised cost of hydrogen production in these
Keywords: industries in India has been analysed and found to be competitive. The paper also dis-
Green hydrogen cusses about water requirement, land requirement for SPV power plants, CO2 emissions
Hydrogen production avoided and likely investment to be made for establishing infrastructure for green
Ammonia synthesis hydrogen production. With launching of national hydrogen mission in India, a transition to
Petroleum refining green hydrogen by the industry appears to be a near term possibility.
Levelised cost of hydrogen © 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
National hydrogen mission

from the early 20th century after three major discoveries

Introduction based on chemical potential of hydrogen were made and these
included - (a) hydrogenation of carbon [3]; (b) synthesis of
The first reported use of hydrogen was in a hydrogen balloon ammonia at high temperature and pressure using nitrogen
to carry humans [1,2]. The extensive use of hydrogen started and hydrogen [4]; and (c) hydrocracking, a process that

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M.R. Nouni).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.09.064
0360-3199/© 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1 38213

76% of hydrogen was produced from natural gas (NG), 23%

Abbreviations from coal and remaining 2% through electrolysis of water.
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimated
AE Alkaline Electrolyser
that around 120 MT of hydrogen was produced during 2018, of
BPCL Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
which two-thirds was pure hydrogen and one-third was in
BoP Balance of Plant
mixture form with other gases (mostly syngas) [12]. This study
CAGR Compound Annual Growth Rate
by IRENA observed that about 95% of all hydrogen was
CF Chemical Fertilisers
generated from NG and coal and remaining 5% as a by-product
DAP Diammonium Phosphate
in chlorine production process through electrolysis. With
FAI Fertiliser Association of India
increasing penetration of electricity produced using variable
GoI Government of India
renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind and solar in the
GW Gigawatt
global energy mix, the role of hydrogen as an energy storage
HDS Hydro-desulphurisation
medium for balancing the power systems has been increas-
HGU Hydrogen Generation Unit
ingly recognised [8]. It is also contemplated that hydrogen
HPCL Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
being used presently in industries can also be generated uti-
IEA International Energy Agency
lising RES [13e18]. Techno-economic aspects of hydrogen
IOCL Indian Oil Corporation Limited
productions using RES have been analysed for different re-
IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency
gions of the world (e.g., Italy [9], Spain [19], Canada [20], South
JV Joint Venture
Africa [21,22], Algeria [23,24], Pakistan [25], Iran [26], Chile [14],
LCOH Levelised Cost of Hydrogen
Korea [27], Turkey [28], etc.) using various production methods
LHV Lower Heating Value
[27e30], and different RES (e.g., solar photovoltaics [31,32],
solar thermal [33], wind [20,28], geothermal [23] etc.). These
LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas
studies suggest that hydrogen produced by electrolysis of
MMSCFD Million Standard Cubic Feet per Day
water using electricity produced either by solar photovoltaics
MT Million tonnes
(SPV) or wind energy is one of the most attractive routes
MTA Million tonnes per Annum
among different RES based options. However, as of now, there
NEL Nayara Energy Limited
is hardly any significant hydrogen production using RES at
NG Natural Gas
global level which is stagnating at a level of about 0.35e0.37
NHM National Hydrogen Mission
MTA during the period 2015e2019 [34].
NRL Numaligarh Refinery Limited
India is rich in RES with estimated power generation po-
O&M Operation and Maintenance
tential of about 1100 GW, of which contributions from solar,
ONGC Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
wind (at 100 m height), and biomass energies being 750 GW,
PEM Polymer Electrolyte Membrane
302 GW and 50 GW, respectively [35,36]. Govt. of India (GoI) has
PEME Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyser
set a target of deploying 175 GW of power generating capacity
PSU Public Sector Undertaking
from RES by 2022. This target will be achieved by installing
RES Renewable Energy Sources
power generating capacities of 100 GW solar, 60 GW wind,
RIL Reliance Industries Limited
10 GW biomass, and 5 GW small hydro [35,37]. About 93 GW of
RTI Right to Information
power generation capacity based on RES has already been
SMR Steam Methane Reforming
established in the country with contributions from wind and
SOEC Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell
solar being 39.247 GW and 40.085 GW, respectively, as on
SPV Solar Photovoltaic
31.03.2021 [38].
STC Standard Test Conditions
So far as India is concerned, no reliable information on
TA Tonnes per Annum
annual hydrogen demand and its production is available in
TERI The Energy Research Institute
public domain. It has been reported that the hydrogen market
YSZ Yttria Stabilized Zirconia
in India was valued at US$ 50 million in 2017, and it is expected
to reach US$81 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 6.3%
enabled production of lighter liquid fossil fuels by adding from 2018 to 2025 [39]. As per the global trend, in India too,
hydrogen to heavier liquid fossil fuels [5]. hydrogen is mostly produced for in-situ consumption by pe-
Demand for hydrogen for industrial applications is the troleum refining, fertiliser, and other industries where
highest among all the current uses. Petroleum refining, and hydrogen is mostly produced by reforming fossil fuels [e.g.,
ammonia production are the principal industrial consumers NG, coal, and naphtha etc.]. A recent study by The Energy
of hydrogen [6e9]. Other industries using hydrogen include Research Institute (TERI) has estimated the total hydrogen
vegetable oils; metal extraction; industries involved in pro- demand of 2.6 MTA in petroleum refineries and 3 MTA in
duction of methanol, steel, flat glass, semiconductors, and fertiliser industries [40]. However, the estimation of hydrogen
synthetic fuel; cooling of generators of thermal power plants; demand in refineries is based on the petroleum refining ca-
and food processing etc. [10]. International Energy Agency pacity, the sulphur content in the crude, allowable sulphur
(IEA) has estimated that global demand for hydrogen during content in the final products and many more other assump-
2018 was around 73.9 MT, of which 51.6% and 42.6% were tions (such as past trend of economic growth vs types of fuel
consumed by petroleum refineries and ammonia synthesis consumption, past trend of importing crude from different
units, respectively [11]. This study by IEA found that around sources etc.). Similarly, the hydrogen demand in fertiliser
38214 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1

industry has been estimated from the total amount of also been carried out. A short description on green hydrogen
ammonia required to be produced for making various fertil- production methods, including electrolyser-based technologies
isers [i.e., urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP), and other and use of hydrogen in refineries and ammonia production
chemical fertilisers (CF) etc.] during a year. Therefore, this units is included in the following sections of this paper.
study though provides a good estimation on the hydrogen
demand in petroleum refining and fertiliser industries, yet
without any break-up for different petroleum refineries and Green H2 production methods
fertiliser production units in the country. In a recent study,
Pawar et al. have assessed the potential of green ammonia Three major sources used for hydrogen production are hy-
production using onshore wind, and SPV electricity in India drocarbons (fossil fuels), water, and biomass. The processes
[41]. involved for hydrogen production from these sources are
Recently, GoI has announced to launch a national shown in Fig. 1.
hydrogen mission (NHM) for green hydrogen production dur- Hydrogen for industrial applications is predominantly
ing 2021 [42]. It is expected to boost demand for green produced by reforming of fossil fuels such as NG, naphtha,
hydrogen for industrial applications. NHM is likely to play a heavy oil, coal etc. [48]. The hydrogen production processes
catalytic role for development of activities related to produc- from fossil fuels are well developed and cost-effective. The
tion and utilisation of green hydrogen in the country. India is preferred processes for hydrogen production from fossil fuels
heavily dependent on NG for meeting requirement of are steam reforming and gasification [49]. In addition, pyrol-
hydrogen for industrial applications and more than 50% of ysis, and partial oxidation (POx) are also used to generate
total NG consumed in the country during 2019e20 was im- hydrogen from fossil fuels, which emit huge amount of carbon
ported [43]. With a view to partially decarbonise the petroleum dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen so generated is known as “grey
refining, ammonia production and other industries and also to hydrogen”. A term “blue hydrogen” is used when generated
minimise the dependence on imported hydrocarbons, use of CO2 is captured and sequestrated [50]. Hydrogen produced
green hydrogen produced by utilising power generated by RES using RES is known as “green hydrogen”. However, presently
could be encouraged. It is envisaged that even 1% of ammonia there is no universally accepted definition of green hydrogen
produced using green hydrogen could save about 0.4 MMSCFD [51]. Details on hydrogen production processes from fossil
of NG import [44]. fuels are described in various books [52e54] and review papers
Both solar and wind resources are expected to play sig- [55e59].
nificant role in making a switch to green hydrogen in India. Hydrogen generated from biomass is considered as "green
While considering wind resource availability, it is to be noted hydrogen" as released CO2 during hydrogen generation pro-
that its distribution is not even throughout the country. The cess almost gets compensated by the amount of absorbed CO2
major geographical areas for harnessing wind power are sit- while biomass grows. Biomass can be obtained from a wide
uated in the western and south-western regions of the coun- range of sources such as crop residues, agricultural wastes,
try [36]. In comparison, most parts of the country receive solar wastepaper, etc. Currently several technologies have been
resource in the range of 4e7 kWh/m2/day [45]. Besides, in the developed for hydrogen generation from biomass such as (a)
recent years, implementation of the “National Solar Mission” thermochemical processes (i.e., gasification, pyrolysis, com-
by GoI, has also contributed to creation of aggregate solar bustion, liquefaction, etc.); and (b) biological hydrogen pro-
power capacity of about 40 GW as on 31.03.2021 [38]. Market duction processes (i.e., photolysis, fermentation, etc.).
growth for solar power in India has also made the grid con- Gasification of biomass is the most efficient and well-
nected SPV power (2.69 cents/kWh) cost-competitive than developed technology amongst all thermochemical pro-
wind power (3.82 cents/kWh) [46,47]. Thus, SPV powered cesses. Biological hydrogen production processes from
green hydrogen generation is believed to be well suited for biomass are at their nascent stage and significant improve-
India and the same has been considered in further analysis for ments are needed in terms of efficiency, and cost effective-
providing electricity to the hydrogen production systems in ness of these technologies. Detailed discussions on hydrogen
this study. generation processes from biomass can be found in the liter-
With a view to estimate more detailed hydrogen demand ature [56,60,61]. As per the focus of this paper, a brief
and production data for petroleum refineries and ammonia description on the hydrogen generation by electrolysis of
production in India, the present study has attempted to esti- water is included hereinafter.
mate the hydrogen production capacity in individual petro- Hydrogen can be generated from water by splitting its
leum refineries and ammonia synthesis units based on molecules using three major sources of energy i.e., light
information gathered from various verified sources. As these (photon), heat, and electricity. If the source of these energies is
plants produce hydrogen using fossil fuels, possibilities for renewable in nature (such as solar, wind, etc.), then hydrogen
hydrogen generation through electrolysers powered by SPV so produced is called as "green hydrogen". The well-developed
have been examined in this study. In this context, the required technique for hydrogen production from water is electrolysis,
electrolyser capacity to be installed for each refinery and where electricity is used for splitting it. Other methods of
ammonia production plant for meeting the total hydrogen de- hydrogen production from water such as thermochemical and
mand has been determined. The capacity of SPV plant to be photolysis are in their early stages of development and have
installed for meeting the energy demand of a refinery or not yet been used for large scale hydrogen production [56].
ammonia plant is optimised using PVsyst software. Financial Water electrolysers are electrochemical devices that are
analysis to determine the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH) has used to split water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen using
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1 38215

Fig. 1 e Various hydrogen production methods based on source of hydrogen.

electricity [62]. In true sense, conversion of electrical energy to 60e80  C. The typical current density of an AE is 0.2e0.4 A/cm2
chemical energy (in the form of hydrogen) happens in an with a typical efficiency of about 63e71% based on the LHV of
electrolyser by way of hydrogen production. An electrolyser hydrogen [66,67].
cell comprises of two electrodes and electrolyte. Multiple cells
can be connected in series to produce a stack to have desired Proton exchange membrane electrolyser
output of hydrogen. The other sub-systems of the electrolyser
include equipment for cooling, hydrogen purification, recti- Proton exchange membrane electrolysers (PEME) typically use
fier, demineralised water supply system, etc. All these put Pt black, iridium, ruthenium, and rhodium for electrode cat-
together are called balance of plant (BoP). Depending upon the alysts and a polymer electrolyte membrane (e.g., Nafion®,
type of electrolytes used, electrolysers are categorised as fumapem®, etc.) which separates the electrodes. In PEME,
alkaline, proton exchange membrane, and solid oxide elec- water is introduced at the anode side, where it gets split into
trolysers. The three electrolyser technologies are described in protons (Hþ) and oxygen (O2). The protons travel through the
brief in the following sections. polymer membrane to the cathode, where it combines with
electrons to form hydrogen gas. PEME have low ionic re-
Alkaline electrolyser sistances and therefore high current densities of 0.6 e 2 A/cm2
can be achieved while maintaining high efficiencies of 56e60%
In an alkaline electrolyser (AE), aqueous alkaline solution (e.g., [11,66,67]. Issues related to corrosion of the materials due to
approximately 25e30 wt% KOH or NaOH) is used as electro- acidic nature of the solution, costly noble metal (e.g., Pt, Ru,
lyte. Other components of AE are two electrodes, and a Rh, etc.) catalyst, comparatively lower efficiency are the
microporous separator known as diaphragm. Typically, drawbacks of PEME technologies. Efforts are underway to
nickel-based materials are used as electrodes in AE [63e65]. improve efficiency of PEME in the coming years.
Nickel with a catalytic coating is commonly used as cathode
material and nickel or copper metals coated with metal oxides Solid oxide electrolysis cell
(e.g., manganese, tungsten, or ruthenium oxide) are used as
anode material. Stainless steel mesh (low carbon steel) is also In case of Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC), yttria stabilized
often used as cathode in AE [62]. In a cell, the water is intro- zirconia (YSZ), nickel containing YSZ, and metal doped
duced in the cathode side, where it is decomposed into lanthanum metal oxides are used as electrolyte, anode, and
hydrogen and hydroxyl (OH) ion due to the potential differ- cathode, respectively. Here, oxygen ions (O2) travel through
ence between the electrodes. The OH ion then passes the solid electrolyte leaving the hydrogen at the cathode side.
through the electrolytic material and diaphragm to the anode SOEC operates at high temperature (650e1000  C) and the acti-
and gets converted to oxygen (O2) gas. The generated vation energy required to split water is combination of electrical
hydrogen is separated outside of the electrolyser using a gas and thermal energy. Efficiency of SOEC is dependent on the
liquid separations unit. Operating temperature range of AE is temperature and it is noted that at higher temperature, the
38216 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1

anode and cathode over potentials decreases and subsequently well as product specifications; the growing demand for lighter,
electrolyser's efficiency increases. For example, overall elec- hydrogen rich products, such as gasoline; and the need for
trical energy requirement reduced by around 35% when oper- refiners to improve profitability margins by processing poorer
ating temperature of SOEC was increased from 375 to 1050 K quality crudes [70,71].
[68]. The efficiency of SOEC considering only electrical input is The primary source of hydrogen supply within the refinery
very high (74e81%) [56]. However, if the heat input is included, is known as hydrogen generation unit (HGU), where hydrogen
the efficiencies drop significantly. SOEC has several advantages is produced from steam reforming of NG, naphtha, LPG or by
such as non-corrosive nature of the solid electrolyte, no flow POx process. Some hydrogen is produced in the refineries as
distribution issues etc. However, expensive materials, costly by-product of other processes. Alternatively, hydrogen can
fabrication methods and need for a heat source are drawbacks also be supplied by merchant gas producers and brought to
of SOEC technology. Even if SOEC are considered as most effi- the refinery via a pipeline. The amount of hydrogen required
cient, yet they are still in the developing stages. for a particular process in the refinery mainly depends on
Comparative properties of these three technologies based crude quality and the amount of heteroatoms (sulphur, ni-
on the current state of development and the expected devel- trogen, etc.) to be removed [70].
opment by 2030 are shown in Table 1.
Since AE systems are the most developed and have the Use of hydrogen in ammonia synthesis
lowest capital cost presently, it has been considered as the
appropriate electrolyser technology for the purpose of further The industrial process used for ammonia production is known
analysis in this study. as Haber e Bosch process. In this process hydrogen and ni-
trogen (3:1 ratio) are introduced in a reaction vessel containing
a specific catalyst at elevated pressure (>100 bar) and temper-
Uses of hydrogen in refineries and ammonia ature (~500  C) [72]. The most widely used catalyst for this
synthesis process is Fe (iron) promoted K2O (potassium oxide), CaO
(calcium oxide), SiO2 (silica) and Al2O3 (alumina) [73]. In gen-
Uses of hydrogen in petroleum refineries eral, to improve the conversion efficiency, the mixed gases are
passed through several catalyst beds with cooling in between
Petroleum refineries carry out many industrial processes that [74]. Hydrogen required for ammonia synthesis is generally
transform crude oils into valuable products such as gasoline, obtained from fossil fuels (NG or naphtha) by reforming pro-
jet fuel, diesel, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha, cess and nitrogen is obtained by purification of air. The
etc. The petroleum refineries also carry out various processes generated ammonia by this process is used to produce nitrogen
that need hydrogen and a term ‘hydro-processing’ is used for based single nutrient fertilisers such as ammonium nitrate
such processes. In hydro-processing, hydrogen is catalytically (NH4NO3), urea [CO(NH2)2], etc. These fertilisers are further
reacted with hydrocarbons in many ways and these processes mixed with phosphorus (P) and/or potassium (K) based fertil-
are further categorised as hydrocracking and hydro-treating. isers to obtain binary (NP/NK) and ternary (NPK) fertilisers [75].
In the hydrocracking process, cracking and hydrogenation of
hydrocarbons (generally heavy gas oils) takes place simulta-
neously to produce refined fuels with smaller molecules and Methodology used for analysis
higher H/C ratios. Hydrocracking yields high volumes of diesel
and kerosene. In the hydro-treating, hydrogen is used to hy- Assessment of hydrogen demand in petroleum refineries and
drogenate sulphur and nitrogen compounds and to finally ammonia synthesis units
remove them as H2S and NH3. The sulphur removal process is
known as hydro-desulphurisation (HDS) [69]. The hydrogen Information relating to hydrogen demand in all petroleum
demand in the petroleum refineries for hydro-processing has refineries and ammonia synthesis units in India is not avail-
been steadily increasing. The primary reasons for this are the able in open source. Out of 23 petroleum refineries in India,
tightening of regulations associated with unit emissions as while most of the petroleum refineries are owned and

Table 1 e Comparison of electrolyser technologies [11,12].

Property AE PEME SOEC
a a
Presently 2030 Presently 2030 Presently 2030a
Electrical efficiency (%, LHV) 63e70 65e71 56e60 63e68 74e81 77e84
Operating pressure (bar) 1e30 e 30e80 e 1 e
Operating temperature ( C) 60e80 50e80 650e1000
Useful life of stack (jn thousand hours) 60e90 90e100 30e90 60e90 10e30 40e60
Load range (%, relative to nominal load) 10e110 0e160 20e100
Plant footprint (m2/kWe) 0.095 0.048
Startup time (minutes) >30 <30 >30
CAPEX (US$/kWe) 500e1400 400e850 1100e1800 650e1500 2800e5600 800e2800
a
Expected value.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1 38217

operated by the central or state Public Sector Undertakings

(PSU), some are in the joint ventures (JV) and rest are in the
private sector. Information regarding rated capacity, and
hydrogen production capacity of refineries were obtained
from the refinery operating organisations through the in-
strument of Right to information (RTI) under RTI Act, 2005 of
Govt. of India [76] and some from other sources available in
public domain. For one ONGC refinery (at Tatipaka, Tamil
Nadu), hydrogen production information is estimated using
its refining capacity. It has also been assumed that both of the
RIL refineries situated at Jamnagar (SEZ) and Jamnagar (DTA)
have same hydrogen production capacity as their petroleum
refining capacities are close. Information relating to hydrogen
generation capacity and consumption in the 39 ammonia
synthesis units in India was obtained from Fertiliser Associ-
ation of India (FAI) [77].

System description

In this study, for meeting power requirement for operation of

the electrolyser system, a dedicated grid connected SPV power
plant installed in the vicinity of the refinery/ammonia plant is
proposed to be used. The sizing of SPV power plant for
meeting the entire electrical energy requirement of electro-
lyser system has been undertaken using PVsyst software.
During the daytime SPV power plant would supply a part of Fig. 2 e Schematic diagram of a typical green hydrogen
electricity generated by it for operation of the electrolyser unit production unit.
and the remaining electricity would be supplied to the grid.
During the night-time electricity requirement of the electro-
lyser system would be met by drawing banked green elec- monthly insolation, and ambient temperature data of the
tricity from the grid. A representative diagram for the location where power is to be generated using SPV system.
hydrogen production unit consisting of electrolyser, elec- The site of SPV power plant has been considered same as the
tricity supply system, and storage tank is depicted in Fig. 2. site of the petroleum refinery or ammonia synthesis unit.
The generated hydrogen from the electrolyser will be stored in Global horizontal irradiation and monthly average ambient
a Type II hydrogen storage tank which will be connected to the temperature data for the site of the petroleum refinery/
petroleum refinery or ammonia synthesis unit via a pipeline. ammonia synthesis unit are obtained from Meteonorm 8 [79].
The electrolyser system will be equipped with the BoP, as The tilt angle of the PV array is kept in such a way that it can
described earlier. get maximum solar irradiation on annual basis. From the daily
electrical energy demand, the annual electrical energy de-
Electrolyser capacity, energy demand, and SPV capacity mand of the HGU installed at each plant is estimated and a
analysis series of simulations are performed to fulfil the yearly energy
demand requirement from the SPV system.
The rated electrolyser capacity (Nm3/h) needed for a petro-
leum refinery or ammonia synthesis unit is determined based Economic analysis
on the daily hydrogen production capacity of the existing HGU
in the refinery or ammonia synthesis unit. Electrical energy The levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH) in US$/kg is estimated
demand of the AE system is determined using Eq. (1) [78]. to get an indication of the cost of green hydrogen production
in the Indian scenario. Cost of systems required for hydrogen
k  HV  d
E ¼ (1) production and storage has been considered in LCOH calcu-
3:6  hE
lation. Land cost has not been taken into consideration in the
where, E is the electrical energy requirement of the electro- analysis as it is highly site specific and may vary a lot. Salvage
lyser system in kWh; k is the rated hydrogen production ca- value is considered to be nil in the present analysis. The
pacity of the AE system in Nm3/h; HV is lower heating value estimation of LCOH has been carried out using Eq. (2).
(LHV) of hydrogen in MJ/kg, d is density of hydrogen in kg/m3; Pn
and hE is the efficiency of the AE in fraction. Ci ðRi þ mi Þ þ M
LCOH ¼ i
[2]
mH2
The capacity of the grid connected SPV power plant
required to be installed for meeting the electrical energy de- where, Ci is the initial cost of the ith sub-system in US$, Ri is
mand of the electrolyser system is determined and optimised the capital recovery factor of the ith sub-system, mi is the
using PVsyst simulation software. The optimisation is per- fraction of O&M cost of the initial cost of the ith sub-system, M
formed based on the latitude, longitude, altitude, average is the annual cost of consumables (which includes cost of
38218 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1

alkali and water) in US$ and mH2 is the total mass of hydrogen
produced in kg during a year. Capital recovery factor (R) of a
sub-system is defined as shown in Eq. (3).
n
d ð1 þ dÞ
R ¼ n [3]
ð1 þ dÞ  1

where, d and n are the discount rate in fraction and useful life
in years, respectively, of a particular sub-system. The value of
discount rate is assumed as 0.08. Values of useful life and O&M
cost in terms of percentage of initial capital cost for each sub-
system are shown in Table 2. The initial cost data for elec-
trolyser and SPV power plant have been obtained from Indian
manufacturers and suppliers of these technologies (Table 2).
For higher capacity electrolyser, a cost function (y ¼ 1285:4þ
6833:745  e0:0056x ) has been found using the relationship
between capacity of electrolyser (x) and the price per unit Fig. 3 e Relationship between capacity of electrolyser and
capacity value (y), as shown in Fig. 3. Size of the hydrogen their cost.
storage tank is considered in such a manner that it could store
hydrogen produced in a day (24 h). The amounts of consum-
ables used, and their costs are shown in Table 3. Amount of Table 3 e Consumables used during hydrogen production
water consumption is estimated based on the amount of and their costs.
water needed to produce 1 kg of hydrogen [62]. Sr. No. Item Amount needed Price
1 Water 0.9 L/Nm of3
H*2 0.34 US$/kL
2 KOH 76.5 mg/Nm3 of H2^ 2.73 US$/kg
Results and discussion
Ref: * [62]; ^ [81].

Hydrogen production and demand in petroleum refineries in

India currently operating three refineries in the country. RIL owns
two petroleum refineries at Jamnagar in the state of Gujarat
India has the fourth largest refining capacity (249.9 MTA) in with an aggregate refining capacity of 68.2 MTA, which make
the world after the USA, China, and Russia with 23 operational RIL as the owner of the world's largest oil refinery. As
petroleum refineries [82,83]. Around 18 of these refineries are mentioned earlier, most of these petroleum refineries have
owned and operated by PSU and two refineries are in joint HGU installed within the refinery facility and hydrogen is
sector. Other three refineries are owned and operated by the generally produced by SMR process of NG or naphtha. Purity
private sector. of the hydrogen obtained from these HGU is in the range of
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is the largest oil 97.5e99.99% depending upon the synthesis and purification
sector PSU in India having a total of 9 refineries with installed facilities installed. The capacity of HGU at a particular re-
refining capacity of about 69.7 MTA. Other PSU based re- finery is not only dependent on the refining capacity but it
fineries are operated by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited also depends on the crude type, and process involved in the
(BPCL) e 2 numbers, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation refinery. The total hydrogen generation capacity of all the 23
Limited (HPCL) e 2 numbers, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation petroleum refineries was around 2.92 MTA as on 01.04.2020
(ONGC) e 1 number and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) e as per details given in Table 4. It is envisaged that with the
1 number. Five of the PSU refineries are operated with either NHM becoming a reality during 2021, the petroleum re-
state governments or other agencies in JV mode. fineries may switch over to production of green hydrogen by
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Nayara Energy utilising renewable electricity generated by SPV or wind-
Limited (NEL) are the two private sector companies that are based systems.

Table 2 e Initial cost, useful life, and O&M fraction of individual components for the proposed hydrogen generation system.
Item Capacity Initial cost (in US$) Useful Life (years) Fraction of O&M cost of initial cost
SPV power plant 1 MW 543715.85 25 0.01
Alkaline Electrolyser 25 Nm3/h 437158.47 11.5 0.06
50 Nm3/h 614754.10
100 Nm3/h 792349.73
200 Nm3/h 956284.15
300 Nm3/h 1120218.58
Hydrogen tank (200 bar) 1 kg 86a 30 0.005
a
Ref: [80].
Table 4 e Petroleum refineries in India with installed capacity and hydrogen production capacity as on 01.04.2020 along with electrolyser capacity, electricity demand and
nominal SPV capacity needed for green hydrogen production to replace the installed HGUs at refineries.

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1
Organisation Name of Refinery Installed capacity (MTA) Installed hydrogen Electrolyser Electricity Nominal solar PV
as on 01.04.2020 production capacity as capacity (Nm3/h) demand (GWh/year) capacity (GW)
on 01.04.2020 (TA)
IOCL Barauni, Bihar1,a 6.0 54000R 69000 2720.74 2.02
Koyali, Gujarat2,a 13.7 121500R 155000 6111.80 3.87
Haldia, West Bengal1,a 8.0 105000R 133500 5264.04 3.71
Mathura, Uttar Pradesh2,a 8.0 94000R 120000 4731.72 3.10
Panipat, Haryana2,a 15.0 222000R 283000 11158.97 7.26
Guwahati, Assam1,a 1.0 12000R 16000 630.90 0.47
Digboi, Assam2,a 0.65 7000R 9000 354.87 0.29
Bongaigaon, Assam1,a 2.35 30000R 39000 1537.81 1.17
Paradip, Odisha1,a 15.0 72800R 93000 3667.08 2.75
HPCL Mumbai, Maharashtra3,b 7.5 32973R 42000 1656.10 1.09
Visakh, Andhra Pradesh1,c 8.33 76046R 97000 3824.80 2.58
HPCL- HMEL Bhatinda, Punjab 11.3 88000R1 112000 4416.27 2.92
BPCL Mumbai, Maharashtra3,d 12.0 114500R 146000 5756.92 3.81
Kochi, Kerala3,c 15.5 169000R 215000 8477.66 5.90
BPCL- BORL Bina, Madhya Pradesh1 7.8 137120R2 125000 4928.87 3.10
CPCL Manali, Tamil Nadu1,a 10.5 116430R3 149000 5875.21 3.93
Cauvery Basin, Tamil Nadu1,a 1.0 78000R4 100000 3943.10 2.69
NRL Numaligarh, Assam 3.0 48600R5 62000 2444.72 1.93
ONGC Tatipaka, Andhra Pradesh 0.07 1000* 1300 51.26 0.04
ONGC- MRPL Mangalore, Karnataka1,c 15.0 170000R 162000 6387.81 5.75
RIL Jamnagar (DTA), Gujarat 33.0 528,630* 673000 26537.05 17.06
Jamnagar (SEZ), Gujarat 35.2 528630R6 673000 26537.05 17.06
NEL Vadinar, Gujarat 20.0 120000R7 153000 6032.94 3.75
TOTAL 249.9 2,927,229 3,627,800 143,047.70 96.25

Feedstock used for hydrogen production: 1: Naphtha; 2:NG + Naphtha; 3: Naphtha/RLNG.

Process used for hydrogen production: a: SMR; b: SMR/CCR-PSA; c: SMR/CCR; d: steam naphtha reforming.
R:
Information obtained by RTI, R1: [89]; R2: [90]; R3 [91]:; R4: [92]; R5: [93]; R6: [94]; R7: [95]; *: Estimated.

38219
38220 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1

Fig. 4 e Location of the ammonia synthesis units and fertiliser production plants based on it in India [map is not to scale].

Hydrogen production and demand in ammonia synthesis process. It has been learnt from FAI that these two units will
units in India also switch over to NG soon.
Coal gasification and water electrolysis processes were also
Green revolution in India has made a significant impact on used in India for production of hydrogen for ammonia syn-
Indian agriculture sector by implementing use of CF. During thesis many years back. The Fertiliser Corporation of India
this time, several PSUs (e.g., National Fertilisers Limited, Ltd. (FCIL) owned and operated five fertiliser plants at Gor-
Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers Limited etc.), Cooperatives akhpur, Korba, Ramagundam, Sindri, and Talcher. Three of
(e.g., IFFCO, KRIBHCO etc.), and decision-making bodies (e.g., these fertiliser plants at Ramagundam, Sindri, and Talcher
Department of Fertilisers, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers were utilising coal gasification technology for ammonia syn-
etc.) were established for development and growth of the thesis, and they went out of operation in late 1990s to early
fertiliser industry. Presently, India occupies the second posi- 2000s due to economic unviability [85,86]. However, Talcher
tion in terms of production and consumption of nitrogen plant is likely to be made operational again by 2023 using coal
based fertilisers in the world [84]. gasification technology as India has large reserves of coal and
There are 39 ammonia synthesis units that are integral import dependence on NG/LNG is continuously increasing
part of the fertiliser industry in India (see Fig. 4). Details of [87]. The urea production plant at Nangal, Punjab was equip-
ammonia production capacity and location of these plants ped with AE during 1960s for hydrogen production where
are given in Table 5 [77]. The total installed hydrogen pro- comparatively inexpensive and surplus hydroelectricity was
duction capacity of these units was 3.38 MTA as on 01.04.2020 used from nearby Bhakra multipurpose project. Later, it was
as per details given in Table 5. Almost all these ammonia replaced by fuel oil-based system when demand for electricity
production units are currently producing hydrogen by SMR of increased [88].
NG except two plants (MCFL at Mangalore and SPIC at Tuti- With increasing penetration of green electricity produced
corin), where hydrogen is produced using naphtha reforming mainly by SPV and wind projects in the national grid of India
Table 5 e Ammonia synthesis units in India with their installed NH3 production capacity, and H2 production capacity as on 01.04.2020 along with electrolyser capacity,
electricity demand and nominal SPV capacity needed to replace the existing HGUs at NH3 plants.
Sr. No. Ammonia synthesis Location Installed NH3 Installed Electrolyser Yearly electricity Nominal solar PV
units (Company) production hydrogen capacity (Nm3/h) consumption capacity (GW)
capacity as on production (GWh/year)
01.04.2020 (in capacity (in TA)
MTA)
1 Smartchem Taloja, Maharashtra 0.13 22,196 29000 1143.50 0.8
Technologies (STL)a,c

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1
2 Gujarat State Fertilisers Baroda, Gujarat 0.45 78,854 101000 3982.53 2.5
and Chemicals (GSFC)a,c
3 Brahmaputra Valley Namrup, Assam 0.14 25,488 33000 1301.22 1.0
Fertiliser Corporation
Limited (BVFCL e I)a,c
4 BVFCL e IIa,c Namrup, Assam 0.17 29,630 38000 1498.37 1.2
5 Indian Farmers Fertiliser Kalol, Gujarat 0.36 64,251 82000 3233.34 2.0
Cooperative (IFFCO)a,c
6 IFFCO - Ia,c Aonla, Uttar Pradesh 0.57 101,633 130000 5126.03 3.5
7 IFFCO - IIa,c Aonla, Uttar Pradesh 0.57 101,633 130000 5126.03 3.5
8 Grasim Industries Jagdishpur, Uttar Pradesh 0.63 111,563 142000 5599.20 3.8
Limited (GIL)a,c
9 Krishak Bharati Hazira, Gujarat 1.25 220,790 281000 11080.10 7.1
Cooperative Limited
(KRIBHCO)a,c
10 National Fertilisers Vijaipur, Madhya Pradesh 0.58 102,218 130000 5126.02 3.2
Limited (NFL e I)a,c
11 NFL- IIa,c Vijaipur, Madhya Pradesh 0.62 108,873 139000 5480.90 3.4
12 Rashtriya Chemicals Trombay, Maharashtra 0.12 20,444 26000 1025.20 0.7
and Fertilisers Limited
(RCF e I)a,c
13 RCF e Va,c Trombay, Maharashtra 0.30 52,569 67000 2641.87 1.7
14 RCFa,c Thal, Maharashtra 1.16 204,435 260000 10252.05 6.7
15 Nagarjuna Fertilisers Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh 0.44 77,402 99000 3903.66 2.7
and Chemicals Limited
(NFCL e I)a,c
16 NFCL e IIa,c Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh 0.43 75,933 97000 3824.80 2.6
17 Chambal Fertilisers and Gadepan, Rajasthan 0.58 103,209 132000 1143.50 3.3
Chemicals Limited
(CFCL)a,c
18 CFCL e IIa,c Gadepan, Rajasthan 0.56 99,881 127000 5007.73 3.1
19 CFCL e IIIa,c Gadepan, Rajasthan 0.73 128,502 164000 6466.70 4.1
20 Yara Fertilisersa,c Babrala, Uttar Pradesh 0.66 116,820 149000 5875.21 3.8
21 KRIBHCO Fertilisers Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh 0.50 88,783 113000 4455.70 3.1
Limited (KFL)a,c
22 IFFCO e Ia,c Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh 0.40 70,977 91000 358.82 2.5
23 IFFCO e IIa,c Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh 0.57 101,598 130000 5126.02 3.6

38221
(continued on next page)
 38222
Table 5 e (continued )
Sr. No. Ammonia synthesis Location Installed NH3 Installed Electrolyser Yearly electricity Nominal solar PV
units (Company) production hydrogen capacity (Nm3/h) consumption capacity (GW)
capacity as on production (GWh/year)
01.04.2020 (in capacity (in TA)
MTA)
24 Shriram Fertilisers and Kota, Rajasthan 0.22 39,560 51000 2010.98 1.2
Chemicals (SFC)a,c
25 Zuari Agro Chemicals Goa 0.26 46,728 60000 2365.86 1.5

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1
Ltd (ZACL)a,c
26 Kanpur Fertilisers and Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh 0.42 74,128 95000 3745.94 2.5
Chemical Ltd (KFCL)a,c
27 Fertilisers and Alwaye, Kerala 0.33 57,826 74000 2917.90 2.0
Chemicals Travancore
Limited (FACT)a,c
28 Gujarat Narmada Valley Bharuch, Gujarat 0.45 78,854 101000 3982.53 2.5
Fertilisers and
Chemicals Limited
(GNFC)a,c
29 NFLa,c Bathinda, Punjab 0.30 52,569 67000 2641.87 1.7
30 NFLa,c Nangal, Punjab 0.31 55,490 71000 2799.60 1.8
31 Madras Fertilisers Manali, Tamil Nadu 0.35 61,331 78000 3075.61 2.1
Limited (MFL)a,c
32 NFLa,c Panipat, Haryana 0.30 52,569 67000 2641.87 1.7
33 Mangalore Chemicals & Mangalore, Karnataka 0.22 38,551 50000 1971.55 1.3
Fertilisers Limited
(MCFL)b,c
34 Southern Petrochemical Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu 0.42 74,340 95000 3745.94 2.5
Industries Corporation
(SPIC)b,c
35 Matrix Fertilisers and Panagarh, West Bengal 0.726 128,502 164000 6466.70 4.8
Chemicals Ltd.
(MFCLN)a,c,
36 Ramagundam Fertilisers Ramagundam, Telangana 0.726 128,502 164000 6466.70 4.7
and Chemicals Ltd.
(RFCL) (2021a)U,a,c
37 Hindustan Urvarak & Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh 0.726 128,502 164000 6466.70 4.7
Rasayan Limited (HURL)
(2022a)U,a,c
38 HURL (2022a)U,a,c Barauni, Bihar 0.726 128,502 164000 6466.70 4.8
39 HURL (2022a)U,a,c Sindri, Jharkhand 0.726 128,502 164000 6466.70 4.7
Total 19.1081 3,382,138 4,319,000 170,302.40 114.7
N
: plant under shutdown.
U
: plant under construction.
Feedstock used, a: NG; b: Naphtha; Process used, c: SMR.
a
Expected year of commissioning.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1 38223

and with an objective of decarbonisation of ammonia syn- Meteonorm 8. Fig. 5 shows the monthly average global hori-
thesis units, an effort has been made in this study for esti- zontal radiation and monthly average ambient temperature at
mating potential for green hydrogen required for ammonia Jamnagar, Gujarat (22.46 N, 70.07 E).
synthesis in India. According to Fig. 5, the monthly average radiation is
153.86 kWh/m2 and total radiation in one year is 1846.4 kWh/
Electrolyser capacity, energy demand, SPV capacity and m2. The site receives the highest radiation (205.3 kWh/m2) in
LCOH of green hydrogen production in India the month of May and the lowest radiation (116.2 kWh/m2) in
the month of July. Ambient temperature significantly affects
For meeting hydrogen demand of the petroleum refineries and the performance of the SPV power plants. The monthly
ammonia synthesis units through electrolysis of water, the average ambient temperature is in the range of 20.15e32.83  C
electrolyser capacity needed to be established has been with an annual average of 27.47  C.
determined and the results are presented in Table 4 for the The SPV optimisation studies are performed for an AE of
petroleum refineries and in Table 5 for ammonia synthesis 673000 Nm3/h capacity considering that the existing HGU is
units. The process followed for one of the refineries operating completely replaced by a green hydrogen generation system.
at Jamnagar (SEZ), Gujarat is described in detail below. Optimistic system efficiency of about 66.5% has been used for
the AE system. The details of an optimised SPV power plant to
(a) Electrolyser capacity. be installed at Jamnagar (SEZ), Gujarat to supply electricity to
the AE system on the basis of PVsyst software and the total
Initially, electrolyser capacity needed to supply the same power to be produced by it are presented in Table 9. It has also
amount of hydrogen to the refinery as by the existing HGU is been estimated that if only 30% or 60% of green hydrogen
determined. The electrolyser capacities needed for Jamnagar production facility is established initially at Jamnagar, total
refinery for different scenarios are shown in Table 6. As may capacity of SPV power plant needed to supply the required
be seen from the table, the installed HGU at refinery has a electricity for these hydrogen generation systems will be
capacity of about 0.529 MTA and an AE system of 673000 Nm3/ around 5.12 GWp or 10.24 GWp, respectively.
h capacity is needed to replace the existing HGU completely. Month wise normalized electrical output and performance
The capacities of AE needed to be installed, if a part of the total ratio values for the SPV power plant to be installed at Jam-
hydrogen requirement is met through green hydrogen pro- nagar (SEZ) refinery are given in Fig. 6(a and b). The perfor-
duction units are also presented in Table 6. mance ratio (PR) provides information about the percent of
energy that is available for use or could be exported to the grid.
(b) SPV power plant nominal capacity. As may be seen from the figure, the highest PR of 84.0% was
observed during the month of January, while lowest PR of
The power requirement for operation of the electrolyser about 73.7% was seen during the month of March. The average
will be met by a dedicated grid connected SPV power plant. annual PR of the SPV power plant to be installed at Jamnagar
The electricity consumption by the electrolyser-based (SEZ) refinery is found to be about 79.8%.
hydrogen generation system is determined using Eq. (1).
Based on the reported specific energy consumption value of (c) Capacity of SPV power plants to be established for green
AE system, the efficiencies of AE are in the range of 42.7e66.5% hydrogen production by petroleum refineries and
[62]. Electricity consumption is determined for three scenarios ammonia synthesis units.
based on overall system efficiency of AE system (low, average,
and optimistic) and the results are presented in Table 7. As discussed in earlier section, the nominal capacities of
Input data used for the simulation of SPV power plant is SPV power plants needed to be installed at various petroleum
given in Table 8. Performance of this SPV power plant is refineries and ammonia synthesis plants have been optimised
analysed for one year using solar radiation data available at using PVsyst tool. For Jamnagar (SEZ), Gujarat refinery the

Table 6 e Electrolyser capacity required to supply different percentage of green H2 at the Jamnagar refinery.
Installed capacity Electrolyser capacity [if certain % is converted to green hydrogen]
of the HGU (MTA)
30% green H2 60% green H2 100% green H2
0.529 201900 Nm3/h 403800 Nm3/h 673000 Nm3/h

Table 7 e Annual electricity consumption by the hydrogen generation system at Jamnagar (SEZ) refinery.
Electrolyser Annual electricity consumption (GWh/year)
capacity (Nm3/h)
Low efficiency (42.7%) Average efficiency (52.5%) Optimistic efficiency (66.5%)
201900 12398.46 10084.08 7961.11
403800 24796.91 20168.16 15922.23
673000 41328.19 33613.59 26537.03
38224 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1

Table 8 e Input data used in optimisation of SPV power plant at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
Information Specification
Albedo 0.20
Simulation time duration 1 year
Models used Transposition: Perez, Diffuse: Perez,
Meteonorm
PV characteristic PV module: Si mono, Model: TSM-
DE18M  500, Unit Nom. Power: 500 Wp,
Nominal (STC): 137.5 MWp, Umpp: 974 V,
Impp: 128,513 A.
Inverter Model: 6250 kVA-MV, Unit Nom. Power
6874 kWac, Op. Voltage 875e1300 V
PV array loss factors Soiling loss: 4%, Thermal loss (Uc): 29 W/
m2-K, Wiring Ohmic loss: 1.5% at STC,
Series diode 0.1% at STC, Module quality
loss: 0.8%, Module mismatch loss: 2% at
MPP, String mismatch loss: 0.1%, Module
average degradation: 0.4%/year, Mismatch
due to degradation: Imp RMS dispersion
0.4%/year and Vmp RMS dispersion 0.4%/
year.
System Loss factors AC wire loss (Inverter to Transformer):
0.2% at STC
Transformer loss Operating losses: 0.1% at STC, Copper
resistive loss: 0.1% at STC, MV line up to
injection loss: 0.1% at STC, Unavailability
of the system: 2%

required for refineries and ammonia plants are about 113.65

and 135.48 thousand acres, respectively. However, the total land
required for a SPV power plant not only depends on the land
required for installation of SPV modules, but it also includes
land requirement for installation of inverter and transformer
room, gapping between two PV mounting tables etc. In India,
the land required for establishment of a 1 MW SPV power plant
is about 4.5e5 acres for crystalline PV technology and 6.5e7
acres for thin-film PV technology [96]. As in the present study,
monocrystalline SPV modules have been used for optimisation,
the total land area required for installation of 17.06 GWp SPV
power plant at Jamnagar (SEZ), Gujarat is about 76.8e85.3
thousand acres. Similarly, the land required for installation of
SPV power plants for petroleum refineries and ammonia plants
have been estimated and it is found that about 433.15e481.2
Fig. 5 e Monthly average of global horizontal radiation and
thousand acres and 516.3e573.7 thousand acres of land area
ambient temperature at Jamnagar, Gujarat, India.
would be required for installation of SPV power plants for pe-
troleum refineries and ammonia plants, respectively. Finding
nominal SPV power plant to be installed is of 17.06 GWp ca- vacant shadow free land in the existing refineries and ammonia
pacity. It has been estimated that total nominal capacity of SPV synthesis units may be a constraint and, in such cases, SPV
power plants to be established for green hydrogen supply in the power plant may have to be installed in the nearby areas.
petroleum refineries or in their vicinity would be about 96.25 For electrolysers, there are no real land area optimisation
GWp (see Table 4). For ammonia synthesis units, the total ca- based on actual experience rather than plot optimisation
pacity of SPV power plants to be installed for green hydrogen relied on engineering estimates [97]. A detailed bottom-up
production would be around 114.7 GWp (see Table 5). study has estimated that maximum area requirement for
1 GW hydrogen generation plant would be around 13 ha and
(d) Land area requirement for establishing SPV power 17 ha for a PEM and AE based plant, respectively [98].
plants.
(e) Investment required for green hydrogen production by
The land covered by the modules or simply module area for petroleum refineries and ammonia synthesis units.
each SPV power plant is obtained from the PVsyst tool. The
module area required for Jamnagar (SEZ) is about 81541 It is obvious that a huge amount of investment may have
thousand m2 (20.15 thousand acres). Total module area to be mobilised for establishing SPV powered green hydrogen
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1 38225

Table 9 e Optimised SPV power plant capacity and other parameters of the plant to be installed at Jamnagar (SEZ) refinery.
Nominal capacity of SPV power plant (GWp) to 17.06
be established for supplying electricity to the
electrolyser/grid
Estimated annual electricity generation by the SPV 27364.26
power plant (GWh)
Performance ratio of SPV power plant 0.798
Useful electricity generated by SPV power plant 4.4
(kWh/kWp/day)
Monthly average electricity generated by SPV power 2280.35
plant (GWh)
Highest monthly (January) electricity generated by 2754.93
SPV power plant (GWh)
Minimum monthly (July) electricity generated by SPV 1460.76
power plant (GWh)
Area of SPV modules to be installed (thousand m2) 81541

production units in the refineries as well as in ammonia details given in Table 4 and Table 5. The initial investment
synthesis units. An estimation on investment required by cost for AE system assumed for this purpose is 850 US$/kW. A
these industries has been made considering the capacities total capital investment of about 62.24 and 74.17 billion US$
needed to be installed for AE and SPV power plants as per the is estimated to be made by petroleum refineries and

Fig. 6 e Normalized energy output (a) and performance ratio (b) of SPV power plant to be installed at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
38226 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1

Fig. 7 e Contribution of initial cost for SPV powered green H2 production systems for Jamnagar refinery.

ammonia synthesis industries, respectively. Therefore, a The amount of hydrogen generated from an AE is depen-
total investment of about 136.41 billion US$ will be needed to dent on the capacity factor utilised for that particular system in
establish the SPV powered green hydrogen production units a year. It has been noted that most of the ammonia synthesis
based on AE system for refineries and fertiliser industries in units and petroleum refineries in India operated with a capacity
India. utilisation of 40e90% during FY2019 e 20 [77,82]. Thus, it has
been assumed that the electrolyser will also run with a capacity
(f) Levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH). factor in the range of 30e90%. As shown in Fig. 7, cost of elec-
trolyser has significant impact on the overall initial investment
LCOH for green hydrogen produced using a combination of and therefore it will also decide the LCOH value. In current
AE as hydrogen production system and SPV power plant as a international market, the electrolyser cost is found to be in the
source of green power has been estimated using Eq. (2) for range of 700e1000 $/kW. This is more or less in agreement with
Jamnagar (SEZ), Gujarat and few other locations of petroleum the cost of electrolyser having capacities of about 900 kW and
refineries in India. For estimating cost of electrolyser, a cost higher in India as shown in Fig. 3. Therefore, the LCOH value for
function (y ¼ 1285:4 þ 6833:745  e0:0056x ) obtained from Fig. Jamnagar refineries are calculated for different capacity factors
3 has been used. As expected, this cost function indicates that and electrolysers cost and are shown in Fig. 8. As expected, the
there is economy of the scale with increase in the capacity of LCOH value decreases with increase in the capacity factor.
the electrolyser. Contributions in initial investment cost by Highest LCOH value of 8.64 $/kg H2 is noted for capacity uti-
various components of green hydrogen production system for lisation of 30% and electrolyser cost of 1000 $/kW. For capacity
Jamnagar site are shown in Fig. 7. It is observed that the cost utilisation of 90% and electrolyser cost of 700 $/kW, value of
contributions of SPV power plant, electrolyser, and hydrogen LCOH has been found to be 2.2 $/kg H2.
storage tanks for establishment of such green hydrogen pro- In view of the variation in the solar resource in the different
duction systems are in the ranges of 80e90%, 10e15%, and regions of India and capacity of AE required to be installed,
0.5e1% respectively. LCOH of green hydrogen generation has been estimated for
various regions in India and for different rated capacities of
electrolyser and associated SPV power plants. Capital cost of
the green hydrogen production units including SPV units is
completely dependent on the size of the HGU and SPV power
plants. It is also to be noted that the capacity of SPV power
plant to supply same amount of power to the HGU will be
different in different regions of the country. The capital cost
required for installation of SPV powered AE based green
hydrogen generation system and their corresponding LCOH
values are presented in Table 10. It may be seen from the table
that LCOH is in the range of 4.96e5.78 US$/kg of H2. As ex-
pected, LCOH values are the most attractive in the western
region of the country and least attractive in the eastern and
north-eastern regions. With declining trend in cost of SPV
Fig. 8 e LCOH value for Jamnagar (SEZ) refinery depending power plants, the LCOH values for green hydrogen are ex-
on the capacity factor and electrolyser cost. pected to decline further in the coming years.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1 38227

Table 10 e LCOH for green H2 generation for various regions in India.

Location in India City and State Electrolyser capacity SPV capacity Capital cost LCOH (US$/kg)a
(Nm3/h) (GW) (Billion US$)
North & Central Bhatinda, Punjab 112000 2.92 1.9 5.07
Panipat, Haryana 283000 7.26 4.72 5.00
South Kochi, Kerala 215000 5.9 3.80 5.26
Cauvery Basin, Tamil Nadu 100000 2.69 1.73 5.17
East & North-East Haldia, West Bengal 133500 3.71 2.38 5.30
Numaligarh, Assam 62000 1.93 1.22 5.78
West Mumbai (HPCL), Maharashtra 42000 1.09 0.71 5.04
Jamnagar (SEZ), Gujarat 673000 17.06 11.11 4.96
a
Considering 850 $/kW electrolyser cost and 50% capacity factor.

Table 11 e Comparison of cost of hydrogen produced by various process and their capital cost [54].
Process Feedstock Energy source Capital cost Hydrogen cost
(million US$) (US$/kg)
SMR NG Fossil fuel 180.7 2.08
SMR + CCS NG Fossil fuel 226.4 2.27
Gasification Coal Fossil fuel 435.9 1.34
Gasification + CCS Coal Fossil fuel 545.6 1.63
Biomass gasification Woody biomass Biomass 6.4e149.3 1.77e2.05
Direct bio-photolysis Water + algae Solar 50 US$/m2 2.13
Dark fermentation Organic biomass e e 2.57
Photo fermentation Organic biomass Solar e 2.83
SPV electrolysis e California, USA Water (alkaline) SPV e 6.22a
SPV electrolysis - Belgium Water (alkaline) SPV + Wind + grid 1.37 12.23b,e
SPV electrolysis e Townsville, Australia Water (alkaline) SPV e 3.93c
SPV electrolysis e Palm springs, CA, USA Water (alkaline) SPV e 3.71c
SPV electrolysis e Port Hedland, Australia Water (alkaline) SPV e 3.38c
SPV electrolysis e Fukushima, Japan Water (alkaline) SPV e 4.72c
SPV electrolysis e Calama, Chile Water (alkaline) SPV e 3.60c
SPV electrolysis e Caceres, Spain Water (alkaline) SPV e 4.07c
SPV electrolysis e India Water (alkaline) SPV 707e11115 4.96e5.78d
a
[99].
b
[100].
c
[101].
d
This study.
e
1 ¼ 1.19 US$ (conversion factor).

The values of LCOH obtained in this study are comparable Jamnagar (SEZ), Gujarat refinery, around 14536.8 kL/day of
with the cost of hydrogen production from SMR and gasifica- water will be needed.
tion processes that have been reported in the literature, which As per Central Water Commission (CWC) of India, water
are shown in Table 11. The LCOH values found in this study tariff is around 0.34 US$/kL in the state of Gujarat [102].
are lower than the other reported values for alkaline elec- Annual consumption of water for hydrogen production in
trolysis processes [99e101]. This is mostly due to the differ- Jamnagar (SEZ) refinery will be around 5.3 billion with an
ences between the considerations of the capital cost of these annual water bill of around US$ 1.8 million. Water resources
studies. Moreover, in the present study the cost of land has of India are already constrained and with increase in de-
not been taken into account. The capacity of the green mand for water required for green hydrogen production, the
hydrogen production facility would also have an impact on availability of water would get adversely impacted further
the LCOH value. [103].

(g) Water requirement. (h) Potential capacity of AE for petroleum refineries and
ammonia synthesis units.
Electrolytic hydrogen production system will need supply
of water as one of the inputs. The total amount of water As per the results presented in Tables 4 and 5, the total
needed for the hydrogen generation through electrolysis will potential capacity of the AE needed to be set up in the petro-
depend upon the total amount of hydrogen generated. For an leum refineries and ammonia synthesis units for production
electrolyser of 673000 Nm3/h capacity which is needed for of green hydrogen is estimated to 3627800 Nm3/h (10.85 GW)
38228 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1

and 4319000 Nm3/h (12.92 GW), respectively, with individual may provide a policy framework for making a transition to
capacity of the electrolyser required to established at indi- production of green hydrogen by the petroleum refineries and
vidual refinery and ammonia synthesis unit given in Tables 4 ammonia synthesis units in the coming years.
and 5. Increased demand for AE in India for green hydrogen
production is likely to create new opportunities for R&D and
creation of manufacturing infrastructure for electrolysers and Author contribution
other system components.
Study conception: MRN; Acquisition of data: JM, MRN, PJ, RS;
(i) CO2 emission avoided. Simulation, calculation and analysis: JM, MRN; Interpretation
of data: JM, MRN; Drafting of manuscript: JM, MRN; Critical
It has been reported that around 9 kg CO2/kg H2 is released revision: CB and AKT.
in SMR processes [104]. This amount of CO2 is typically vented
out into the atmosphere while collecting the useful hydrogen
gas. However, with recent coupling of SMR with CCS in the Declaration of competing interest
modern SMR plants, emission of CO2 could be reduced
considerably. These SMR plants use physical adsorption The authors declare that they have no known competing
technology known as pressure swing adsorption (PSA) units to financial interests or personal relationships that could have
adsorb the generated CO2. Green hydrogen production in place appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
of the existing SMR processes could help in mitigating CO2
emission considerably.
Considering only Jamnagar (SEZ) refinery, it can be esti-
mated that around 4.76 MT of CO2 emission per year could be
Acknowledgements
avoided. Similarly, from all the refineries and ammonia plants
The authors are thankful to the Ministry of New and Renew-
around 25.7 MTA and 30.6 MTA of CO2 emissions, respectively,
able Energy India, GoI for supporting a project entitled “Setting
could be avoided, if green hydrogen production is adopted
Up of a Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen Energy at National
instead of SMR processes.
Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gwal Pahari, Haryana” to NISE
under which a part of this study was undertaken. The authors
also thank Fertilisers Association of India (FAI), Ministry of
Conclusions
Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), GoI and Indian manu-
facturers of SPV systems, Technip energies, and electrolyser
Among various industrial applications of hydrogen, petro-
for providing some data that has been used in this study for
leum refineries and ammonia synthesis units are the principal
analysis.
producers as well as consumers of hydrogen at global level, a
trend which is equally applicable in India too. Green
hydrogen, produced by splitting water in electrolyser using references
RES is fast emerging as one of the pathways for decarbonising
these industries. A total installed hydrogen production ca-
pacity of 6.31 MTA based on reformation of fossil fuels existed [1] Satyapal S, Petrovic J, Thomas G. Gassing up with hydrogen.
Sci Am 2007;296:80e7.
in the petroleum refineries and ammonia synthesis units in
[2] Remington P. A monument honoring the invention of the
India as on 01.04.2020. This represents more than 8% of the
balloon. Metrop Mus Art Bull 1944;2:241e8.
global capacity. Technically, it is feasible to replace grey [3] Wisniak J. Catalytic hydrogenation. Indian J Chem Technol
hydrogen presently used by these industries by green 2005;12:232e43. https://doi.org/nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/
hydrogen produced using electrolysers powered by electricity 123456789/8601.
generated using RES. For replacing existing HGU with green [4] Leigh GJ. Haber-Bosch and other industrial processes. In:
hydrogen, there is a potential for installation of AE of aggre- Smith BE, Richards RL, Newton WE, editors. Catalysts for
nitrogen fixation: nitrogenases, relevant chemical models,
gate capacity of about 7.95 million Nm3/h (around 23.79 GW) in
and commercial processes. Kluwer Academic Publishers;
the petroleum refineries and ammonia synthesis units in 2004. p. 33e54.
India. SPV power plants of about 211 GWp will have to be [5] Vogt ETC, Whiting GT, Dutta Chowdhury A,
established for fully powering the green hydrogen production Weckhuysen BM. Zeolites and zeotypes for oil and gas
systems of these industries. Establishing infrastructure for conversion. In: Friederike CJ, editor. Advances in catalysis,
green hydrogen will entail an estimated investment of about vol. 58; 2015. p. 143e314. https://doi.org/10.1016/
136.41 billion US$ thereby not only helping in creating bs.acat.2015.10.001.
[6] Barreto L, Makihira A, Riahi K. The hydrogen economy in
manufacturing infrastructure but also new jobs. LCOH of
the 21st century: a sustainable development scenario. Int J
green hydrogen production by these industries have been Hydrogen Energy 2003;28:267e84. https://doi.org/10.1016/
found to be competitive as it is in the range of 2.2e8.64 US$/kg S0360-3199(02)00074-5.
of H2. Therefore, LCOH of green H2 would not be stumbling [7] Mueller-Langer F, Tzimas E, Kaltschmitt M, Peteves S.
block for making a switch over from grey/blue hydrogen. By Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen production
switching over to complete green hydrogen production in processes for the hydrogen economy for the short and
medium term. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2007;32:3797e810.
these industries, CO2 emissions of about 56.3 MTA could be
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2007.05.027.
avoided. It is expected that launching of NMH in India in 2021
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1 38229

[8] To€ pler J, Lehmann J. Hydrogen and fuel cells - technologies resources in Algeria. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2017;42:1383e95.
and market perspective. New York, Dordrecht, London: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.07.214.
Springer - Verlag Berling Heidelberg; 2012. https://doi.org/ [25] Gondal IA, Masood SA, Khan R. Green hydrogen production
10.1016/C2009-0-63881-2. potential for developing a hydrogen economy in Pakistan.
[9] Nicita A, Maggio G, Andaloro APF, Squadrito G. Green Int J Hydrogen Energy 2018;43:6011e39. https://doi.org/
hydrogen as feedstock: financial analysis of a photovoltaic- 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.01.113.
powered electrolysis plant. Int J Hydrogen Energy [26] Sayedin F, Maroufmashat A, Sattari S, Elkamel A, Fowler M.
2020;45:11395e408. https://doi.org/10.1016/ Optimization of Photovoltaic Electrolyzer Hybrid systems;
j.ijhydene.2020.02.062. Taking into account the effect of climate conditions. Energy
[10] Ramachandran R, Menon RK. An overview of industrial uses Convers Manag 2016;118:438e49. https://doi.org/10.1016/
of hydrogen. Int J Hydrogen Energy 1998;23:593e8. https:// j.enconman.2016.04.021.
doi.org/10.1016/s0360-3199(97)00112-2. [27] Lee B, Chae H, Choi NH, Moon C, Moon S, Lim H. Economic
[11] International Energy Agency (IEA). The future of hydrogen. evaluation with sensitivity and profitability analysis for
2019. Paris. hydrogen production from water electrolysis in Korea. Int J
[12] International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Hydrogen: Hydrogen Energy 2017;42:6462e71. https://doi.org/10.1016/
a renewable energy perspective. 2019. Abu Dhabi. j.ijhydene.2016.12.153.
[13] Acar C, Dincer I. Review and evaluation of hydrogen [28] Genç G, Çelik M, Serdar Genç M. Cost analysis of wind-
production options for better environment. J Clean Prod electrolyzer-fuel cell system for energy demand in Pnarbas‚-
2019;218:835e49. https://doi.org/10.1016/ Kayseri. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2012;37:12158e66. https://
j.jclepro.2019.02.046. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2012.05.058.
[14] Armijo J, Philibert C. Flexible production of green hydrogen [29] Dincer I, Acar C. Review and evaluation of hydrogen
and ammonia from variable solar and wind energy: case production methods for better sustainability. Int J Hydrogen
study of Chile and Argentina. Int J Hydrogen Energy Energy 2014;40:11094e111. https://doi.org/10.1016/
2020;45:1541e58. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.ijhydene.2014.12.035.
j.ijhydene.2019.11.028. [30] Ghribi D, Khelifa A, Diaf S, Belhamel M. Study of hydrogen
[15] Kakoulaki G, Kougias I, Taylor N, Dolci F, Moya J, Ja€ ger- production system by using PV solar energy and PEM
Waldau A. Green hydrogen in Europe e a regional electrolyser in Algeria. Int J Hydrogen Energy
assessment: substituting existing production with 2013;38:8480e90. https://doi.org/10.1016/
electrolysis powered by renewables. Energy Convers Manag j.ijhydene.2012.09.175.
2021;228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.113649. [31] Mert BD, Ekinci F, Demirdelen T. Effect of partial shading
[16] Norouzi N, Talebi S. An overview on the green petroleum conditions on off-grid solar PV/Hydrogen production in high
production. Chem Rev Lett 2020;7:9e15. https://doi.org/ solar energy index regions. Int J Hydrogen Energy
10.22034/crl.2020.222515.1041. 2019;44:27713e25. https://doi.org/10.1016/
[17] Zhang H, Wang L, Van herle J, Mare chal F, Desideri U. j.ijhydene.2019.09.011.
Techno-economic comparison of green ammonia [32] Gutierrez-Martı́n F, Amodio L, Pagano M. Hydrogen
production processes. Appl Energy 2020;259:114135. https:// production by water electrolysis and off-grid solar PV. Int J
doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.114135. Hydrogen Energy 2021;46:29038e48. https://doi.org/10.1016/
[18] Hosseini SE, Wahid MA. Hydrogen production from j.ijhydene.2020.09.098.
renewable and sustainable energy resources: promising [33] Touili S, Alami Merrouni A, El Hassouani Y, illah Amrani A,
green energy carrier for clean development. Renew Sustain Rachidi S. Analysis of the yield and production cost of large-
Energy Rev 2016;57:850e66. https://doi.org/10.1016/ scale electrolytic hydrogen from different solar
j.rser.2015.12.112. technologies and under several Moroccan climate zones. Int
[19] Chaparro AM, Soler J, Escudero MJ, De Ceballos EML, J Hydrogen Energy 2020;45:26785e99. https://doi.org/
Wittstadt U, Daza L. Data results and operational 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.07.118.
experience with a solar hydrogen system. J Power Sources [34] International Energy Agency (IEA). Hydrogen. 2020. Paris.
2005;144:165e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/ [35] Bandyopadhyay S. Renewable targets for India. Clean
j.jpowsour.2004.12.044. Technol Environ Policy 2017;19:293e4. https://doi.org/
[20] Olateju B, Kumar A, Secanell M. A techno-economic 10.1007/s10098-017-1335-z.
assessment of large scale wind-hydrogen production with [36] Global Wind Energy Council. Indian Wind Energy: a brief
energy storage in Western Canada. Int J Hydrogen Energy outlook. 2016.
2016;41:8755e76. https://doi.org/10.1016/ [37] Charles Rajesh Kumar J, Majid MA. Renewable energy for
j.ijhydene.2016.03.177. sustainable development in India: current status, future
[21] Ayodele TR, Munda JL. Potential and economic viability of prospects, challenges, employment, and investment
green hydrogen production by water electrolysis using wind opportunities. Energy Sustain Soc 2020;10:1e36. https://
energy resources in South Africa. Int J Hydrogen Energy doi.org/10.1186/s13705-019-0232-1.
2019;44:17669e87. https://doi.org/10.1016/ [38] Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of
j.ijhydene.2019.05.077. India. Physical progress. https://mnre.gov.in/the-ministry/
[22] Ayodele TR, Munda JL. The potential role of green hydrogen physical-progress.
production in the South Africa energy mix. J Renew Sustain [39] Sumant O, Sharma GJ. India hydrogen market by delivery
Energy 2019;11. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5089958. mode, technology, and end user - global opportunity
[23] Rahmouni S, Settou N, Negrou B, Gouareh A. GIS-based analysis and industry forecast. 2018. p. 2018e25.
method for future prospect of hydrogen demand in the [40] Hall W, Spencer T, Renjith G, Dayal S. The potential role of
Algerian road transport sector. Int J Hydrogen Energy hydrogen in India. 2020. New Delhi.
2016;41:2128e43. https://doi.org/10.1016/ [41] Pawar ND, Heinrichs HU, Winkler C, Heuser P-M, Ryberg SD,
j.ijhydene.2015.11.156. Robinius M, et al. Potential of green ammonia production in
[24] Rahmouni S, Negrou B, Settou N, Dominguez J, Gouareh A. India. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2021;46:27247e67. https://
Prospects of hydrogen production potential from renewable doi.org/j.ijhydene.2021.05.203.
38230 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1

[42] Nouni MR, Jha P, Sarkhel R, Banerjee C, Tripathi AK, [59] Nikolaidis P, Poullikkas A. A comparative overview of
Manna J. Alternative fuels for decarbonisation of road hydrogen production processes. Renew Sustain Energy Rev
transport sector in India: options, present status, 2017;67:597e611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.044.
opportunities, and challenges. Fuel 2021;305:121583. https:// [60] Kalinci Y, Hepbasli A, Dincer I. Biomass-based hydrogen
doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2021.121583. production : a review and analysis. Int J Hydrogen Energy
[43] ET Energy World. India's hunger for natural gas being fed by 2009;34:8799e817. https://doi.org/10.1016/
costly imports amid dismal local production. Economic j.ijhydene.2009.08.078.
Times; 2019. https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes. [61] Lukajtis R, Holowacz I, Kucharska K, Glinka M, Rybarczyk P,
com/news/oil-and-gas/indias-hunger-for-natural-gas- Przyjazny A, et al. Hydrogen production from biomass using
being-fed-by-costly-imports-amid-dismal-local- dark fermentation. Renew Sustain Energy Rev
production/72139192. 2018;91:665e94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.04.043.
[44] Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of [62] Dincer I, AlZahrani AA. Electrolyzers. In: Dincer I, editor.
India. Budget 2021 - 22, Provisions for renewable energy Comprehensive energy systems, vols. 4e5. Elsevier; 2018.
sector. 2021. https://mnre.gov.in/img/documents/uploads/ p. 985e1025. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809597-
file_f-1612941710983.pdf. 3.00442-9.
[45] Rohankar N, Jain AK, Nangia OP, Dwivedi P. A study of [63] Hna 
 t J, Kodým R, Denk K, Paidar M, Zitka J, Bouzek K. Design
existing solar power policy framework in India for viability of a zero-gap laboratory-scale polymer electrolyte
of the solar projects perspective. Renew Sustain Energy Rev membrane alkaline water electrolysis stack. Chem Ing Tech
2016;56:510e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.11.062. 2019;91:821e32. https://doi.org/10.1002/cite.201800185.
[46] PTI Energy World. Solar power tariff dips to all-time low of [64] Kou T, Wang S, Li Y. Perspective on high-rate alkaline water
Rs 1.99/unit. Economic Times; 2020. https://energy. splitting. ACS Mater Lett 2021:224e34. https://doi.org/
economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/renewable/solar- 10.1021/acsmaterialslett.0c00536.
power-tariff-dips-to-all-time-low-of-rs-1-99/unit/79839599. [65] Pletcher D, Li X. Prospects for alkaline zero gap water
[47] Prasad NT. Lowest Tariff of 2 .77/kWh quoted in SECI's 1.2 electrolysers for hydrogen production. Int J Hydrogen
GW wind auction. 2021. Mercom India, https:// Energy 2011;36:15089e104. https://doi.org/10.1016/
mercomindia.com/seci-wind-auction-tranche-x-results/. j.ijhydene.2011.08.080.
[48] Rosen MA, Scott DS. Comparative efficiency assessments [66] Carmo M, Fritz DL, Mergel J, Stolten D. A comprehensive
for a range of hydrogen production processes. Int J review on PEM water electrolysis. Int J Hydrogen Energy
Hydrogen Energy 1998;23:653e9. 2013;38:4901e34. https://doi.org/10.1016/
[49] Turner JA. Sustainable hydrogen production. Science j.ijhydene.2013.01.151.
2004;305:972e4. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1103197. [67] Buttler A, Spliethoff H. Current status of water electrolysis
[50] Dawood F, Anda M, Shafiullah GM. Hydrogen production for for energy storage, grid balancing and sector coupling via
energy: an overview. Int J Hydrogen Energy power-to-gas and power-to-liquids: a review. Renew
2020;45:3847e69. https://doi.org/10.1016/ Sustain Energy Rev 2018;82:2440e54. https://doi.org/
j.ijhydene.2019.12.059. 10.1016/j.rser.2017.09.003.
[51] Velazquez Abad A, Dodds PE. Green hydrogen [68] Utgikar V, Thiesen T. Life cycle assessment of high
characterisation initiatives: definitions, standards, temperature electrolysis for hydrogen production via
guarantees of origin, and challenges. Energy Pol nuclear energy. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2006;31:939e44.
2020;138:111300. https://doi.org/10.1016/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2005.07.001.
j.enpol.2020.111300. [69] Dancuart LP, De Haan R, De Klerk A. Processing of primary
[52] Borgschulte A, Zuttel A. Hydrogen production from coal and Fischer-Tropsch products. In: Steynberg A, Dry M, editors.
hydrocarbons. In: Zuttel A, Borgschulte A, Schlapbach L, Studies in surface science and catalysis, vol. 152. Elsevier
editors. Hydrogen as a future energy carrier. Weinheim, B.V.; 2004. p. 482e532. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0167-
Germany: WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA; 2008. 2991(04)80463-4.
[53] Drennen TE, Rosthal JE. Hydrogen production. In: [70] Alves JJ, Towler GP. Analysis of refinery hydrogen
Drennen TE, Rosthal JE, editors. Pathways to a hydrogen distribution systems. Ind Eng Chem Res 2002;41:5759e69.
future. Oxford, UK: Elsevier; 2008. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie010558v.
[54] Kayfeci M, Keçebas‚ A, Bayat M. Hydrogen production. In: [71] Lafleur A. Use and optimization of hydrogen at oil
Calise F, D'Accadia MD, Santarelli M, Lanzini A, Ferrero D, refineries. DOE H2@Scale Work., University of Houston;
editors. Solar hydrogen production: processes, system and 2017.
technologies; 2019. p. 45e83. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0- [72] Kyriakou V, Garagounis I, Vourros A, Vasileiou E,
12-814853-2.00003-5. Stoukides M. An electrochemical Haber-Bosch process.
[55] Singh S, Jain S, Ps V, Tiwari AK, Nouni MR, Pandey JK, et al. Joule 2020;4:142e58. https://doi.org/10.1016/
Hydrogen : a sustainable fuel for future of the transport j.joule.2019.10.006.
sector. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2015;51:623e33. https:// [73] Humphreys J, Lan R, Tao S. Development and recent
doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.06.040. progress on ammonia synthesis catalysts for HabereBosch
[56] Holladay JD, Hu J, King DL, Wang Y. An overview of process. Adv Energy Sustain Res 2021;2:2000043. https://
hydrogen production technologies. Catal Today doi.org/10.1002/aesr.202000043.
2009;139:244e60. https://doi.org/10.1016/ [74] Modak JM. Haber process for ammonia synthesis.
j.cattod.2008.08.039. Resonance 2011;1159e67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-
[57] Kothari R, Buddhi D, Sawhney RL. Comparison of 011-0130-0.
environmental and economic aspects of various hydrogen [75] Gorbovskiy K, Kazakov A, Norov A, Malyavin A,
production methods. Renew Sustain Energy Rev Mikhaylichenko A. Properties of complex ammonium
2008;12:553e63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2006.07.012. nitrate-based fertilizers depending on the degree of
[58] Abbas HF, Daud WMAW. Hydrogen production by methane phosphoric acid ammoniation. Int J Ind Chem
decomposition : a review. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2017;8:315e27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40090-017-0121-4.
2010;35:1160e90. https://doi.org/10.1016/ [76] The right to information act. Gazette of India 2005; 2005.
j.ijhydene.2009.11.036. https://rti.gov.in/rti-act.pdf.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 2 1 2 e3 8 2 3 1 38231

[77] Fertiliser Association of India (Personally via email). [92] Engineers India Limited. Environmental impact assessment
[78] Ursúa A, Gandı́a LM, Sanchis P. Hydrogen production from study for proposed 9 MMTPA Cauvery basin refinery at
water electrolysis: current status and future trends. Proc Nagapattinam. 2019. Tamil Nadu.
IEEE 2012;100:410e26. https://doi.org/10.1109/ [93] Environmental clearance by Govt. of India to NRL. http://
JPROC.2011.2156750. environmentclearance.nic.in/auth/FORM_A_PDF.aspx?cat_
[79] Meteonorm 8. https://meteonorm.com/en/meteonorm- id¼IA/AS/IND2/27791/2015&pid¼New.
version-8. [94] Linde. Linde engineering division in India. Linde. https://
[80] Rivard E, Trudeau M, Zaghib K. Hydrogen storage for www.linde-engineering.com/en/images/LEI_1_1_e_12_
mobility: a review. Materials 2019;12. https://doi.org/ 150dpi_tcm19-97150.pdf.
10.3390/ma12121973. [95] Gupta S. Nayara refinery expansion evolving a different low
[81] Wulf C, Kaltschmitt M. Environmental impacts of hydrogen cost- high return approach. https://www.linkedin.com/
 lu TN, editors.
use in vehicles. In: Ball M, Basile A, Vezirog pulse/nayara-refinery-expansion-evolving-different-low-
Compendium of hydrogen energy. Hydrogen use, safety and cost-sanjay-gupta.
the hydrogen economy, vol. 4. Elsevier Ltd.; 2016. p. 337e58. [96] Giri NC. Analysis and designing of 1 MW SPV gross metering
https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-1-78242-364-5.00015-4. power plant in Odisha. J Emerg Technol Innov Res
[82] Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC).. Installed 2019;6:608e19.
refinery capacity. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, [97] International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Green
Govt. of India 2020. https://www.ppac.gov.in/content/146_ hydrogen cost reduction: scaling up electrolysers to meet
1_ProductionPetroleum.aspx. the 1.5 C climate goal. Abu dhabi. 2020.
[83] Nichols L. Refining overview: leading nations by capacity. [98] Institute for Sustainable Process Technology. Public
In: Hydrocarbon processing. Gale Academic OneFile; Sept. Summary - integration of gigawatt scale electrolyser in five
2014. industrial clusters. Groen van Prinstererlaanvol. 37. The
[84] Tewatia RK, Chanda TK. Trends in fertilizer nitrogen Netherlands: JN Amersfoort; 2020. p. 3818.
production and consumption in India. In: Abrol YP, [99] Grimm A, de Jong WA, Kramer GJ. Renewable hydrogen
Adhya TK, Aneja VP, Raghuram N, Pathak H, Kulshrestha U, production: a techno-economic comparison of
et al., editors. The Indian nitrogen assessment: sources of photoelectrochemical cells and photovoltaic-electrolysis.
reactive nitrogen, environmental and climate effects, Int J Hydrogen Energy 2020;45:22545e55. https://doi.org/
management options, and policies. Elsevier Inc.; 2017. 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.06.092.
p. 45e56. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-811836-8.00004-5. [100] Viktorsson L, Heinonen JT, Skulason JB, Unnthorsson R. A
[85] Units. Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd; 2021. http:// step towards the hydrogen economy - a life cycle cost
fertcorpindia.nic.in/index.html. analysis of a hydrogen refueling station. Energies
[86] Sharma VP, Thaker H. Economic policy reforms and Indian 2017;10:1e15. https://doi.org/10.3390/en10060763.
fertilizer industry. Indian Institute of Management [101] Yates J, Daiyan R, Patterson R, Egan R, Amal R, Ho-Baille A,
Ahmedabad; 2010. et al. Techno-economic analysis of hydrogen electrolysis
[87] New Indian express, revival plan of talcher fertiliser plant in from off-grid stand-alone photovoltaics incorporating
odisha's angul on fast track. 2020. https://www. uncertainty analysis. Cell Rep Phys Sci 2020;1:100209.
newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2020/jan/20/revival- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2020.100209.
plan-of-talcher-fertiliser-plant-in-odishas-angul-on-fast- [102] India's industrial water rates and supply. India Brief; 2018.
track-2092067.html. https://www.india-briefing.com/news/industrial-water-
[88] Document of the World Bank. Project performance audit rates-india-supply-16547.html/.
report: India - Nangal fertilizer expansion project. 1981. [103] Central Ground Water Board. Ministry of jal shakti, Govt. of
[89] L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering. Integrated EPCC services India. 2021.
onshore projects e track record. https://corpwebstorage. [104] Muradov N. Low-carbon production of hydrogen from fossil
blob.core.windows.net/media/41977/integrated-epcc- fuels. In: Subramani V, Basile A, Vezirog lu TN, editors.
services-onshore-track-record-lt-hydrocarbon- Compendium of hydrogen energy: hydrogen production
engineering-brochure-2018.pdf. and purification. Elsevier Ltd; Woodhead Publishing Series
[90] Technip energies (personally via email sent by an engineer) in Energy; 2015. p. 489e522. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-1-
[91] Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited. CPCL process 78242-361-4.00017-0.
information. https://www.cpcl.co.in/business/others/
operations/#process.