Adani Power Takes Up Green Ammonia Combustion Pilot Project At Mundra Plant

As the world leaders converge in the UAE for the COP28 this week to chalk out strategies for climate mitigation, Adani Power announced it has taken up a green ammonia combustion pilot project at its Mundra plant.

As part of the project, the Mundra plant, a large private sector power plant, will co-fire up to 20 per cent green ammonia in the boiler of a conventional coal-fired 330 MW unit, the Adani Group said in a media release.

Green ammonia, produced from green hydrogen, which in turn is produced through electrolysis using renewable energy, would be a feedstock for the boilers.

As ammonia contains no carbon, there is no carbon dioxide emission from its combustion, making it a long-term carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels.

Adani Power has partnered with IHI and Kowa-Japan to deliver the pilot and examine expansion to other Adani Power units and stations as well. Kowa is active in energy-saving and energy-creating products, while IHI is a heavy industry company that has ammonia firing technology.

Combustion tests at IHI’s facility in Japan have begun with a 20 per cent ammonia blend, simulating Mundra Power Station equipment.

“The partners believe that the results will be encouraging enough to implement this solution at the Mundra Power Station once economic parity is achieved between both feedstocks. The Mundra plant is the first location outside of Japan to have been selected for this cutting-edge green initiative,” the Adani Group release said.

The ambitious project has been conceived under the aegis of the Japan-India Clean Energy Partnership (CEP).

“Adani Power is fully committed to reducing its carbon footprint through the adoption of the latest technologies and proactive measures across our business value chain. In furtherance of this vision, we are happy to partner with IHI and Kowa to blend green ammonia for our Mundra plant, which will reduce CO2 emissions. We will continue to integrate cutting-edge technologies increasingly to reduce emissions in the intermediate term,” said Anil Sardana, Managing Director, of Adani Power.

Separately, on Tuesday, the conglomerate’s Adani Total Gas announced a ‘Green Hydrogen Production and Blending Pilot Project’. Adani Total Gas, a leading energy and city gas distribution company, is co-promoted by Adani Group and TotalEnergies.

As part of the project, Adani Total Gas will employ the latest technologies to blend green hydrogen (GH2) with natural gas for over 4,000 residential and commercial customers at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the Adani Group company said in a media release on Tuesday.

GH2 is produced using the electrolysis of water with electricity generated by renewable energy. Hydrogen blending is less carbon-intensive than burning gas but has the same heating capabilities.

The project is expected to be commissioned by the first quarter of 2024-25, and the percentage of green hydrogen will be gradually increased in the blend to up to 8 per cent or more, depending on regulatory approvals, the media release added.

After successfully completing the pilot, hydrogen-blended fuel will be supplied stepwise to larger parts of the city and other licence areas.

Notably, in January this year, the central government approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission, aiming to make India a global hub for such technologies’ production, utilisation, and export. The green hydrogen mission will gradually lead to the decarbonisation of industrial, transport, and energy sectors, and a reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels, among others.

The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP28, will be the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held from November 30 until December 12, 2023, in Dubai.

India, a developing country, is ambitious to become developed by 2047, committed to an ambitious five-part “Panchamrit” pledge at COP26 held in 2021. They included reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, generating half of all energy requirements from renewables, to reducing emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030. India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. Finally, India commits to net-zero emissions by 2070.

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