CESC will set up a green hydrogen plant, the first by the RPSG Group flagship, signalling its foray into new forms of energy.
The thermal power producer, which supplies electricity to Calcutta and its suburbs, will build a 10,500 tonne capacity unit on the east coast.
The new venture will be executed by CESC Projects Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of CESC Ltd. The project is going to get a fiscal incentive from the government of India as part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission unveiled in 2022.
Solar Energy Corporation India, a government of India enterprise, selected CESC Projects, for the green hydrogen facility. The investment in the venture could be in the region of Rs 450-500 crore.
Sources in CESC said this is the first of many more projects that the company plans to undertake as part of its green / new energy push. Following the award by SECI, a pre-feasibility report will be prepared for this particular project. It will then approach various state governments to explore setting up the unit.
The company’s foray comes at a time India is aspiring to be a significant consumer and exporter of green hydrogen, a new form of clean energy. SECI has been tasked with identifying projects and awarding them through competitive bidding. In the process, the PSU is going to emerge as an aggregator of green hydrogen and will supply to steel, fertiliser and refinery units.
The aggregate green hydrogen capacity, which SECI is bidding out, stands at 450,000 tonnes per annum. Many Indian energy companies such as JSW, BHEL participated in the tender process where multiple units (minimum 10,000 tonne capacity) will come up.
CESC’s green hydrogen push is yet another sign of a strategic shift being undertaken by the RPSG outfit which had shunned power generation projects for nearly a decade to avoid regulatory risks associated with long gestation projects.
On November 8, the Sanjiv Goenka led board of CESC had announced a ‘substantial investment’ in renewable energy generation of up to 3 giga watt, The Telegraph had reported.
