Separator

NLC India to engage Engineers India Limited to set up a Green Hydrogen Unit

Separator
Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd (NLCIL) has awarded a consultancy order to Engineers India Ltd for the construction of a 4 MW Green Hydrogen Plant in the Neyveli area. The project is expected to be completed by the 2024-25 financial year, according to the company's Chairman and Managing Director, Prasanna Kumar. "They (EIL) will be helping us with procuring the electrolyser for the green hydrogen plant. The order is in the temporary stage and the tender will come by March of this financial year", he said.

Presently, NLC has 1.4 GW of renewable capacity and plans to take it to 6 GW by the year 2030. "For that, 2 GW projects are in pipeline. One in the state of Gujarat, one in Rajasthan and one in Tamil Nadu", Kumar said. The green hydrogen project will further add 4 GW to the total renewable capacity. To align its targets with the government's goal in expanding the conventional based energy, the company plans to invest Rs 500 crore in the next 4-5 years for the modernisation and efficiency improvement measures in its existing thermal power plants.

In the April to November period, the company dispatched 6.5 million tonnes of coal, 3.5 million tonnes via railways and the remaining via roadways, the company said. "There were some initial issues in Q1 and Q2 of FY24. Going forward, we hope to achieve the target of 14.4 million tonnes of coal dispatch," the CMD said. Further, the company is currently in talks with certain state-owned power generation companies and central public sector undertakings to provide coal from its Talabira mines. They are also seeking long-term supply contracts until their power plant in Talabira is commissioned in the year 2027-28.

While the company aims at reaching its dispatch targets, it is also hopeful that the e-auction premiums on coal will increase to its benefit. "I expect the e-auction premiums to increase to Rs 2,000-2,400 per tonne due to rising demand for power and coal," Kumar said. The e-auction premiums were at a level of Rs 1,600 per tonne so far in the current financial year on the back of excess supply of coal in the market, according to the company. NLC has set a target of producing 14.4 million tonnes of coal from its Talabira mines and aims at reaching the peak rated of capacity of 20 million tonnes by the end of financial year 2025-26.

The company recently won the North Dhadu coal block in the 7th auction of coal mines conducted by the coal ministry. The company aims to increase its coal production and is currently participating in the ongoing 8th coal auction round to win other blocks. The company's current coal production capacity is 50 million tonnes, but it has set a target to increase it to 82 million tonnes by 2030. The government has been emphasizing the need to enhance the country's coal-based energy to meet the rising power demand. It aims to add 10,000 MW thermal capacity by the end of the current financial year and 80 GW by 2030.