The Hydrogen Stream: Reliance Industries to convert existing 5,000 ICE trucks to run on green hydrogen by mid-2024

India’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) plans to convert around 5,000 existing internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered trucks into hydrogen ICE trucks by mid-2024. The company uses these trucks for its internal purposes, reported Autocar Professional. A senior official from RIL told Autocar Professional that close to 6,000 kilograms of hydrogen have been dispensed out of Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar facility where these trucks are currently going through advanced trials.

“We have had near zero downtime in the trials and we have found that H2ICE powered hydrogen trucks are three times more efficient than diesel. We will start introducing these in our fleet before rolling out the entire ecosystem for a hydrogen powered economy,” Autocar Professional quoted a senior official from RIL.

Reliance Industries Ltd has indigenously developed the hydrogen ICE technology solution for heavy-duty trucks together with other technical partners. The company is pursuing the opportunity to create an end-to-end hydrogen ecosystem for mobility.

The President of India has approved the implementation of pilot projects on use of green hydrogen in the shipping sector with a budgetary outlay of INR 115 crore ($13.85 million) till FY 2025-26. This Scheme, launched under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, will support the deployment of green hydrogen and its derivatives as fuel for ship propulsion, including bunkering and refueling, on a pilot basis. The Shipping Corporation of India (SC) or its successor, in case of disinvestment, will be the implementing agency for retrofitting of the existing ships. The creation of bunkers and refueling facilities will be implemented by the agency nominated by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW).

As per the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the Shipping Corporation of India or its successor, in case of disinvestment, will retrofit at least two ships to run on green hydrogen or its derivatives by the year 2027. The Mission also provides for setting up green ammonia bunkers and refueling facilities in at least one port by the year 2025.

These pilot projects will help identify operational issues and gaps in terms of current technology readiness, regulations, implementation methodologies, infrastructure and supply chains. These will serve as valuable inputs for future scaling and commercial deployment of green hydrogen in the shipping sector.

Airbus, Avinor, SAS, Swedavia, and Vattenfall have agreed to evaluate the feasibility of building hydrogen infrastructure at airports in Sweden and Norway. “This is the first time that a feasibility study of this kind covers two countries and more than 50 airports,” said Airbus. The collaboration will focus on hydrogen aircraft concepts and refueling needs, as well as regulatory frameworks.

Lhyfe and SAF+ have agreed to produce e-SAF fuels from green and renewable hydrogen, in order to decarbonize the aviation industry. It is the first announcement of its kind for Lhyfe. “SAF+ brings together a coalition of leading international players from across the aviation value chain,” said the Paris-based green hydrogen company. “In July 2023, the company announced the signature of a memorandum of understanding with the Air France-KLM Group for the supply of second-generation e-SAF fuel, with the first deliveries scheduled for 2030.” Separately, Lhyfe has also announced plans to build a new hydrogen production plant in Brake, Germany.

ManpowerGroup has conducted a study with Cepsa on the potential creation of more than 1.7 million new green jobs across Europe by 2040 due to green hydrogen and biofuels development. They said Spain is expected to lead with 181,000 new jobs, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. The study notes the need for vocational training, workforce mapping tools, and public-private partnerships to address skills gaps, with 60% of the workforce requiring retraining and upskilling to seize these new opportunities.

RINA and Italy’s Gas and Heat have agreed to develop a cargo and fuel gas system for an ammonia-fueled bunker vessel. “Within this agreement, Gas and Heat will develop the basic design of the system and RINA will carry out the compliance assessment of the design,” said RINA.

European Energy has signed an agreement with the Polish municipalities of Barwice and Grzmiąca to explore power-to-X development in Poland. The Danish company said it wants to build a facility to produce e-methanol and set up a regional supply chain for the production of e-methanol, as Poland is one of its key markets.

Everfuel has transferred its ownership in the planned 20 MW Hydrogen Hub Agder electrolyzer to project partner Greenstat Hydrogen in exchange for potential future milestone-based payments for its participation in the development of the project. “This transaction is in line with our realigned strategy with focus on phased development of large-scale electrolyzers in Denmark to meet demand for green hydrogen from large industrial users in Germany and continental Europe,” said Jacob Krogsgaard, the founder and CEO of Everfuel.

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