Mixing 30 per cent hydrogen with natural gas can bring down carbon emissions from power generation by 10 per cent. This is a significant reduction, but still not much compared to what can be achieved by going completely clean with green hydrogen. To reach that point the national thermal power generation company has adopted a phasewise approach, where it will first use natural gas and hydrogen together.
The path to go green has started in the grey area for NTPC, which awarded contracts for India's first green hydrogen microgrid project in 2021. It has also inked pacts with major firms such as Mitsubishi, Siemens and GE Gas Power, to bring down carbon emissions in India.
The efforts are the need of the hour for India, which still relies significantly on fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas to meet its power demand. The rising prices of natural gas are also creating the need for turning towards an alternative source of energy for powerr generation.