(REU) RELIANCE INDIA MOVES TO BLUE H2

Labourers rest in front of an advertisement of Reliance Industries Limited at a construction site in Mumbai, India, March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/File Photo

NEW DELHI, Feb 12 (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS) plans to produce blue hydrogen at a "competitive cost" of about $1.2-$1.5 per kg as it repurposes its $4-billion gasification assets, the conglomerate said in a presentation.

Owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Reliance has in the past year unveiled plans to reduce its dependence on its mainstay oil-to-chemicals business and invested in clean energy projects to burnish its green credentials. read more

Reliance will initially use syngas, produced by petcoke gasifies, to make blue hydrogen for it Jamnagar complex in western Gujarat state, until green hydrogen's cost comes down, it said in the presentation released late on Friday.

Hydrogen produced from natural gas and which eliminates emissions by capturing and storing the emitted carbon is called blue hydrogen. Green Hydrogen is extracted from water using electrolysis powered by renewable energy.

"In the interim, till cost of green hydrogen comes down, RIL can be the first mover to establish a hydrogen ecosystem, with minimal incremental investment, in India," it said.

Ambani, who wants to move his group to net-zero carbon emissions by 2035, last month announced plans to invest 5.95 trillion rupees ($79 billion) to set up green energy projects including a 100 gigawatt renewable energy power plant. read more - Reuters - link - Nidhi Verma - link - more like this - link