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India’s first hydrogen fuelling station inaugurated

11th October 2005 — India’s first hydrogen fuelling station was officially opened on Sunday 9 th October by Mr Mani Shanker Aiyar, Honourable Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj. This is the first phase of India’s development of its Hydrogen Economy. The facility, a Hydrogen/Compressed Natural Gas (HCNG) blend and pure hydrogen dispensing station, is located at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s R&D centre, in Faridabad, just north of New Delhi. The event was hosted by Mr Sarthak Behuria, Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

The fuelling station, owned by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), has been supplied by Air Products and its Indian joint venture company INOX Air Products Ltd. Air Products and INOX won the contract after an open tendering process, which was in place from the start. The equipment consists of a HCNG mixing unit, and dual dispensing unit which has the ability to fuel vehicles with either a HCNG blend or with pure hydrogen.

The unit will enable IOCL to reduce the carbon and NO X emissions from compressed natural gas vehicles, by adding hydrogen to natural gas. IOCL plans to run at least four vehicles as part of its test programme. This installation is the first step towards building an infrastructure required for pure hydrogen based fuelling systems.

Air Products and INOX Air Products were thanked for the supply of the system in Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar’s inaugural address. “I am grateful to the branch in London and its Indian team to have participated in this unique and ground breaking project at IOCL R&D.”

IOCL commented “Air Products responded to our international tender for the fuelling system with the most comprehensive offer which, after detailed evaluation, met all IOCL’s requirements. This, taken together with Air Products’ global leadership in hydrogen and its worldwide references for HCNG blending systems, resulted in IOCL awarding Air Products the opportunity to supply the first Indian hydrogen, CNG blender, dispenser system to IOCL’s R&D facility in Faridabad.” IOCL added: “The system was successfully commissioned by Air Products and its Indian partner INOX Air Products.”

“Air Products has proven experience in fuelling with HCNG - most notably as part of the Las Vegas Energy Station and as part of the project with the University of California Davies”, commented Ian Williamson, Manager, Future Energy Solutions Europe. “The Hydrogen Fuel Cell team benefits from worldwide experience and has the benefit of local understanding from our local partner INOX Air Products. We are now looking forward, together with INOX Air Products, to playing our full part in the ambitious plans India has for its hydrogen economy”.

As a major player in the future hydrogen economy and part of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE), India has already taken a lead in to the development of alternative fuels. For example, all public transport vehicles in the city of New Delhi are stipulated to run on Compressed Natural Gas with the aim to improve local air quality. It is a project in which Indian Oil Corporation Limited is heavily involved.
 
 

Note to the Editor:

About INOX Air Products
Head-quartered in Mumbai, INOX Air Products Ltd is one of the largest manufacturers of industrial gases in India with 29 plants spread throughout the country. The company has a workforce of approximately 1,100 and has a turnover in excess of Rs. 170 crore.

INOX Air Products Ltd manufactures and supplies industrial gases including Oxygen, Nitrogen, Helium, Carbon Dioxide, Hydrogen, and speciality gas mixtures throughout India. The company specialises in providing products, technologies and services to a vast cross-section of industries including the chemical, pharmaceutical, metals, steel, food, waste water treatment, cement, glass, textiles, paint, medical and pulp and paper sectors, to name but a few. INOX Air Products Ltd is a joint venture company owned jointly by the Jain family (former owners of the Industrial Oxygen Company) and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD). All Air Products activities in India are channelled through this company.

Air Products and Hydrogen
Air Products is an industry leader in hydrogen safety and engineering, and a global leader in hydrogen production and distribution, as well as the industry leader in hydrogen fueling stations for clean transportation applications with over 40 installations across the world. In July 2004 in Singapore, Air Products hydrogen fueling technology helped launch the world's first hydrogen filling station at an existing retail gasoline station. In November 2004, Air Products supplied fuelling technology to Shell Hydrogen’s Benning Road facility

in Washington DC. This site became North American’s first-ever hydrogen filling station at an existing retail gasoline site. Earlier, in April 2004, it was announced Air Products would lead a project team in a five-year program funded in part by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) as part of its national "Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project".

For further information on Air Products hydrogen energy, visit www.airproducts.com/h2energy

For further information about EHA activities, visit www.h2euro.org

About Indian Oil Corporation Limited
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil) is the country's largest commercial enterprise, with a sales turnover of Rs. 1,30,203 crore (US$ 29.8 billion) and profits of Rs. 7,005 crore (US$ 1,603 million) for fiscal 2003.

IndianOil is India’s No.1 Company in Fortune's prestigious listing of the world's 500 largest corporations, ranked 189 for the year 2004 based on fiscal 2003 performance. It is also the 19th largest petroleum company in the world. IndianOil has also been adjudged No.1 in petroleum trading among the national oil companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

For further information, please contact:
Guenaelle Holloway, Air Products - Tel +44 1932 249 245 or e-mail: contact

 

 
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