New Delhi: Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) is exploring the possibility of storing natural gas and Green Hydrogen in Bina, Madhya Pradesh, and salt caverns in Rajasthan’s Bikaner as part of a move to diversify its operations beyond crude oil, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) LR Jain told Energy Watch. In an interview with Energy Watch, Jain said that feasibility studies are currently underway and are expected to be completed in the next three months.
The government’s special purpose vehicle (SPV), which manages India’s strategic petroleum reserves, is studying the possibility of creating a 5-Million Tonne (MT) strategic reserve in Bikaner’s salt caverns and a 1.5-MT strategic reserve in Bina. State-run Engineers India Limited (EIL) is doing the feasibility studies for both the locations and is studying the possibility of storing gas.
Several countries across the globe use salt caverns to store natural gas, like the United States, Canada, France and Germany. Nine percent of the natural gas stored underground worldwide is held in salt caverns. If proved feasible, Bikaner’s salt cavern strategic reserve would be the first-of-its-kind for India and would also be India’s first gas reserve.
“So, once gas comes, Hydrogen can also come. Since, Rajasthan is full of potential for solar power generation. We can make Green Hydrogen from solar. Hence, Hydrogen could be the next step,” Jain said.
ISPRL, which is a government-owned SPV, currently has three strategic petroleum reserves with a combined capacity of 5.33 MT at Vishakhapatnam, Mangaluru and Padur. These are excavated rock caverns and they hold crude oil only. In addition to ISPRL, Indian oil marketing companies (OMCs) also maintain crude oil reserves. On combining the two, India stores crude oil sufficient to meet its demand for fuel for 74 days. This is significant because India meets around 88 percent of its crude oil requirements through imports and strategic reserves can ensure energy availability and security in times of emergencies and global supply shocks.
However, India does not have any strategic natural gas reserve. With the International Energy Agency (IEW) forecasting a 60 percent growth in India’s natural gas demand by 2030, it makes sense to create a strategic reserve for gas, which can also be used to store Hydrogen later.
