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Centre launches lndia’s first port-based green hydrogen project at VOC Port

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated India’s first port-based Green Hydrogen Pilot Project at V.O. Chidambaranar (VOC) Port in Tamil Nadu on Friday, marking a milestone in the country’s clean energy transition, according to an official release.

The facility, set up at a cost of Rs 3.87 crore, has a capacity of 10 Nm³ per hour and will generate green hydrogen to power streetlights and an electric vehicle charging station in the port colony. With this, VOC Port has become the first port in the country to produce green hydrogen.

The minister also laid the foundation for a Green Methanol Bunkering and Refuelling Facility with a capacity of 750 m³, to be built at a cost of Rs 35.34 crore, 400 kilowatts (KW) rooftop solar power plant, which takes the port’s total rooftop solar capacity to 1.04 megawatts (MW), the highest among Indian ports, and a Rs 24.5 crore link conveyor connecting Coal Jetty-I to the port stack yard, which will increase efficiency by 0.72 million tons per annum (mtpa).

Foundation stones were also laid for a 6 MW wind farm, a Rs 90 crore multi-cargo berth, a 3.37 km four-lane road, and the Tamil Nadu Maritime Heritage Museum.

Highlighting the growth of Tamil Nadu’s ports, Sonowal said that over the past 11 years, 98 projects worth Rs 93,715 crore have been taken up, of which 50 have been completed, more than Rs 16,000 crore has been invested in these three ports for modernisation and capacity enhancement.

Memorandums of Understanding were signed at the event between VOC Port and the Indian Port Rail and Ropeway Corporation Ltd for rail connectivity to the Outer Harbour project and with NTPC for implementing green mobility initiatives at the port.