Rs 2-Lakh-Crore For Renewable Energy

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is investing about Rs 2 lakh crore to set up renewable energy sites and green hydrogen plants. The aim? Cut gas flaring to zero to become net-zero by 2038 net-zero by 2038.

The state-owned company, producing about two-thirds of India’s crude oil and about 58 percent of natural gas, has shared a 200-page document delineating its path to net zero emissions. Clean energy projects dominate the document, though it clarifies that the energy bellwether will continue to boost its hydrocarbon output to meet the country’s energy needs.

The breakup of its outlay: Rs 97,000 for 5 GW of renewable energy capacity, green hydrogen, biogas, pump storage plant and offshore wind project; Rs 65,500 by 2035, essentially in a green hydrogen or green ammonia plant and Rs 38,000 crores by 2038, in 1 GW of offshore wind projects. These projects will help the firm offset 9 million tonnes of carbon emissions.

ONGC has announced plans to invest Rs 5,000 crores in technological interventions aimed at eliminating gas flaring by 2030. In the base year of 2021-22, the company released 554 million cubic metres of methane into the atmosphere, primarily as an incidental by-product of oil production or due to the quantity not being economically viable for piping to consumers.

Already a dominant player in offshore oil and gas production with major installations in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, ONGC now aims to install offshore wind turbines to generate 0.5 GW of electricity by 2030 and double that capacity by 2035.

The company is also looking at investing Rs 20,000 crore for setting up 3 GW of pump storage plants to meet electricity requirements when renewable sources like sunlight and wind energy are not available.