gail: Brookfield-backed PIL, GAIL sign initial pact for hydrogen collaboration

New Delhi, Brookfield Asset Management-based Pipeline Infrastructure Ltd has signed a pact with state-owned for jointly developing a hydrogen-based ecosystem in India. The MoU aims at collectively exploring the feasibility, desirability and viability of hydrogen as a source of energy and thus build a partnership between the companies, official sources said.

Pipeline Infrastructure Limited (PIL) is owned by India Infrastructure Trust, an infrastructure investment trust sponsored by Brookfield Asset Management, a global leader in alternative asset management and one of the largest investors in real assets.

PIL owns and operates a 48-inch diameter, 1,480 km long Kakinada to Bharuch gas pipeline that connects major domestic supply hubs on the east to key demand centers in the west. It is a vital link in India’s national gas grid.

GAIL is India’s largest gas transporting and marketing company. It owns about two-thirds of truck pipelines.

Pipelines are a critical element in transporting hydrogen, a zero-carbon emitting energy source that has caught the fancy of the world.

Several Indian firms including GAIL have announced plans to make hydrogen.

Aayushi Agarwal, Assistant Vice President (Strategic Planning & New Initiatives), PIL and Ashu Singhal, Executive Director, GAIL signed the MoU in the presence of PIL CEO Akhil Mehrotra and GAIL Director (Business Development) M V Iyer.

PIL and GAIL will explore various options for transportation, using the existing natural gas pipeline and the end-use of hydrogen, they said.

India as a nation is at a very nascent stage with respect to hydrogen as an energy source. The focus at this time should be on exploring the production, transmission, and distribution of hydrogen for making it viable to be able to contribute towards fulfilling India’s COP26 commitment.