PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Jan 29: Tata Steel has become the country’s first steel company to demonstrate end-to-end capabilities to develop pipes for the transportation of hydrogen, marking a significant milestone towards achieving the country’s National Hydrogen Mission.
The API X65 ERW pipes processed at Tata Steel’s Khopoli plant, using the steel manufactured at the company’s Kalinganagar plant, successfully achieved all the critical properties required for hydrogen transportation.
Successful testing and certification
The hydrogen qualification tests were carried out at RINA-CSM S.p.A, Italy, a leading approving agency for hydrogen-related testing and characterisation.
The new hydrogen-compliant API X65 grade pipes can be used for the transportation of 100 % pure gaseous hydrogen under high pressure (100 bar).
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Tata Steel’s commitment to clean energy
Prabhat Kumar, Vice President – Marketing & Sales (Flat Products), Tata Steel, said, “Tata Steel has always been at the forefront of developing technologies for manufacturing critical steel grades. The successful testing of the new ERW pipes demonstrates our capabilities to deliver critical physical infrastructure for the energy sector, domestically. We are proud to contribute to India’s National Hydrogen Mission, which by itself is a key component of the country’s ongoing clean energy transition. Tata Steel is proud to be the first Indian steel company to successfully take on this challenge and deliver products to cater to the emerging domestic and global demand for these special grade steel pipes.”
In-house innovation for hydrogen transport
Tata Steel’s Research and Development team has been extensively engaged in developing innovative and sustainable solutions for hydrogen transportation and storage.
In this case, the complete technology development, from the design and development of the hot rolled steel to the pipe manufacturing, was done entirely in-house.
In 2024, Tata Steel also became the first Indian steel company to produce hot-rolled steel for the transportation of gaseous hydrogen.
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National Hydrogen Mission and future demand
National Hydrogen Mission will enable India to build capabilities to produce at least 5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of Green Hydrogen per annum by 2030, with the potential to reach 10 MMT per annum with additional demand for exports which would require substantial investments in generation and transportation.
The demand for steel compliant with hydrogen transportation is expected to start from 2026-27, with the total steel requirement of 350KT spanning over the next 5 to 7 years.
While various mechanisms of hydrogen transportation are available, steel pipelines are considered economically more viable for mass transportation.
