Refineries that use hydrogen to remove sulphur from fuels, now tendering for green hydrogen supply, and gas utilities testing hydrogen in their networks.
Refineries use hydrogen in hydrotreaters and hydrocrackers to clean and upgrade fuels. Today they make it from natural gas or naphtha on site. Green hydrogen is piped in from an electrolyser plant built next to the refinery on a 25-year build-own-operate contract.
Refineries are the second ready-made market. SIGHT Mode 2B awarded 30,000 tonnes a year for IOCL, BPCL, HPCL and Numaligarh refineries. Prices fell fast: ₹397/kg incl. GST at IOCL Panipat (May 2025), ₹328/kg ex-GST at HPCL Visakh, and ₹279/kg at Numaligarh (Feb 2026).
Refiners pay a premium for a small share of their hydrogen; the contract value sits with the developer. Volumes are small next to each refinery's needs (Panipat's 10,000 tonnes covers part of an 84,000-tonne expansion need) until a mandate or carbon price forces more.