Bhubaneswar, April 11 : In a significant step toward green growth and industrialization, the Odisha Government on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for exploring the feasibilities of setting up green energy and hydrogen plants in the State. The MoU was signed between Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation ( IPICOL) and BPCL in State Lokseba Bhawan in the presence of a high-level Team led by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, and Development Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena. Senior officers of BPCL led by Chairman and Managing Director of the company Arun Kumar Singh participated in the event. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra said, “Odisha has a high potential for production of green energy from ethanol, solar and hydrogen”. He assured that the State Government would push forward the green energy project in a big way, and BPCL would be provided with all support from grounding to commissioning of the projects. Development Commissioner P K Jena said, “This is a momentous occasion when a company like BPCL has joined hands with the State Government for production of renewable green energy”. Odisha, he said as a leading State in metal and petrochemical investment destination would like to produce and utilize more green energy in different sectors for arresting the carbon footprints. Highlighting the growing demand for green energy, BPCL Chairman and MD A K Singh said“Odisha figures out in its innovative ventures adding that many parts of the state have great potential for production of solar and green based ethanol energy”. He thanked the State Government for its facilitating policies and ground-level support in earlier projects of BPCL. The present project, Singh said, would meet its target within the specified time limit. The MoU envisaged joint collaboration between the government and BPCL for exploring the feasibility of setting up green energy hydrogen plants both for domestic use and export. Setting up requisite infrastructure and knowledge sharing would be other important facets of the MoU. Green hydrogen would help in reducing aggregate greenhouse emissions. It would also help Odisha-based heavy industries to supplement their non-fossil power requirement. Sources said BPCL aspired to lead the green energy sector through a combination of skill and technology. The company targeted to build a renewable energy production capacity of 10 gigawatts comprising a mix of solar, wind, small hydro and biomass by 2040. DP ARN
