New Delhi: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will be investing an estimated Rs 2 lakh crore as a step towards zero carbon emissions by 2038, its chairman Arun Kumar Singh declared to the media on Tuesday, during a press conference.
The firm plans to invest Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030 towards setting up a renewable energy capacity of 10 gigawatts, offshore wind energy plants and a green ammonia plant. The remaining Rs 1 lakh crore will be spent over the years leading up to 2028 to attain Scope-1 and 2 net zero carbon emissions.
Scope 1 emissions are direct emitting sources owned and controlled by a company, and Scope 2 emissions are termed as emissions from the consumption of steam, purchased electricity, or other sources of energy that is generated from a company’s direct operations.
“It is not an ‘or’ strategy. It is an ‘and’ story. ONGC will continue to invest in oil and gas exploration and production and also in energy transition projects… ONGC has enough heft, financial muscle to do both,” he added.
Currently, ONGC holds the capacity to generate 189 MW of electricity through renewable sources.
The company has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rajasthan for 5 GW and is currently searching for projects of similar size.
ONGC also plans on setting up 25 compressed bio gas plants which will help convert agriculture residue into gas. This gas (CNG) can be used in industries to generate electricity and fertilizers, and to operate automobiles. Two green-field oil-to-chemical (O2C) plants will also be set up by ONGC.
In 2022-23, ONGC produced 19.584 million tones (MT) of oil. This output is expected to rise to 20.232 MT between the current fiscal (April 2023 to March 2024), and 21.265 MT in 2024-25.
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