What’s the National Green Hydrogen Mission, Which PM Modi Said Will Become Big in the Next Five Years?
The Cabinet, approved the mission to make India a global hub for the production, usage, and export of green hydrogen and to achieve its goal to become aatmanirbhar through clean energy India may not currently lead in global carbon emissions, but its carbon footprint is rising as it strives to develop, and is projected to peak during 2040-45, and decline thereafter. Considering India is a developing economy, the country has committed to achieve net zero by 2070. For this, the National Green Hydrogen Mission will play an important role, as highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address at the India Today Conclave 2024.
India’s emissions stem from pivotal sectors, with energy being the largest, as the country is reliant on coal for generating power. Even though there has been an increased focus on renewable energy from solar and wind, green hydrogen is believed to be the way forward. Green hydrogen is the hydrogen produced by splitting water by electrolysis using renewable energy. The carbon intensity ultimately depends on the carbon neutrality of the source of electricity (i.e., the more renewable energy there is in the electricity fuel mix, the “greener” the hydrogen produced).
The cabinet ,approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission to make India a global hub for the production, usage, and export of green hydrogen and to achieve its goal to become aatmanirbhar through clean energy. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been steering the National Green Hydrogen Mission, to decarbonize the economy, reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports, and enable India to assume technology and market leadership in green hydrogen. For this mission, the government announced an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore. Of the total, Rs 17,490 crore has been allocated to the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme, Rs 1,466 crore to pilot projects, Rs 400 crore to R&D, and Rs 388 crore to other components.
The mission aims for the development of green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 Million Metric Tonne (MMT) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW in the country. While it should abate nearly 50 MMT of annual greenhouse gas emissions, this should also help in reducing fossil fuel imports by Rs one lakh crore. Since the launch of the mission, there has been a faster adoption of green hydrogen as well. GAIL Limited has started India’s maiden project of blending hydrogen in the city gas distribution grid. Hydrogen, 2% by volume, is being blended into the compressed natural gas (CNG) network and 5% is being blended into the piped natural gas (PNG) network at the city gas station of Avantika Gas Limited (AGL), in Indore. NTPC Limited has initiated the blending of green hydrogen of up to 8% (vol/vol) in PNG network at NTPC Kawas Township, Surat, from January 2023.
Besides these, other public sector undertakings (PSUs) have taken up various projects such as hydrogen-based Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) buses in Leh by NTPC, hydrogen-based FCEV buses in Greater Noida by NTPC, Oil India Limited has developed a 60 kW capacity hydrogen fuel cell bus, which is a hybrid of an electric drive and a fuel cell, and demonstration pilot plants for production of Green Hydrogen through water electrolysis using solar power, biomass oxy steam gasification and CBG reforming for refuelling 15 no. of hydrogen fuel cell buses by Indian Oil.
“Key industries such as steel, cement, and fertilizers face challenges in decarbonization. However, green hydrogen is poised to play a pivotal role in their transition. India’s efforts to develop domestic green hydrogen production capabilities, bolstered by the recent National Green Hydrogen Mission with a goal to reduce Rs 1 lakh crore worth of fossil fuel imports and nearly 50 MMT per annum of CO2 emissions by 2030, is expected to impact industrial decarbonization significantly,” says Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO – India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE.
Private companies too have taken initiatives for adopting green hydrogen. Jindal Stainless had partnered with Hygenco India Private Limited to install a green hydrogen plant at its facility in Hisar, Haryana. Inaugurated recently, this plant will enable Jindal Stainless to considerably reduce its CO2 emissions by nearly 54,000 MT over the next 20 years.
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