India Approves $2.3 Billion to Develop Green Hydrogen
The Indian government has given $2.3 billion to help with the production, use, and export of green hydrogen. The goal is to make India the centre of this new industry.
The funding, announced late Wednesday, is a first step toward establishing the capacity to make at least 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen by the end of this decade.
Hydrogen that is made by electrolysing water with electricity made from renewable sources of energy is called "green hydrogen." Most of the world’s hydrogen is produced using fossil fuels, especially natural gas.
The aim of the funding initiative is “to make green hydrogen affordable and bring down its cost over the next five years. It will also help India reduce its emissions and become a major exporter in the field,” said Anurag Thakur, India's minister for information and broadcasting.
He said the financing would also help add about 125 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030. As of October, India had about 166 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity.
Other aims are to create more than a half million new jobs, attract more private investment into the sector, reduce fossil fuel imports, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 million metric tonnes.
Many of India’s leading renewable energy companies, including those owned by the Adani Group, Reliance Industries, and JSW Energy; public sector companies like Indian Oil and NTPC Limited; and renewable-only companies such as Renew Power, are investing in the production of green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen only makes up a small part of the estimated 70 million tonnes of hydrogen used every year around the world. Most commercially produced hydrogen is grey hydrogen, produced using fossil fuels, and blue hydrogen, which is also made using fossil fuels but with the use of carbon capture systems to reduce emissions. When green hydrogen is made, very few or no greenhouse gases are released into the air.
In providing policy incentives for green hydrogen production, India is following the lead of many other countries, such as China, the European Union, and the United States. Energy experts think that the costs of making green hydrogen will go down a lot in the next few years. They also think that the market for green hydrogen will grow by 20 times to $80 billion by 2030.
“A robust policy framework, requisite financial support, and an enabling ecosystem for technology development are essential to displace the country’s conventional fuel mix with green hydrogen and enhance its industrial competitiveness in an increasingly decarbonising world,” said Shreyans Jain, an India-based sustainable business strategy consultant who closely tracks developments in the green hydrogen industry.
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Source: Midland Daily News
