If India intends to fulfill its aim of 5 million mt/year output by 2030, it would require $25 billion to build a sustainable hydrogen supply chain to power a 25-GW network of electrolyzers, according to the industry association India Hydrogen Alliance, or IH2A.
IH2A advocated the development of a government-industry group named H2Bharat Taskforce following a workshop with the government planning organization NITI Aayog.
“In the next 12 months, the H2Bharat Taskforce will identify and nominate five GW-scale national green hydrogen centers for development,” Jill Evanko, CEO of Chart Industries and an IH2A founding member, said.
According to an IH2A release, the workshop suggested that pre-feasibility studies for the first batch of GW-scale green hydrogen hubs begin immediately.
Hubs might include co-located production and consumption centers in regional clusters for a variety of use cases, and they should be classified as initiatives of national importance to attract funding, according to the report.
The proposals include combining public and private resources, as well as finance through sovereign green bonds. Design and pre-feasibility studies might be partially funded by multilateral and government entities.
“Rather than isolated green hydrogen initiatives, funding agencies want to show synergies across the green hydrogen value chain in project designs,” it stated.
On Feb. 17, the Indian government unveiled an interim renewable hydrogen and ammonia policy, which provides project developers with a plethora of perks such as expedited permits, open access to renewable energy, and exemptions of inter-state power transmission rates.
It aims to produce 5 million mt of renewable hydrogen per year by 2030. A comprehensive policy is now being developed.
By 2025, the price per kilogram will be $2.5.
According to Amitabh Kant, chief executive of NITI Aayog, the government wants to create renewable hydrogen at a cost of $2.5 per kilogram by 2025 and $1 per kilogram by 2030.
“The cost of producing green hydrogen in India is likely to be among the lowest in the world,” Kant added. “The H2Bharat Taskforce is an intriguing notion for kicking-starting project development… we appreciate the industry’s voluntary initiative and look forward to working with them on it.”
Representatives from the European Investment Bank, the World Bank, the OECD, the Indian government, the Kerala state government, and other organizations and industry participants attended the event.
