Cabinet nod sought for setting green hydrogen purchase obligation for refineries, fertiliser plants: R K Singh – EQ Mag Pro
Aproposal for setting targets for purchase of green hydrogen by refineries and fertiliser plants has been sent to the Cabinet for approval, Power and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh said on Wednesday.
He also said the government is mulling a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and viability gap funding for use of the clean fuel by heavy vehicles to promote green hydrogen. ‘Green hydrogen’ is produced using renewable energy.
”We have drawn up a Cabinet note (proposal) and sent it to the Cabinet for placing mandates for use of green hydrogen…. Those mandates’ total requirement (is) of up to 8.8 GW of electrolyser capacity,” Singh said. He was delivering the keynote address at CEEW’s virtual event ‘A Multilateral Approach to Building a Global Hydrogen Economy’.
The minister said the government is considering green hydrogen purchase obligations for refineries and fertiliser plants, starting with 10 per cent which will be increased to 20-25 per cent. ”With time, by adding more and more volume, the price will reduce and the mandate will no longer be required,” he noted.
About promoting use of green hydrogen for long-haul vehicles, he said, ”We are also proposing to come up with viability gap funding (VGF) for green hydrogen in heavy mobility and are also eyeing other sectors such as steel (for hydrogen purchase obligation).” Singh said India is the world leader in energy transition and intends to continue leading the path.
India’s NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) target is to increase the share of non-fossil fuels to 40 per cent of the total electricity generation capacity by 2030. In fact, at the current rate, India might be able to achieve almost 50 per cent non-fossil fuel share by 2030, he added. India has achieved a milestone of 100 GW of installed renewable energy capacity.
This not only marks an important milestone in the country’s journey towards its target of 450 GW by 2030, but also builds upon the confidence to achieve more and be among the leading countries embarking on a path towards energy transition globally, he stated. ”We would like to come out with a PLI for setting up electrolyser capacity. The electrolyser capacity which we need is in the region of 15 GW.
”We can start with 10 GW. Without that (scale or volume) we are not going anywhere because available electrolyser capacity in the world is very limited,” he pointed out An electrolyser is a device which splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrical energy.
The minister was of the view that with economies of scale, the price of hydrogen will come down. ”When we started solar, it was too expensive. But we believed that by adding volumes, the prices would come down. Similarly, we are starting off with (large) scale for hydrogen,” he said.
Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of CEEW, said, ”India is poised to play a vital role in the global hydrogen economy. Many countries in the tropics, including India, are favourable locations for lower-cost green hydrogen production.” ”The recently announced National Hydrogen Mission has also provided a timely boost. Scaling up green hydrogen could be a game-changer for India’s heavy industries, such as steel, ammonia and petrochemicals, in addition to long-distance freight transport and energy storage,” he added.
The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is a leading not-for-profit policy research institution.
Source : PTI
