Page 13 - AsiaElec Week 03 2023

AsiaElec HYDROGEN AsiaElec

India gives thumbs-up to

nationwide green hydrogen project

INDIA THE Indian government in New Delhi has Speaking to domestic media of the new
given the green light on a new nationwide pro- initiative, ReNew Power Chairman and CEO,
ject titled the National Green Hydrogen Mission Sumant Sinha said “I expect that the emphasis
(NGHM). on demand creation, incentives and partner-
In the months and years ahead, energy ana- ships will kick-start the green hydrogen indus-
lysts in India point to the project as leading try in the country and enable Indian companies
India’s eventual production and employment of to be on a level footing with the global energy
green hydrogen infrastructure in addition to its suppliers.”
export. Sinha, also the serving president of the Asso-
At present there are no significant moves by ciated Chambers of Commerce and Industry
other nations in south or south-east Asia towards of India called the NGHM “a significant step”
promoting green hydrogen use or production. adding that “(The) industry is ready to support
To this end, moves by India’s Union Cabinet, India’s clean energy transition.”
chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are It is further hoped central government back-
being seen as groundbreaking across Asia as ing and industry potential will lead to billions in
New Delhi moves towards adding green hydro- investments and the eventual creation of tens, if
gen to its own energy mix while at the same time not hundreds of thousands of jobs according to
serving as a global focal point in its production. sources in India.
There are also hopes in India that what is still Sinha’s comments and apparent backing
a largely unused energy source will add to efforts for the NGHM were seen as the private sector
across the country to move closer towards even- acknowledging government goals for a pub-
tual net-zero goals. lic-private initiative to install research and
India set 2070, as its net-zero target year in development frameworks under the banner of
documents submitted to the United Nations ‘Strategic Hydrogen Innovation Partnership
Framework Convention on Climate Change at – SHIP’.
COP27 in Egypt last November. When complete, the central government
The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy hopes the SHIP initiative will push India to
(MNRE) headed by Raj Kumar Singh has been the forefront of green hydrogen development
given the responsibility of ensuring the initial worldwide.
organisation and eventual administration of In turn this will help reduce the price of green
NGHM. hydrogen; currently fluctuating at around US$ 3
Initial targets put in place by the central gov- per kg to around US $1.50 according to, Abhay
ernment include annual production capacity of a Kumar Singh, the former chief managing direc-
minimum of 5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of tor of the state-owned National Hydroelectric
green hydrogen. Power Corporation.
The government has also requested an addi- Financial incentives from the central govern-
tional 125 GW of renewable energy capacity ment at a time renewable energy, in particular
across India based on the hydrogen produced. the solar industry, is struggling to attract invest-
More ambitious goals including a decrease in ments across India will come in the form of dual
greenhouse gas emissions across India of around initiatives.
50 MMT by the end of the current decade have Primary investment will be pumped into
also been placed on the shoulders of the MNRE the manufacture of necessary electrolysers fol-
by New Delhi. lowed by the production of green hydrogen at
Much of this will come in the form of a reduc- sites across India under a programme titled
tion in crude oil and gas imports and subsequent Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen
use. Transition (SIGHT).™

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