India’s Green Hydrogen Challenge

Context: 

On India’s 75th Independence Day, the Prime Minister announced the National Hydrogen Mission to make the country a production and export hub of green hydrogen.

Some facts about the National Hydrogen Mission:

• Over the next five years,it aimed at producing 5 million metric tonnes per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW (giga watt) by 2030.
• It helps in savings of $12.5 billion from fuel imports, averting 50 MMTs of annual emissions of CO2, fresh investments to the tune of $100 billion and 6,00,000 green jobs.

Challenges in production & use of green hydrogen:

• Electrolyser challenge: According to IEA (International Energy Agency), as of 2021 the global manufacturing capacity of electrolysers stands at 8 GW/year. So, if India were to achieve its 2030 target, it would need anywhere from 60-100 GW of electrolyser capacity, which means almost 12 times the current global production capacity. 
• India also has limited processing capabilities in critical minerals such as nickel, platinum group metals and rare earth metals such as lanthanum, yttrium and zirconium. 
• Energy source challenge: Green hydrogen requires renewable energy as a source of electricity. India currently estimates a capacity of 125 GW of renewable energy to meet its green hydrogen 2030 targets, so far India has only achieved 119 GW of the 175 GW targeted capacity using solar, wind, bio-power and small hydro. 
• The transmission capacity that includes a smooth facilitation of cross-border exchange of power between states is a critical requirement. 
• End use challenge: It can be a source of heat for industry, especially in hard to abate and electrify sectors such as steel, cement and aluminum production. 
• In the transport sector, it can be used as fuel for heavy duty vehicles, aviation and shipping. 
• The conversion efficiency from one form of energy carrier to another in the end use application will determine the scale of green hydrogen’s applicability.
• Safety standards: Hydrogen is a highly combustible and volatile element and its potency in other forms such as ammonia or methanol is only relatively reduced. 
• For green hydrogen being produced and stored in different forms for later use, it is critical to establish safety standards for storage and transportation, adding to the cost of hydrogen as a fuel.
• Endogenous resources challenge: It has been estimated that the production of one kg of hydrogen by electrolysis requires around nine liters of water. As several parts of India are already severely water-stressed, solutions need to be found to cater to this additional water demand. 
• While desalination has been suggested, this will not only increase the physical footprint of the required infrastructure, but also potentially add to competition for land use, impact biodiversity and create challenges and limitations in the location of electrolysers. 
• This challenge would require the proposed green hydrogen hubs to strike a fine balance between being renewable energy rich, water resource rich and being close to hydrogen demand (end-use) centers for them to be economically feasible while keeping the additional costs minimum.
• Overall, this challenge would require India to add efficiently and economically close to 100 GW of overall renewable energy capacity per year over the next seven years and make available dispatch corridors and mechanisms.

Conclusion:

• India will have to address all the challenges listed above as well as coordinate across multiple institutional bodies both public and private in record time. 
• This is undoubtedly a steep uphill task but a moonshot worth undertaking for India.

                                                                                                                                           News Source: The Indian Express

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