India H2 Monitor – July 2023

ICGH 2023: July 5-7, IH2A attended the ‘International Conference on Green Hydrogen (ICGH) 2023’, organized by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and presented the USD 5 bn Green H2 Hub Economic Viability and Development Plan. Link

 

POLICY & MARKET DEVELOPMENTS

  • India in talks to supply 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen to EU: India has hosted talks on a possible deal to supply 10 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen to the European Union (EU), which in turn would invest in one such clean energy project in India. India will consider bilateral agreements with countries to allow them to use carbon credits linked to the production of green hydrogen, or hydrogen made using renewable energy, in India in exchange for investment and purchase deals. Link
  • State takes lead in announcing green hydrogen policy: The state cabinet has approved Maharashtra’s green hydrogen policy, first state in the country to announce a policy for generating Green hydrogen. The policy targets to produce 500 kilo tons per annum green energy by 2030. The policy also aims to attract investment in the green hydrogen and renewable energy sector. The benefits include exemption of “cross subsidy surcharge”, 50% exemption from intra-state transmission charges, 100% exemption from electricity duty, among other benefits. Link
  • VOC Port allots land to ACME for INR 52,474 Cr green hydrogen plant: V O Chidambaranar Port has become the first port in India to allocate land for production and export of green hydrogen. It has issued a letter of intent to ACME Cleantech Solutions Pvt Ltd to lease 222.79 acres of port land for setting up a green hydrogen and green ammonia project with an investment of INR 52,474 crore. The ACME plant will produce 3,000 tonnes per day of hydrogen. The ACME facility will be one of the largest plants in India and potentially the largest in the world. Link
  • IOC in talks with TN, Kerala governments for setting up green hydrogen units: Indian Oil Corporation is contemplating setting up green hydrogen generation units in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and is in talks with the State governments. IOC has proposed INR 54,000 crore investments, including INR 35,580-crore greenfield refinery project, in Tamil Nadu. The company has evinced to set up green hydrogen production units on a pilot basis in two States and will be seeking support by way of land and electricity. Link
  • Kerala receives proposals worth INR 30,000 Cr for green hydrogen production: The government of Kerala has received proposals from two large companies for setting up green hydrogen and green ammonia production plants, its export, and also for domestic use. One of the companies has proposed to export one lakh tonnes of green ammonia to Germany from the Vizhinjam Adani port. It will be a first-of-its-kind project in Kerala with flexibility to support state power utilities for their peak hour requirements. The other company has proposed to set up a 252-MW electrolyser plant along with a green hydrogen and ammonia generation plant. Link
  • AP govt sets sights on making Vizag India’s 1st hydrogen city: Andhra Pradesh Government has proposed to make Visakhapatnam the first green hydrogen city in India even as the Centre has announced to drastically cut the cost of green hydrogen by a fifth over the next five years by offering incentives worth $2.2 billion. The project will be made by 2026 and will involve an investment of over INR1 lakh crore in phases on a 13.4 gigawatts (GW) of solar power and 6.6 GW of pumped storage project for usage in production of green hydrogen through electrolysis. Link
  • Torrent Power begins pilot on blending green H2 in CGD network: Torrent Power Limited announced that it has initiated a pilot project to blend green hydrogen with natural gas in its city gas distribution (CGD) network. The pilot project, which is based on alkaline electrolysers, is expected to complete in the next eight months and will blend some 2.5% green hydrogen into its CGD network. This Gorakhpur based pilot project for Torrent Gas will be one of the largest private sector blending projects. Link
  • ReNew announces 5 GW partnership with Petronas: Gentari Renewables India Pvt Ltd will have a 50% equity stake in ReNew’s utility scale 5 GW renewable energy portfolio comprising of solar, wind and energy storage projects. This comes in the backdrop of ReNew lining an ambitious INR 35,000 crore capital expenditure plan. Petronas set up Gentari in June 2022 to build a renewable energy capacity of 40GW, supply 1.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of green hydrogen and set up electric vehicle (EV) charging points across the Asia-Pacific, with a focus on Malaysia and India. Link
  • India's Reliance teams up with Brookfield for Australia RE push: India's Reliance Industries said that it has signed an agreement with Brookfield Asset Management to explore the manufacturing of renewable energy and decarbonization equipment in Australia. Brookfield Asset Management said in it will invest A$20 billion and A$30 billion over the next ten years in Australia along with it partners in renewable energy projects. Link
  • JSW Steel to use green hydrogen for steelmaking at Vijayanagar plant: JSW Steel has contracted with JSW Energy for the supply of green hydrogen to its Vijayanagar steel plant. JSW Energy will set up a 3,800 tonnes per annum (tpa) green hydrogen plant using 25 MW of renewable energy. The project would be commissioned in the next 18 to 24 months. The project is a part of JSW Steel’s strategy for decarbonization. Link
  • Centre releases draft roadmap for R&D for green hydrogen manufacturing, storage: The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has released the draft roadmap for research and development of green hydrogen manufacturing and storage. The ministry aims to demonstrate distributed aboveground storage solutions available at a capital cost lower than INR 30,000 per kg by 2030 along with demonstrating large-scale underground storage at a capital cost less than INR 3000 per kg by 2030. Link

 

 GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

  • ACME Group secures INR 4,000-cr loan from REC for Oman green hydrogen project: ACME Group has tied up INR 4,000-crore loan from state-owned REC Ltd for its green hydrogen and ammonia project in Oman. The amount will be used to commence the first phase of the project, to be established at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Duqm, Oman. Once the first phase is ready, about 100,000 tonne of green ammonia is expected to be produced per annum initially, which will subsequently go up to 1.2 million tonne a year. Link
  • Chilean Government announces creation of US$1B green hydrogen development fund: The Fund for the Development of Green Hydrogen in Chile will support the development of local demand and production capacity to turn Chile into a green hydrogen exporter. This financing program will begin operating in the second half of 2024 and will have an initial budget of US$1 billion, which will be financed with loans and contributions from international organizations. The fund aims to attract US$12.5 billion in investments. Link
  • The Hydrogen Stream: Germany to use hydrogen ‘in all sectors’: The German government has approved an update to the National Hydrogen Strategy, doubling the 2030 target for domestic electrolyzer capacity to 10 GW. By 2030, imports will cover 50% to 70% of the country’s expected hydrogen demand of 95 TWh to 130 TWh. Hydrogen applications will be established in all sectors, and a hydrogen start-up network with over 1,800 kilometers of converted and new hydrogen lines is expected by 2027-28. Link
  • Rio Tinto and Sumitomo to build Gladstone hydrogen pilot plant: Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Corporation will build a first-of-a-kind hydrogen plant in Gladstone as part of a A$111.1 million program aimed at lowering carbon emissions from the alumina refining process. The program is aimed at demonstrating the viability of using hydrogen in the calcination process, where hydrated alumina is heated to temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius. If successful, the program could pave the way for adoption of the technology at scale globally. Construction will start in 2024. Link
  • Europe’s largest steel plant gets up to EUR 2 billion to transition to green hydrogen: Germany has received approval from the European Commission for a state aid package for ThyssenKrupp to decarbonize the production process in its plant in Duisburg, the largest steelworks in the EU. The subsidy package amounts to up to EUR 2 billion, and the company will invest an additional EUR 1 billion. ArcelorMittal in France will receive EUR 850 million for the same purpose. The commissioning of the plant is expected in 2026. Link
  • Oman’s Green Hydrogen Industry Gears Up With $30 Billion Commitments: Oman is making significant strides in its green hydrogen industry, securing firm commitments of $30 billion for various projects. Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom), an independent entity and a subsidiary of Energy Development Oman (EDO), is taking charge of the massive common-use infrastructure required to support these multibillion-dollar ventures. The planning for this common-use infrastructure is underway, with an estimated timeline of 6-7 years until 2030. Link