Norway's companies, Statkraft and Aker Horizons, train their sights on India

 

Norway’s power company Statkraft and Norwegian investor Aker Horizons, through its portfolio company Aker Clean Hydrogen, have signed the collaboration agreement to jointly explore green hydrogen and ammonia production opportunities in India, targeting local steel and fertilizer industries, reports PV Magazine.

Statkraft is a leading developer and generator of renewable energy with a substantial experience and presence in India. Aker Clean Hydrogen is a global integrated hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol producer. 

The two partners will combine their expertise to explore fully-integrated renewable power generation and green hydrogen production in India, and green ammonia for domestic use and export.

“With considerable renewable energy production and market activities in India, Statkraft is well-positioned to capture green hydrogen opportunities in this huge and important energy market. Developing such opportunities helps us grow our business and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in India,” said Jürgen Tzschoppe, Statkraft’s executive vice president for international power. 

Emissions from the steel and ammonia industries contribute to close to 9% of the global greenhouse gas emissions and are classified as hard-to-abate sectors. 

The steelmaking and shaping process is highly temperature- and energy-intensive, usually powered by fossil fuels. Similarly, ammonia production for agricultural fertilizers uses natural gas (methane) or other fossil fuels to provide the hydrogen feedstock and the energy to power the synthesis process. Switching to green hydrogen offers an emission-free alternative for decarbonizing both these sectors.

Statkraft is an old hand in India, being present in the country's hydropower and solar sectors. It has three operating hydro power plants in Himachal Pradesh in North India and an under-construction solar plant in the Tirunelveli district of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. 

India currently consumes approximately 7 million tonnes of grey hydrogen per year, making it the world’s second-largest hydrogen consumer. The country’s hydrogen demand is expected to reach around 12 million tonnes by 2030 and about 28 million tonnes by 2050. Its commitment to reach net-zero by 2070, announced during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, will further increase green hydrogen demand. 

“We are excited to join forces with Statkraft to accelerate the transition from grey to green solutions in India,” said Knut Nyborg, Chief Executive Officer of Aker Clean Hydrogen. “The potential environmental benefits from decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries like the steel and ammonia industry in India are substantial. India is a large hydrogen consumer, has supportive governmental policies, and benefits from world-class renewable energy resources, which offers significant opportunities for green hydrogen and ammonia production.”

 

Norwegian company, Greenstat, in pact with Ayana Renewable for G-H2 projects

The Indian arm of the Norwegian company, Greenstat Hydrogen, has tied up with a Bengaluru-based renewable energy company called Ayana Renewable Power to develop "large-scale green hydrogen projects in India," reports PV Magazine.

Ayana Renewable Power, a Bengaluru-based renewable energy platform that is majority-ontrolled by National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), is executing more than 3.59 GW AC of solar, wind and hybrid power projects across India, in addition to its 1.19 GW AC of assets already operational in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. Its partnership with Greenstat Hydrogen India combines their respective expertise to facilitate the development of green hydrogen in India, as the nation aims to boost domestic production of green hydrogen to 5 million tons per annum by 2030, the report says. 

The two partners are looking at long-term supplies for industrial and commercial customers. They will initially launch a pilot project in Karnataka. The Joint Development Agreement (JDA ) was signed in presence of Norwegian Foreign Minister, Ms. Anniken Huitfeldt on 26th April 2022 in Delhi. At the occasion of signing the JDA, the Honorable Minister extended her support and blessings to the pilot project, says a Greenstat statement.

“By 2050, India aims to produce three-fourths of its hydrogen from renewable energy sources. Ayana and Greenstat being specialists in their respective domains, carry the right expertise to facilitate this growth,” said Shivanand Nimbargi, Ayana’s chief executive officer and managing director.

Greenstat has been wanting to be active in India. In February 2022, it singed a MoU with the World Resources Insitute, India to "work on strategizing a roadmap for green hydrogen generation in India."

"This collaboration will explore and define the technical and operational feasibility of green hydrogen deployment across different sectors with a focus on energy intensive, hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, cement, heavy transport and power," it had then said in a press release.

In July 2021, it signed a pact with the Indian Oil Corporation for setting up of Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen. "This association aims to develop a Center of Excellence on Hydrogen (CoE-H) including CCUS and Fuel Cells by IndianOil and M/s Greenstat for clean energy in cooperation with Indo-Norwegian Hydrogen Cluster companies/organizations,"  the company had said in a press release.

60 GW of renewable energy will be needed to support India's green hydrogen ambition, says ICRA

ICRA, one of India's leading ratings-cum-research agencies, believes that as much as 60 GW of renewable energy capacity will be requried to support India's demand for green hydrogen by 2030, which it expects to be 9 million tons (compared with around 5 mt of grey hydrogen today).

Hydrogen demand is expected to be around 9 MMT by the year 2030, basis annual demand growth of 4% inhydrogen consumption. As per industry estimates, considering a scenario of 30% of hydrogen requirement beingmet through Green Hydrogen by the existing industrial users, electrolyser capacity is estimated between 20-25 GW, according to Rohit Ajuja, Head - Research and Outreach, ICRA.

For producing 30% of the hydrogen production through electrolysis technology, 60 GW of renewable energy will beneeded. 

Interestingly, ICRA believes that this 60GW will not count for the government's target of 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030--a commitment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made at the Glasgow COP in November 2021. "As this demand is exclusively for hydrogen production, the same is estimated over and above 500 GW target of the Government," ICRA says. 

Hydrogen demand for ammonia stood at around 2.9 MMT currently as per ICRA’s estimates and is expected togrow to 4.3 MMT by the year 2030 primarily driven by increase in urea production. It is estimated that ~30% i.e. ~1 MMT will be by way of green hydrogen which may help production of ~5 MMT green ammonia in the year 2030.

Green hydrogen will cost $3-7 a kg by 2030, says top Indian scientist

Vijay Kumar Saraswat is a highly respected name in India. The man of science has been the Director General of the government-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Today, he is an influential member of the government's think-tank, Niti Aagoy. His views carry weight.

Now, in an interview to Business Line, Dr Saraswat has said that green hydrogen will cost $3-7 a kg, at the doorstep. 

Here is what Dr Saraswat said about green hydrogen:

The cumulative supply chain cost is: production at $5–6 per kg, compression ($2 per kg), and distribution ($3 per kg). In the long run, with large electrolyser making capacity coming up in the country, their cost will come down from $800-$1,500 per kWh. It is expected that by 2030, hydrogen production costs will be $1-3 per kg and compression costs will be $2-4. So the total cost at the door step will be about $3–7 per kg including production, compression, and distribution.

At present, green hydrogen is not economical. But grey hydrogen is competitive, but it’s not green. Grey hydrogen is available at less than $2 per kg. It releases CO2, but we can use CCUS to abate CO2. With CCUS, grey becomes blue and production costs are 30 per cent cheaper. With lower costs, industries such as steel, cement, aluminium, refineries, etc. can start using blue hydrogen. As demand for blue hydrogen grows, more production will happen, which will further reduce costs. In my opinion, blue hydrogen is an enabler to green hydrogen. Affordability is the key to ramping up production. For instance, when we ask fertiliser industries why they do not use grey hydrogen, they say that production costs will go up from $375 a tonne for grey to $875 for green. Nobody will do that at such high costs.

Saraswat has for long been a votary of methanol, which many in India believe to be a superior fuel than ethanol to blend with gasoline. In India, the government has mandated 20 per cent blending of ethanol with gasoline by 2025; today, the blend is slightly higher than 9 per cent. But methanol has a lot of takers.

Here is what Saraswat says about hydrogena and methanol:

Hydrogen has a low molecular weight and requires a lot of space. So one cannot carry a lot of quantity. So there are range limitations, but it can be used for short haul (up to 300 KM). With methanol on-board, we can use methanol reforming to produce hydrogen. Recently, we have developed a reformer at Thermax that is doing the job. Here with hydrogen, CO2 is also released. We absorb the CO2 with an absorber, so this hydrogen is green. We can put this hydrogen into fuel cells. This can be the answer to clean energy for long-haul vehicles up to 1,000 km. The only high cost here is fuel cells. But with the PLI (production-linked incentive, which gives the manufacturer a cash compensation for every unit of production) scheme for developing electrolysers and fuel cells, prices will come down. Methanol can be produced using coal.

India wants to collaborate with France for green hydrogen, acc to a senior official

 The Mint newspaper has reported that India is looking forward for collaboration with France in the green hydrogen space, quoting Ms Vandana Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. 

Speaking at a workshop on decarbonised hydrogen, organised by the the Embassy of France in India and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Vandana Kumar said: “Our industry is very sanguine to take part in the green hydrogen movement by itself on generation of hydrogen, on production of various technologies and we are very much looking forward to our cooperation with France in this."

Noting that a joint declaration of intent has already been agreed between the two countries, she said: “We are looking forward to a suitable opportunity, a suitable event, that would be signed between India and France very soon."

On India’s push for renewable energy, the official said that the country has 158 GW of installed capacity of renewable energy and another 87 GW is in the pipeline. 

Addressing the event, the Ambassador of France to India, Emmanuel Lenain, said that green hydrogen holds immense promise as a clean energy vector of the future. “It also represents an ambitious new chapter of cooperation between France and India, as agreed by President Macron and Prime Minister Modi in Paris on 4th May. By seizing the synergies between our two countries’ ambitious national hydrogen strategies, France and India can team up on green hydrogen to accelerate our clean energy transition, meet our carbon neutrality targets, and strengthen our energy independence". 

In the last decade, renewable energy has emerged as a pillar of Indo-French cooperation. At the government level, India and France co-founded the International Solar Alliance, work together in multilateral platforms to promote an ambitious international climate agenda, and have set up a cooperation roadmap between relevant ministries on renewable energy.

In the private sector, French companies have been investing massively in clean energy in India and have commissioned or are in the process of developing more than 24 GW of renewable energy projects in the country.

French company, Total, eyes stake in Adani arm

French energy major, Total, is in talks with the Adani group for a stake in Adani New Industries Ltd (ANIL), the company formed to spearhead the group's foray into new energy ventures, such as hydrogen.

The Business Line newspaper reports that "the deal is in the final stages and an announcement is likely in the next few months".

Adani and Total have partnered with each other for many ventures in the past, the newspaper points out. It says: "Total had earlier partnered with Adani in 2018 with investments in Adani Gas Limited, city gas distribution business, associated LNG terminal business and gas marketing business. Total acquired 37.4 per cent stake in Adani Gas Limited and 50 per cent stake in Dhamra LNG project. Then, Adani and Total had also agreed for an alliance into the wider sustainable energy space. Total and Adani agreed the acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in a 2.35 GW portfolio of operating solar assets owned by Adani Gas and a 20 per cent stake in Adani Green Energy for a global investment of $2.5 billion."

The report goes on to give a background about the National Hydrogen Policy of India.

NTPC inks pact with Gujarat Gas to blend green hydrogen

India's largest power producer, the state-owned NTPC, on April 5 signed an agreement with Gujarat Gas (GGL) for blending green hydrogen in Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network of the State government utility at the power producer’s Kawas facility, reports Business Line. 

Green hydrogen will be produced by using electricity from the existing 1 megawatt (MW) floating solar project of NTPC Kawas. This will be blended with PNG in a predetermined proportion and used for cooking applications in NTPC Kawas Township, Power Ministry said in a statement.

Initially, the percentage of hydrogen blending in the PNG shall be around 5 per cent and after successful completion, it shall be further increased, it added.

NTPC is the premier energy utility in the country with an installed capacity of 69 gigawatt (GW), and a diversified fuel mix. The NTPC group plans to achieve 60 GW of renewable energy in a decade and is executing several pilot projects in the green hydrogen space.

This hydrogen blending project at NTPC Kawas is a pioneering effort and the first of its kind in the country. This is a step toward the decarbonisation of the cooking sector and self-sufficiency for the energy requirements of the nation. GGL is India’s largest City Gas Distribution (CGD) company and has a presence across 43 districts in 6 States and 1 Union Territory

On August 15, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the National Hydrogen Mission. Following which, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) formulated a draft of the mission document. 

The draft National Green Hydrogen Mission document proposes a framework inter alia for demand creation, support for indigenous manufacturing, infrastructure development, R&D, pilot projects, and enabling policies and regulations. Green Hydrogen can enable production of a larger quantum of renewable energy in the country and its utilisation in a wider range of sectors.

Hygenco commissions green hydrogen pilot plant powered by off-grid solar

India-based Hygenco has set up a green hydrogen generation plant on a build-own-operate basis in Madhya Pradesh. The alkaline electrolysis-based plant is co-located with a solar PV project in the state’s Ujjain district, reports PV Magazine.

Vivaan Solar-backed Hygenco has installed a green hydrogen pilot plant powered by off-grid solar in Madhya Pradesh. The plant generates green hydrogen via alkaline electrolysis technology. It is “pure green” in that it is fully independent of the grid. 

The plant is co-located with a solar project in the state’s Ujjain district. 

“An existing solar plant of Vivaan Solar was disconnected by Hygenco from the grid and fully reconfigured for the green hydrogen plant. In this process, swathing changes were made in the solar plant using technologies not yet prevalent in India,” Hygenco CEO Amit Bansal told pv magazine. “Hygenco executed the project as the sole builder (EPC), owner (investor), and operator of the plant. No EPCs were involved in this case, reflecting Hygenco’s technical capability.”

The plant commenced trial operations on March 31 and was fully commissioned by April 15.  

“This pilot plant will be part of our R&D Center of Excellence in hydrogen technologies,” said Bansal. “We hope to provide clean and affordable hydrogen for end-use industries and facilitate their journey to decarbonize operations.”

Hygenco’s green hydrogen pilot plant is controlled by an advanced energy management and control system (EMCS). The EMCS monitors parameters such as solar PV generation, state of charge, hydrogen generation, pressure, temperature, and purities from the electrolyzer and makes autonomous decisions in real time to achieve high efficiencies. The technology enables Hygenco to augment the hydrogen yield and deliver cost-competitive hydrogen to the end clients.

Hygenco, based in the Indian state of Haryana, aims to become a global leader in deploying green hydrogen and green ammonia-powered industry solutions. It designs, engineers, optimizes, and commissions end-to-end green hydrogen and green ammonia assets on a build-own-operate and build-own-operate-transfer basis. 

First US-India Hydrogen Task Force meeting held

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) held the first Industry interaction for the U.S.-India Hydrogen Task Force (HTF) with the Task-force members, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), reports PV Magazine. The session was led by HTF co-chairs, Dr. Vandana Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), and Dr. Ken Vincent, Director of Office of Asian Affairs, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Dr. Andrew Light, Assistant Secretary U.S. Department of Energy, delivered the keynote address, discussing India’s role in bringing scale and innovation to green hydrogen technologies as part of the global clean energy transition. In addition, Dr. Light highlighted the importance of cooperation between the U.S. and India in advancing the goal of developing a hydrogen economy in India.

“We have already begun to build up international infrastructure to deal with the global energy struggle. We intend to bring together governments and industries from various nations in major energy gatherings,” Dr. Light added.

The roundtable outlined high-level priorities for the U.S. – India Hydrogen Task Force, which saw participation from both U.S. and Indian companies seeking to promote the deployment of hydrogen technologies. During the session, the HTF Co-Chairs, Dr. Kumar and Dr. Vincent, touched upon MNRE’s and DoE’s priorities and HTF action items.

Dr. Vincent stated to the task force, “The challenge before us is extraordinary because we are growing the supply side and the demand side of the hydrogen market at the same time. While governments have an important role, success will depend on private firms, who will be deploying capital and putting steel on the ground.”

Dr. Kumar, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and India Co-Chair of the Task Force, discussed the drivers and barriers to developing a green hydrogen economy and how collaborative efforts can help mitigate some of them. “We are developing the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The global momentum has been brought on by not just energy transition movements but also with respect to securing energy independence. While green hydrogen offers numerous opportunities, there are some challenges that can be overcome through collaboration among countries- such as innovation and technology development to reduce costs, building sustainable demand, and harmonizing trade standards and regulations,” said Dr. Kumar.

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) serves as the Secretariat for the Task Force. During the interaction. USISPF Managing Director Nivedita Mehra welcomed the task force Co-Chairs and the industry leaders and highlighted the importance of a strong U.S.-India partnership to develop India’s green hydrogen economy.

“Given India’s high dependence on imported fossil fuel and to achieve the mutual goals of energy security and low carbon transition, the potential of the U.S. and India’s cooperation on green hydrogen is significant. With this context, the Task Force aims to integrate private and public sector inputs towards energy security, promote the exchange of the latest technology and adopt business models towards development & deployment of hydrogen technologies under the US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership,” said Nivedita Mehra.

The industry participants briefed the task force on their work in the hydrogen space. In addition, they shared their perspectives on the role of hydrogen in India’s energy transition and the opportunities for collaboration under the task force.

About the U.S.-India Hydrogen Task Force

The US-India Hydrogen Task Force is a high level bi-lateral collaboration between the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the US Department of Energy (DOE), in coordination with the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) that brings together industry and academia, with the goal of integrating the private sector inputs to bring in latest technology and adopt business models towards development and deployment of hydrogen technologies. The Hydrogen Task Force will be organized into a Steering Committee at the Government level, an Industry council, and working groups or subcommittees in identified priority areas. The focus will be on strengthening cooperation on hydrogen between industry and institutions from both countries.

The Hydrogen Task Force aims to serve as a forum for thought leaders to achieve affordable hydrogen solutions, with the vision to enhance energy security and resilience by scaling up low/zero carbon hydrogen technologies and deployment.

Green Hydrogen Mission expects 4.1 million tons of annual production

India's Green Hydrogen Mission has "an expected outcome" of generating 4.1 million tons of green hydrogen annually, the Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Bhagwant Khuba, has said. Khuba was speaking at Intersolar Europe, 2022, Munich, Germany, where he delivered the keynote address.

Green hydrogen production, using electrolysers, would need a lot of renewable energy. India has been ramping up solar (and wind) energy, the minister said. 

GAIL to set up PEM-based green hydrogen project in MP

 State-run gas utility GAIL on Thursday said that In line with the National Hydrogen Mission, it has awarded a contract to set up one of the largest Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Electrolyser in India, reports Business Line. The project would be installed at GAIL’s Vijaipur Complex, in Guna District of Madhya Pradesh and would be based on renewable power.

“The project has been designed to produce around 4.3 tonnes of Hydrogen per day (around 10 megawatt capacity) with a purity of about 99.999 per cent volume. It is scheduled to be commissioned by November 2023. In line with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the project has been awarded to a vendor having domestic value addition of more than 50 per cent,” the company said in a statement.

Hydrogen-blended Natural Gas

Earlier, in January this year, GAIL had commenced India’s a project of mixing Hydrogen into Natural Gas system. Hydrogen blended Natural Gas is being supplied to one of GAIL’s Joint Venture (JV) company with HPCL- Avantika Gas (AGL), which is a City Gas Distribution (CGD) company operating in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, it added.

Till date, GAIL has been successful in blending up to 2 per cent (v/v) hydrogen in natural gas in the CGD network.

These initiatives reflect GAIL’s commitment to support a gas-based economy and to contribute towards greener, cleaner, carbon-neutral and self-reliant future.

The hydrogen produced by GAIL can be sold to fertiliser units which as per government mandate are required to use hydrogen as fuel. The company is also looking at newer avenues to boost business including pushing for use of LNG as fuel in long haul trucking.

According to analysts, for India to achieve its target of raising the share of natural gas in the energy mix to 15 per cent by 2030 from the present around 6.5 per cent, the consumption has to rise by about three times to 600 million standard cubic metres per day (MSCM

India would need 60GW of RE, $ 52b of investments to support green hydrogen ambitions by 2030: ICRA

ICRA, an Indian credit rating cum analysis company, has said that India would need renewable energy capacity of 60GW and a corresponding investment of $ 52 billion (Rs 4 trillion) to support its green hydrogen ambitions by 2030.

In a study, ICRA has assumed that India's hydrogen consumption would increase from 6 million tons today to 30 million tons by 2030; a third of this demand would be for green hydrogen. 

"A major shift in demand is expected towards transportation (hydrogen fuel cell vehicles) and power generation sectors and will consume around 30% of the hydrogen demand by 2050," it says.

Incentives from the government are critical to spearhead investments for infrastructure development for storage, transport and distribution, it says.

ICRA's Head Research & Outreach, Rohit Ahuja, the author of the report, says that while the rise in the prices of crude oil and natural gas "augur well" for green hydrogen, by raising the prices of grey hydrogen to the same levels as green hydrogen, the increase in cost of metals and other commodities needed to producing electrolysers would be a negative.

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Ohmium, the only electrolyzer manufacturer in India, raises $ 45 million Series B funding

 - Ohmium International, Inc., a green hydrogen company that designs, manufactures, and deploys PEM Electrolyzers, announced the close of a $45 million Series B Financing today. Existing investor Fenice Investment Group led the round, with participation from current major investors and new investor Energy Transition Ventures. The funds will support Ohmium's rapid growth plan to quadruple hydrogen manufacturing capacity from 500 MW annually to approximately two GW annually by the end of 2022. Ohmium's unique interlocking modular PEM electrolyzers provide a safer, modular, flexible, easy to install and maintain alternative to customized electrolyzers. The company has research and development facilities in the United States and India–with manufacturing operations in India.   

"The world has been waiting for cost-effective green hydrogen to usher in the hydrogen economy," said Ahmad Chatila, of Fenice Investment Group and Chairman of Ohmium International. "Ohmium now has the resources and the manufacturing capacity to make it a reality today for customers worldwide."

"The market demand for low carbon hydrogen is growing rapidly. Ohmium has the most experienced executive and technical team we've come across in this industry in many years, and is running the winning green hydrogen playbook – high volume, low cost, modular manufacturing of PEM electrolyzers to supply the global market," said Craig Lawrence, Partner at Energy Transition Ventures. "In a world where renewable power costs are cheaper than even the fuel for fossil power, green hydrogen is poised to transform energy and industrial markets."

"We're thrilled to be expanding at this critical time. The world is rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy–and recent events have only accelerated that move. We can no longer tie our economies to unreliable fossil fuels. Green hydrogen will play a critical role in our clean energy future. This funding allows us to expand our manufacturing capacity toward the approximately two GW per year target by the end of this year. Our sales have been growing very rapidly, and increasing the manufacturing capacity is critical to meeting the current and the near-term future demand in the rapidly expanding market," said Arne Ballantine, CEO of Ohmium International.

Wind energy companies looking to Green Hydrogen for deliverance

India's wind energy industry is moribund, thanks to the unviably low tariffs thrown up in capacity auctions in the last 5 years. Tariffs at which wind energy companies would sell electricity to the government company, SECI (which would enter into back-to-back agreements with electricity utilities) fell to as low as Rs 2.44, before rising slightly to Rs 2.70 a kWhr.

Wind companies have long aspired for a tariff upwards of Rs 3 a kWhr. Now their wish is granted--in the form of green hydrogen. Many companies are considering saying "hell with auctions and long-term power purchase agreements" and instead use the electricity they generate to produce green hydrogen and thence green ammonia, which can be shipped to anywhere in the world.

"Green ammonia is a big market," observes Parag Sharma, Founder and CEO of O2 Power, a solar and wind company. He calculates that the difference in the prices of green ammonia and the ammonia produced through conventional proceses is about $ 200 a ton. 

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is working on providing financial and non financial incentives to urge renewable energy companies to get into green ammonia production. Financial incentives could be cash subsidies of about $ 50 - $100 a ton (though their compatibility with WTO rules is yet to be examined.) Non financial incentives could come in the form of making available land, allowing renewable energy companies to 'bank' their power for longer periods with the grid and so on.

At Windergy 2022, a conference-cum-expo even of the wind industry, which was held in New Delhi between April 27 and 29, many wind energy companies expressed a keen interest to get into green hydrogen. 

Clearly, (apart from direct sales of power to 'commercial and industrial' consumers), they are looking to green hydrogen for deliverance, because the 'tariff-based competitive bidding' as an instrument of rolling out wind power in India, has failed. According ot a report in the Business Line newspaper, of the 16,300 MW of capacity auctioned since late 2016, 12,740 MW has been awarded, but only 3,196 MW has actually come up. About 1,600 MW of capacity has been surrendered by winning wind energy companies, who calculate that losing the deposit money is better than going ahead with the projects at unremunerative, loss-guaranteeing tariffs. Another 2,000 MW could be surrendered.

Reliance may announce another tie-up for electrolysers, this time for PEM

Reliance Industries Ltd last year announced a tie-up with the Danish company, Stiesdal, for manufacturing electrolysers in India. Stiesday's technology is 'alkaline', one that is fast going out of fashion. Why did Reliance pick a fading technology?

Asked this question, sources in Reliance say, "wait and see". They say that Stiesday is to get going, but that is not the end of the story.

It is understood that Reliance could soon announce a tie-up with a company which is into PEM technology. Sources revealed nothing more.

Going forward, Reliance would also be interested in more emergent technologies, such as AEM. Unlike many other investors, Reliance has deep pockets, it can test out all the technologies in the market and go with the one that wins. 

India to build first indigenous hydrogen-fuelled electric vessel at Cochin Shipyard

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways will to build the first indigenous hydrogen-fuelled electric vessels at Cochin Shipyard Limited(CSL), reports Business Line. 

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal announced this while unveiling the government’s plan for building the vessels in keeping pace with the global maritime green transitions at a workshop on green shipping organised by the Ministry jointly with CSL and The Energy and Resources Institute here on Saturday, according to the report.

The hydrogen fuel cell vessel based on Low Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Technology (LT-PEM) called Fuel Cell Electric Vessel (FCEV) is expected to cost around ₹17.50 crore of which 75 per cent would be funded by the Government, the Minister said.

The project would be carried out by Cochin Shipyard Limited in collaboration with Indian partners. The ground work has already begun, wherein CSL has partnered with KPIT Technologies Limited and Indian developers in the areas of Hydrogen Fuel cell, power train and Indian Register of Shipping for developing rules and regulation for such vessels.