Centre working to promote use of green hydrogen for providing round-the-clock green energy

New Delhi [India], February 7 : The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is working on the modalities for promoting the use of green hydrogen in supporting round-the-clock electricity to boost increased adoption of renewable energy and use of green hydrogen as envisaged in the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh chaired a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, regarding the use of Green Hydrogen in conjunction with other modes such as solar energy and wind energy, for round-the-clock renewable energy.
Officials from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Power, NTPC, Central Electricity Commission and Solar Energy Corporation of India attended the meeting.
The officials had detailed discussions on the various potential options for using Green Hydrogen as a storage medium for supporting round-the-clock power and peak power demand.
The Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy gave directions to the officials to draft the scheme guidelines, based on the economics, technologies and current and future market conditions of the green hydrogen and power sector.
The Minister underlined the growing power demand and the importance of round-the-clock renewable energy in reducing the cost of renewable energy and making it affordable.
The Minister stated that the learnings from the first such project will be used to undertake bigger projects in the future.
India has a huge edge in green hydrogen production owing to its favourable geographic conditions and the presence of abundant natural elements.
Union Cabinet in early January 2023 approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission, aiming to make India a global hub for the production, utilization, and export of such technologies.
The green hydrogen mission will gradually lead to the decarbonization of industrial, transport, and energy sectors, a reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels, among others.
India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through imports, and this green hydrogen mission is seen as an avenue to reduce the dependence of imported fuel.
The initial financial outlay for the mission is pegged at Rs 19,744 crore, which includes research and development activities.
Under this mission, the government aims to raise annual green hydrogen production to 5 million tonnes, renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 gigawatts, attract over Rs 8 lakh crore in investments, lakhs of jobs, and most importantly over Rs 1 lakh crore cumulative reduction of fossil fuel imports.