‘Green hydrogen’ shift to help India achieve energy security: Gautam Adani

Adani group chairman Gautam Adani, in his blog post for the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024, said green hydrogen is the final step towards a “zero carbon future”.

Emphasising the importance of green hydrogen in achieving net zero emissions, Adani says for a country like India, the solution is not to replace one “fossil fuel” with another but to leapfrog to “renewables and green hydrogen”.

“The decrease in solar costs can be replicated with green hydrogen. This shift will help India achieve energy security and improve air quality in its cities. It will also contribute to food security by eliminating the uncertainties of imported ammonia prices, a crucial component in fertilizers. Most importantly, it will offer the world a chance to avert the adverse impacts of climate change,” writes Gautam Adani.

Adani’s blog post “Reducing costs: The key to leveraging green hydrogen on the road to net zero”, reflects on the viability and potential of “green hydrogen” as a key alternative to fossil fuel.

It also notes the benefits of “green hydrogen” for the environment as well as the development of India. “Green Hydrogen will hold the key to realise the dream of carbon neutrality across the world. Hydrogen has been known as a potential energy storage medium and can produce electricity in fuel cells with water as the only waste product,” writes the mega billionaire.

Adani also vouched for the broader adoption of green hydrogen to decrease the cost of production. He calls for policy support measures and adopting the approach of vertical integration by encompassing the entire supply chain to make green hydrogen affordable.

“Companies with backward integration are the only ones who will be able to provide the world with affordable green molecules. The cost of production of Green Hydrogen must decline from the current $3-5 per kilogram (kg) towards $ 1/kg for widespread adoption,” says Adani.

India's dreams of transitioning to green hydrogen as a major energy resource may kickstart in 2024 as the government will soon finalise the first batch of companies that will make electrolysers and green hydrogen under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which aims to create a capacity of 5 metric million tonnes per annum (MMTPA) by 2030.

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the nodal agency for implementing the mission, has come out with a list of bidders in electrolyser manufacturing (EM) on December 15, 2023, under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) Scheme (Tranche-I). 

After the Envelop-1 bid opening, 21 manufacturers are participating to set up nearly 3400 megawatt (MW) capacity under two schemes.

These include Adani New Industries and other players like John Cockerill Greenko Hydrogen Solutions, Reliance Electrolyser Manufacturing, L&T Electrolysers, Jindal India, Avaada Electrolyser, and Waaree Energies. These are setting up 300 MW each.

Since announcing the “Green Hydrogen Mission”, all of them are trying to rope in technology partners and forming joint ventures or subsidiaries to gear up for electrolyser manufacturing in India.