Entrepreneurs must make full use of the government enabling policy to meet the green hydrogen demand of the world, minister for power & new and renewable energy, Raj Kumar Singh has said.
"We have laid the groundwork [through] a set of rules for green hydrogen. I expect you to go out; the developed world is looking for sourcing green hydrogen. I want our entrepreneurs to tell them that we can supply green hydrogen at a price that is less than what they may get from elsewhere," the minister said.
He said the market was open, with Japan and several countries in Europe actively looking at sourcing non-fossil fuels like green hydrogen and green ammonia. "Don't get behind in the race. We will come out with a further set of sweeteners for making green hydrogen in India," the minister said.
Referring to the government policy allowing free-wheeling of electricity produced from renewable sources like wind or solar through open access to a plant manufacturing green hydrogen, the minister said would help in keeping the production cost low. Going forward, he saw green hydrogen also playing an important role in India's transition to clean energy.
The minister was speaking at the India Energy Transition Summit 2022 organised by the industry chamber FICCI in New Delhi on Thursday.
500 GW clean energy may be exceeded
The minister said he wasn't worried about the country's target of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by the decade's end.
"When I had joined the government as a minister, I had said that my vision was to 'electrify the economy' and 'green the electricity. And I believe the most efficient way to use energy is by electrifying it. So, green hydrogen and green ammonia are pathways towards that," he asserted. "Come 2030, we should have at least 700 GW if my vision of green hydrogen and green ammonia takes off, if my vision about every industry turning green takes off and if my vision regarding electric mobility takes off," he added.
India announced the first phase of its Green Hydrogen Policy on February 17 as part of the strategy to boost its production and reduce dependence on fossil fuels and crude oil imports. It is the third-largest importer of crude after China and the US, with the commodity accounting for 20 per cent of the country's total import bill.
In the recent past, some energy experts have even claimed that Asia's third-largest economy has the potential to become a global energy supplier like Saudi Arabia or the US with green hydrogen.
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