Potential of The Green Hydrogen

Due to rapid economic development, India is now the world’s third-largest energy consumer after China and the USA. (Challenge of Green Hydrogen) This growth in energy consumption has resulted in India becoming the third-biggest carbon emitter globally, accounting for approximately 7% of global emissions. To address this, India needs to develop a sustainable energy supply chain for itself and the world. This requires producing and relying on greener energy alternatives such as solar, wind, and hydrogen fuel production. Hydrogen fuel production presents an excellent opportunity for India to reduce its dependence on energy imports and fossil fuels, thereby addressing climate change challenges.

Green Hydrogen is expected to significantly decarbonize heavy and hard-to-abate industries like oil refineries, steel mills, and fertilizer plants. However, India’s current fuel output is meager, coming from only a few pilot projects. To accelerate the transition to Green Hydrogen, the Indian government plans to invest INR 800 Cr. by 2024 in pilot projects, infrastructure and supply chain, research and development, laws and regulations, and public awareness.

This year’s Union budget has paved the way for the highly anticipated National Green Hydrogen Mission, which aims to achieve five million metric tonnes (MMT) of green hydrogen production by 2030. The mission is among several budget announcements aimed at advancing India’s decarbonization efforts.

While Green Hydrogen is seen as a potential solution for reducing emissions, there are significant challenges that must be overcome to scale up the technology, establish optimal infrastructure, and make it cost-effective.

Production Cost is Very Higher 

The high production cost of green Hydrogen is currently a major concern for scaling up the technology due to the dependency on advanced and efficient electrolyzers. However, the government remains optimistic that costs will become more affordable shortly. Recent analysis and trends suggest that with technology advancements, reduced costs of renewable energy and electrolyzers, and aggressive national strategies by some of the major economies, green Hydrogen is expected to become cost-competitive across various industries and sectors.

At present, the production cost of green Hydrogen from electrolysis ranges from $4.10 to $7 per kg of clean gas, depending on the technology used. However, projections indicate that by 2030, the cost in India could decrease to as low as $1.7/kg to $2.4/kg, with a reduction in the cost of electrolyzers and the production of renewable energy.

Storage of Hydrogen

Hydrogen can be stored through compression, cooling, or hybrid methods. Another storage option being developed is material-based hydrogen storage, which involves storing hydrogen in solids, liquids, or surface-based materials. However, there are several technical challenges associated with storing hydrogen, as outlined below.

Compressed hydrogen storage requires high energy due to the low specific gravity of hydrogen. Storing hydrogen in solid form requires specific temperature and pressure conditions. There are design considerations, legal issues, social concerns, and high costs associated with hydrogen storage. The low durability of storage materials such as fibers, metals, and polymers, as well as the potential for chemical reactions, can raise safety concerns.

End-use of Hydrogen

To achieve large-scale commercialization of hydrogen, several challenges related to its end-use must be addressed, as discussed below.

• Firstly, the weight, volume, and cost of compressed hydrogen gas tanks for vehicles and fuel cell stacks must be minimized.
• Secondly, the efficiency, degradation issues, durability, resiliency, size, power, and current densities of the fuel cell need to be improved.
• Thirdly, there is a lack of systems for monitoring the performance and state of health of the system.
• Fourthly, the fuel cell system’s high complexity, especially with thermal and water management, purification, and humidification, needs to be addressed.
• Lastly, there is a need to improve the run time of fuel cells for portable electronic devices without increasing their size.

In conclusion, Green Hydrogen has the potential to play a significant role in decarbonizing the energy sector, particularly in hard-to-reach areas such as heating and heavy-duty transport. The rise of digitalization presents various opportunities to harness Hydrogen as a prominent source of energy and storage for energy needs. However, challenges need to be addressed to fully realize its potential and commercialize it.

In the Indian context, only states with the required infrastructure, policy support, and demand are likely to thrive in the domestic green hydrogen market. States with refineries that already have established natural gas pipelines and city gas distribution pipelines should leverage this existing infrastructure and modify it to ensure early adoption of the technology.

We At GH2 Solar

GH2 Solar is a technology-oriented company that has vast experience in executing oil and refineries solar rooftop & large-scale utility projects across India. Being already experienced in the renewable sector, now we are working on the development of “Green Hydrogen” & HAAS (Hydrogen as a Service). If you are planning to adopt Green Hydrogen, you can connect with GH2 Solar to get all information about the same.

For more information, please give us a call at 1800-102-8685

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