Watt’s Up: Green Hydrogen Dominates Clean Energy Transition
Here's a roundup of all the major developments in new energy space in June.
Watt’s Up is BQ’s monthly newsletter on all things new energy.
Green hydrogen was the dominant theme in the new energy segment in June. Besides, more electric vehicle chargers were set up in Mumbai and the government has decided to invite bids for offshore wind energy blocks.
Here’s what went on...
A Green Hydrogen Deal
Adani Group and French energy company TotalEnergies entered into a partnership to create a green hydrogen value chain that would produce everything from solar panels to electrolysers.
TotalEnergies will buy a 25% stake in Adani New Industries Ltd.
Adani New Industries intends to invest over $50 billion (about Rs 3.9 lakh crore) in the next decade in green hydrogen ecosystem.
TotalEnergies said Adani New Industries will initially develop a project to produce 1.3 MTPA of urea derived from green hydrogen for Indian market to substitute for urea imports.
Green Hydrogen is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen by using renewable energy. It holds potential in decarbonising industries that require high amounts of heat like steel and cement production.
Green Hydrogen Action Plan
The NITI Aayog has listed a 10-point national action plan to facilitate the hydrogen transition.
The action plan, according to its report titled Harnessing Green Hydrogen-Opportunities for Deep Decarbonisation in India, are:
A detailed roadmap focused on all aspects of green hydrogen.
Reduce the cost of green hydrogen to $1 a kg by supply-side intervention, waivers, granting open access for green hydrogen and green ammonia production.
Establish mandates and provide incentives to achieve a green hydrogen production capacity of 160 gigawatt.
Build manufacturing capacity totalling 25 GW by 2030 coupled with supportive manufacturing and R&D investments.
Initiate green hydrogen standards and labelling programme.
Promote exports of green hydrogen and green hydrogen-embedded products through a global hydrogen alliance.
Facilitate investment through demand aggregation, low interest finance and dollar-based bidding for green hydrogen.
Encourage states to launch their own green hydrogen-based policies to complement efforts at the national-level.
Encourage capacity building and skill development pertaining to green hydrogen.
Construct interdisciplinary group with globally trained experts and an interministerial group to coordinate efforts of various ministries at the policy level.
NITI Aayog expects hydrogen demand to more than quadruple by 2050, and constitute 10% of global demand for the clean fuel.
Cost Of Green Hydrogen Transition
India targets to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.
Here’s an estimated cost breakdown, according to EY-SED Fund’s report, to achieve the target.
Ingredients to produce 1 kg of green hydrogen equal 10 litres of fresh water plus 50 kWh of electricity (consumed by alkaline electrolyzers).
Ingredients to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen equal 50 billion litres of water plus 250 billion kWh electricity from renewable sources.
The report, titled Accelerating Green Hydrogen Economy, said India needed more renewable energy (115 GW) than the current total installed capacity (106 GW) to achieve the 2030 green hydrogen target alone. It also estimates that India will need 50 GW of electrolyser capacity, indicating a ramp-up in investments.
Kapil Maheshwari, president (new energy) at Reliance Industries Ltd., at a BNEF summit said he expects $150-200-billion (Rs 11,860-15,814 crore) investment in the hydrogen sector over the next decade.
According to Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis report, investments in renewable energy in India surged to a record $14.5 billion (Rs 1,145 crore) in FY22, up 125% year-on-year and 75% over the pre-Covid FY20.
Adani Green Energy was the top investor in renewable energy in FY22, followed by Reliance New Energy Solar.
More EV Chargers In Mumbai
Tata Power Co. has installed 150 clean energy-powered electric vehicle charging stations across Mumbai. These are spread across residential societies, malls, commercial complex and petrol pumps in the city. The chargers are powered by wind, solar and hydropower.
The company has collaborated with the National Real Estate Development Council, Maharashtra to install up to 5,000 EV charging points in the state. Tata Power operates more than 13,000 home charges, 200 electric bus charging points and 2,200 public EV chargers in 350 cities across the country.
(Tata Power EV Charging Station, Source: Tata Power website)
Bids For Offshore Wind Energy Blocks
The government has decided to bid out offshore wind energy blocks off the coasts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said in a statement.
Bids equivalent to project capacity of 4 GW per year will be invited for three years from FY23 for development off the coasts of the two states for sale of power.
Subsequently, a project capacity of 5 GW will be bid out every year for a period of five years, that is up till FY30.
The project capacity of 8 GW bid out in the first two years beginning FY23 will be able to avail of the benefits of green attributes like carbon credits.
The ministry will issue the first bid in the next three-four months for leasing out offshore wind energy blocks equivalent to 4.0 GW capacity off the coast of Tamil Nadu.
The financial evaluation will be based on quoted lease fee per sq km of sea bed area.
The bidder offering the highest lease fee per sq km of sea bed area would be declared as the winner for allocation of the project.
A Strategic Partnership
On June 29, the cabinet approved a strategic partnership between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and International Renewable Energy Agency, aimed at supporting India’s target of achieving the 500 GW non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030.
The agreement was signed in January 2022. Its features are:
Knowledge sharing on scaling-up renewable energy and clean energy technologies.
Supporting India’s efforts on long-term energy planning.
Collaborating to strengthen innovation in India.
Moving toward cost-effective decarbonisation by deploying green hydrogen.
Policy Updates
Hydrogen From Coal
An expert panel constituted by the government said the country has potential to produce hydrogen from domestic coal. The demand of hydrogen in 2021 was around 6.7 million tonnes, and is expected to nearly double to 11.7 million tonnes by 2030.
Green Hydrogen ‘Sweeteners’
India will offer incentives for green hydrogen producers to encourage domestic production of the fuel, Power Minister RK Singh said on June 16 at the India Energy Transition Summit 2022, organised by industry body Ficci.
New Coal Power Projects
While hydrogen dominates the discourse of clean energy transition, coal power projects are still needed to meet the energy demand, Gurdeep Singh, chairman at NTPC Ltd., said at the BloombergNEF Summit on June 23. The company, he said, may have to add new coal power capacity to meet demand.
Ban On Single-Use Plastics
India has banned manufacturing, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of single-use plastic items from July 1. This includes ear buds and balloons with plastic sticks, plastic flags, ice-cream sticks, plastic plates to cutlery, among others.
Solar PV Module
India can achieve 50 GW of solar photovoltaic module manufacturing capacity in five years, said Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy Bhagwant Khuba at the Economic Times Leadership Summit and Awards 2022. India’s solar module production capacity stood at 18 GW as of December 2021.
Company Updates
Tata Power Solar Systems, a subsidiary of Tata Power, has commissioned India’s largest floating solar power project in Kayamkulam, Kerala. The plant, spread over a 350-acre water body, has an installed capacity of 101.6 MWp.
Fuel cell and electrochemical major Ceres has signed an agreement with Shell to set up a megawatt scale solid oxide electrolyser demonstrator in Bengaluru in 2023. It aims to deliver low-cost green hydrogen for industrial decarbonisation.
Volkswagen AG is looking to sell its first electric SUV in India in limited quantities in 2023.
Greenko Energy Holding, one of India’s largest renewable energy firms, seeks to raise $1 billion from its existing investors in a new funding round, Bloomberg has reported citing people familiar with the matter. The company aims to use the capital to build new energy storage capacity.
Other Developments
(Oil India's Hydrogen powered bus developed under its Startup programme, Source: Oil India Twitter)
NTPC declared successful commissioning of last part capacity of 35 MW out of 92 MW Kayamkulam Floating Solar PV Project at Kayamkulam, Kerala. The company also successfully commissioned last part capacity of 20 MW out of 100 MW Ramagundam Floating Solar PV Project in Telangana. The group’s installed and commercial capacity is now 69,134.20 MW.
(Visuals of NTPC's 100 MW floating solar power project at Ramagundam, Telangana, Source: PIB Twitter)
Azure Power executed a pact with solar PV cells and modules maker Premier Energies Group to supply modules up to 600 MW per annum for the next four years.
Also Read
Ink producer DIC India has agreed to acquire a stake in solar energy firm Solarstream Renewable Services for Rs 49 lakh.
Indian Oil unveils indoor solar cooking system.
Disclaimer: Adani Enterprises is in the process of acquiring a 49% stake in Quintillion Business Media Ltd., the owner of BQ Prime.