Govt very much considering Green Hydrogen usage mandate: MNRE Secretary

New Delhi: Clarifying that the government has not shelved the plan for introducing a usage mandate for Green Hydrogen, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), said that the ministry is still examining the possibility of aggregating demand for Green Hydrogen from various sectors and will introduce a usage mandate, if required. Addressing a press conference on the closing day of the International Conference on Green Hydrogen-2023, Bhalla said, “The Green Hydrogen Mission has a provision for a mandate. You know the Energy Conservation Act has been amended and now there is a legal provision to enforce the mandate whenever it is decided. So, these are the enabling steps towards having a mandate as and when we decide.”

“The matter is still under consideration with various ministries and no decision has been taken. We are trying to see whether we can aggregate demand for the industry. In due course of time, in consultation with the ministries and the industry, a call will be taken,” said Bhalla.

Green Hydrogen: Domestic demand & export

The Secretary said that the MNRE is in the process of holding consultations with various ministries in order to aggregate the estimates of demand across sectors like refining, fertilizers, long-haul transport, shipping and steel. He added that pilot projects for the usage of Green Hydrogen is already underway in long-haul mobility, shipping and steel industries. “Aggregation is important to create a domestic demand. We want to come out with a framework on it quickly. We are waiting for consultations with concerned ministries. Once we have them onboard and we have a fare estimate of what the demand is, then we will come out with this demand aggregation model,” said Bhalla, referring to another incentive scheme under demand aggregation model that the government is currently working on.

“The incentives will be fixed in line with what we have already envisioned under the Mission (National Green Hydrogen Mission). However, bidding will be on the lowest cost of the final product — what we want to aggregate,” the Secretary added.

He also said that out of the 5 MMT production target that the government has set for Green Hydrogen production with 2030 as the horizon, 70 percent will be exported, while the remaining 30 percent will be consumed domestically. Bhalla said that India also held discussions with the European Union (EU), Singapore, Korea and Japan on the sidelines of ICGH-2023, where India’s plan to export the fuel was discussed. “We held four country roundtable discussions with EU, Singapore, Korea and Japan. From India’s side, we also had the industry. And these were companies that wanted to set up production capacities in India on Green Hydrogen or Green Ammonia and they were looking for opportunities to export to some of these regions. It served as a forum to understand the plans of these countries with respect to Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia and showcase what India is capable of delivering,” said Bhalla.

Govt to support 2 Green Hydrogen hubs: Secretary

Bhalla said that the government has plans to support two Green Hydrogen hubs under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. “Under the mission, we have announced that we will support hydrogen hubs. We have plans to support a couple of Hydrogen hubs. The contours of the plan are in the draft stage. We need to focus on the incentive part of it first,” he said. He added that the Mission has provided an outlay of Rs 400 crore approximately for Green Hydrogen hubs and pilots on infrastructure and storage.

‘Govt working out details for skill enhancement’

Responding to a question on the government’s plans for skilling the workforce for creating a Green Hydrogen ecosystem, Bhalla said, “Skilling and re-skilling the workforce is one of the key elements of our Mission. The Ministry of Skill Development has constituted a committee under the Joint Secretary for working out the details of skill enhancement. That committee has come out with an initial set of recommendations. Based on that, they have identified 19 qualifications and job roles at present in the green hydrogen ecosystem. They cover the aspects of production, storage, transportation and R&D. They have also proposed state-of-art Centres of Excellence in India for spearheading the skilling efforts in their own individual regions.”

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