Independent power producer JSW Energy has commissioned a green hydrogen production plant at the JSW Steel facility in Karnataka’s Vijayanagar. The plant will supply 3,800 tons per annum (TPA) of green hydrogen and 30,000 TPA of green oxygen to JSW Steel for low-carbon steel production under a seven-year offtake agreement.

This commissioning is part of the company’s 6,800 TPA allocation under the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) program.

JSW has also signed a memorandum of understanding with JSW Steel to progressively supply between 85,000 TPA and 90,000 TPA of green hydrogen and 720,000 TPA of green oxygen by 2030.

In July 2024, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued guidelines for disbursing incentives for up to 450,000 TPA of green hydrogen production under Component II of the SIGHT program.

JSW said the hydrogen project was commissioned under the Production Linked Incentive Scheme – Tranche I.

In January 2024, MNRE released an implementation framework to incentivize the production of 200,000 tons of green hydrogen annually.

The Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission in 2023 to facilitate demand creation, production, utilization, and export of green hydrogen with an initial outlay of ₹197.44 billion (~$2.3 billion). The largest portion of the funding, ₹174.9 billion (~$2.1 billion), is earmarked for the SIGHT program.

The mission aims to promote the development of a five-million-ton-per-year green hydrogen production capacity, accompanied by an approximately 125 GW addition to the country’s renewable energy capacity by 2030. To achieve this, an electrolyzer capacity of 60 GW to 100 GW will be established.

JSW Energy has 29.4 GWh of locked-in energy storage capacity through pumped hydro storage projects of 26.4 GWh and a battery energy storage system of 3.0 GWh. It targets 30 GW of generation and 40 GWh of energy storage capacity by FY 2030, with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Recently, JSW Energy commissioned 85 MW of renewable energy capacity. The added capacity comprises 74 MW of solar and 11 MW of wind projects, bringing the company’s total installed capacity to 13,295 MW.