The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has unveiled a program to promote innovative production and utilization of green hydrogen across various sectors.

Announced on November 8, 2024, the initiative aims to support pilot projects exploring novel methods and pathways for green hydrogen production and use, particularly in residential, commercial, and decentralized applications.

The program has been allocated a budget of ₹2 billion (~$23.7 million) until the financial year 2025-26.

The National Green Hydrogen Mission, launched on January 4, 2023, with an outlay of ₹197.44 billion (~$2.3 billion), aims to position India as a global hub for producing, using, and exporting green hydrogen and its derivatives.

The MNRE proposes to implement pilot projects for producing or using green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels and fossil fuel-based feedstock.

The program focuses on exploring decentralized modes of green hydrogen production and utilization, supporting:

• Innovative ways of producing green hydrogen using floating solar, wastewater, and biomass.
• Utilization of green hydrogen and its derivatives as fuel for decentralized applications – cooking, heating, off-grid electricity generation, off road vehicles (on a pilot basis).
• Technical feasibility study of how green hydrogen performs as a fuel for residential and commercial applications such as city gas.
• Demonstration of safe use of green hydrogen and its derivatives in other new sectors.

These decentralized production methods offer advantages in reducing transportation requirements for end-use and optimizing resource utilization.

The program also emphasizes the use of industrial or municipal wastewater for hydrogen production to optimize water requirements.

The program’s utilization aspect includes replacing fossil fuel-produced hydrogen in ammonia production and petroleum refining, blending green hydrogen into city gas distribution systems, producing steel using green hydrogen, and using green hydrogen-derived synthetic fuels in the mobility, shipping, and aviation sectors.

Implementation

It will be implemented through designated implementing agencies, ensuring a transparent project selection process via calls for proposals.

The program also provides funding for equipment and retrofitting related to green hydrogen production and its applications, leveraging government entities’ existing resources and infrastructure.

The program will be implemented through the following steps:

Project Selection: Implementing agencies will identify suitable projects based on innovation, financial support requirements, scalability potential, and green hydrogen production capacity.

Call for Proposals: The agencies will issue calls for proposals, with eligible executing agencies including central power sector undertakings (CPSUs), State-PSUs, non-government organizations, research institutions, and academic institutions.

Evaluation and Award: Proposals will go through a multi-stage evaluation process. First, they will be screened by a committee within the implementing agencies.

Following this, a Project Appraisal Committee will evaluate the proposals.

Finally, the Advisory Group of the National Green Hydrogen Mission will review and approve the projects. Upon receiving administrative sanctions from the MNRE, the implementing agencies will issue a Letter of Award to the executing agencies.

The work will be carried out according to the approved scope, with implementing agencies aiming to complete the pilot projects within the timeline set in the Call for Proposal.

The executing agencies will be responsible for obtaining all required design, retrofitting, safety, environmental, and regulatory approvals. Additionally, the agencies must ensure compliance with necessary testing and certification standards from the relevant agencies.

In July, MNRE issued guidelines for incentive disbursement for up to 450,000 metric tons per annum of green hydrogen under Component II of the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) program.