Reliance On The Lookout For New Technologies To Make Low-Cost Green Hydrogen A Reality

Even as India’s leading firm Reliance Industries Ltd, led by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, seeks newer technologies to make electrolyzers in its efforts to produce low-cost green hydrogen in the country, multiple firms have started launching newer versions of their efforts to drop costs.  Thus, while Reliance awaits the production-linked incentives the government may offer to encourage the technology, it will also be open to fresh ideas. This was stated by Kapil Maheshwari, president for new energy at Reliance, said at the BloombergNEF summit in New Delhi on June 22. It may be mentioned here that Ambani had said in February that Reliance was on a mission to pursue a challenging target in order to produce green hydrogen at $1 per kilogram by 2030. At the time that he made the statement, the cost of fuel production was between $2.22 and $4.62 a kilogram in India. Reliance has also already invested in Stiesdal, a Danish maker of electrolysers.

The significance of the statement lies in the fact that every few months, a newer, better and cheaper Hydrogen technology is emerging. The Australian Co Hysata is the latest to come up with its electrolyser. Yesterday, another player, Mainstream Energy announced the launch of a generator that can run on Hydrogen and Ammonia.

This trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. Picking up the trend, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh said last week, “the government is considering more sweeteners for manufacturers”. Unveiling the first phase of its green hydrogen policy in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered a range of incentives for companies to set up projects. Mukesh Ambani had said in February that technological advancements will make India a global new energy leader, exporting half a trillion dollars worth of clean energy in two decades.

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Reliance and Adani group have pledged well over a  $100 billion in green investments. But the responsibility on the government is to do more as Maheshwari said, “India needs to provide certainty about policies and help build a market for green hydrogen by requiring some industries to purchase the fuel”, a step the government is already discussing. A premium is being placed on green hydrogen since it is considered essential to decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries that include the likes of oil refineries and steel mills, that are helping ais global targets to zero out emissions and fight global warming.