Driven by the compulsive need to reduce or possibly eliminate  the use of fossil fuel  like crude oil and coal  as a strategy  to prevent emission of global warming noxious gases such as sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, governments all over the world have initiated earnest steps to boost the production of eco- friendly green hydrogen.  This policy of the governments  is in tune with the global need.

India has taken several proactive measures to boost the production of green hydrogen and   can be  recognized as one of the major countries  very actively involved   in the  efforts. The SIGHT (Strategic  Intervention for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme) has been launched by the Government of India to promote  green hydrogen projects in a big way.

India's National Green Hydrogen Mission aims to produce 5 million metric tonne of green hydrogen each year by 2030. The government has set aside Rs.12,500 crore in incentives to support the green hydrogen projects in the country.

To produce green hydrogen, the Government of India has plans to establish a massive 15000 MW electrolyser manufacturing capacity that requires an estimated investment of more than Rs.40,000 crore. It is reported that around 15 companies have been shortlisted to develop the 15000 MW electrolyser capacity. These companies are said to be in the various stages of planning.

Availing  the government’s incentives , several green hydrogen projects are in the advanced stage of implementation or under planning at present in India. Enthused by the government’s proactive policies, several global companies have offered to participate in the green hydrogen projects in India

US-based Ohmium  has already commenced operation at its plant  with  the capacity of 2000 MW  in India .  Further, Ohmium is planning to set up an electrolyser and green hydrogen manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu  state  with an initial investment of around Rs.400 crore.

A M Green Ammonia  B V has announced that it has reached the final investment decision for its five  million  metric  tonne green hydrogen project in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh state to be commissioned in 2030.
Singapore-based  Sembcorp industries has announced that it would  set up a 2,00,010 metric tonne per annum capacity of green ammonia plant in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu state  with an investment of Rs.36,388 crore.

Weak links in the green hydrogen chain

The enthusiasm of the governments all over the world for green hydrogen projects  and industry response are impressive. However, there are weak links in the green hydrogen chain that need to be recognized and thought about , before going for massive projects for green hydrogen and green ammonia, which is produced from green hydrogen.  Viewing  the announcement for the green hydrogen projects  and  proposed huge investments  in several countries, one  gets an impression that the weak links in the   green hydrogen chain do not cause concern  and there seems to be  wishful thinking that the constraints would somehow be overcome and  links in the chain would somehow be strengthened  !

As far as the existing technology  available, the water electrolysis   process for generation of  green hydrogen  from water   is power intensive and production cost is higher for the green hydrogen than the cost of production of   grey hydrogen presently made   from fossil fuel .

Production cost difference between grey hydrogen produced from fossil fuel and green hydrogen produced from water  is too wide at the present time.  Green hydrogen produced through water electrolysis costs around   5 to 6  USD  per kilogramme., while  Grey hydrogen produced  from fossil fuel  cost  only    around    2 USD per kilogramme

To bring down cost, the cost of the electrolyser which splits water has to be reduced. Possibly, the scale of green hydrogen plant capacity  can bring down the cost to some extent. Another challenge is the efficiency of the electrolysers--basically, how much electricity it consumes to produce a kg of   green hydrogen. Technology development efforts to reduce the cost of electrolysis are still underway and are evolving.

Today,   the power requirement for production of green hydrogen is as high as 55 kWh per kg of hydrogen.

For green hydrogen, power has to be necessarily renewable power  such as solar power and wind power and certainly cannot be power generated from fossil fuels like coal or crude oil.

It is argued that  the price of solar power and wind power have  now become much less   and the low price of renewable power will certainly reduce the cost of production of green hydrogen to some extent.

At the same time, it is necessary to take note about the possible shortfall and lack of consistency in the generation  of renewable power for the green hydrogen project .As is well known, solar and wind power generation are seasonal and depend on climatic conditions and are not available throughout the day. Further, the capacity utilization of solar power and wind power units are only  20%.

Can the world  generate adequate quantities of solar power and wind power in a consistent manner to meet the requirement of a large number of green hydrogen projects  being proposed?.  It would be   ironic if power based on fossil fuel which causes emission would be used to supply power for green hydrogen projects\  in the absence of availability of renewable power for a short or long duration for the production of green hydrogen.  In such a case, it would not be  'green' hydrogen.

It should  be noted that the present  global  demand for grey  hydrogen is around 96 million  metric tonne per annum  and this quantity of grey hydrogen is sought to be replaced by green hydrogen.  Is it  not a utopian expectation?  Even 25% of the global requirement of grey hydrogen cannot be replaced by green hydrogen in the next ten years, particularly given the uncertainty involved with regard to production cost of green hydrogen and availability and stability in the supply of renewable energy like solar power and wind power.

Transportation and technical constraints 

The cost consideration and reliability  of transporting green hydrogen from the production centre to the consumption centre is still not very clear. There is no global consensus yet about the transportation cost of green hydrogen and whether the existing natural gas pipeline can be  put to use for transportation of green hydrogen. Further, there are technical constraints related  to pipeline transmission. For instance, the embrittlement of steel and welds used in fabricating pipelines is an issue.  Further, controlling hydrogen permeation and leaks as well as a reliable and durable compression technology for compressing the green hydrogen at acceptable cost for transportation by pipeline is another issue.

While there are uncertainties with regard to the  possibilities and prospects of generating green hydrogen in a cost-effective manner it is surprising that green hydrogen is being hailed as the ultimate solution to overcome the emission issue and prevent climate disaster.

Millions of dollars are being pumped  by different countries including India for the green hydrogen projects , anticipating that the production cost of green hydrogen would be reduced to the level of grey hydrogen and   renewable power availability and reliability would be improved to meet the needs of the future.

Green hydrogen a calculated risk?

In all likelihood, green hydrogen projects have to be heavily subsidized by countries promoting green hydrogen projects in a massive way.

From green hydrogen, green ammonia is  proposed  to be produced and green ammonia projects are also being planned in a big way. Ammonia is feedstock for the production of several fertilisers such as urea, ammonium nitrate, di ammonium phosphate and so on  which are produced in huge quantities in the world.  Expensive green hydrogen  would considerably increase the production cost of green ammonia based fertilisers, which the farmers cannot afford.

Certainly, the government subsidy support for green hydrogen  and green ammonia would become the compulsive need to sustain a green hydrogen / green ammonia economy.  To what extent governments can do and particularly the Indian government can do is the moot question.

For example, the European Commission has now given state aid approval for a 998 million euro subsidy auction scheme put forward by the Dutch government which seeks to support at least 200 MW of green hydrogen production capacity.  The Dutch government will provide grants worth upto 80% of the upfront investment cost of projects as well as a variable premium over a period of 5 to 10 years in the hope of lowering the production cost of green  hydrogen.

While the above move of the Dutch government shows  that governments around the world are backing green hydrogen as the fuel of the future, one cannot but conclude that the investment in green hydrogen projects is a calculated risk that is worth pondering on. 

(The author is the founder-director of Nandini Consultancy Centre that provides chemical business consultancy services to chemical and allied industries. He is also a commentator on current affairs and a Trustee, NGO Nandini Voice for the Deprived, Chennai. Views are personal. He can be contacted at nsvenkatchennai@gmail.com)