Big Moves Expected by the Indian Players Ahead of the Hydrogen Energy Mission

After the Indian government revealed its plan of establishing a Hydrogen Economy in its Union Budget 2021-22, several energy giants are on a full swing to insert this renewable gas to India's energy mix.

Analysts believe that since the idea of transitioning to this green energy source is something which cannot be achieved alone, it is likely to push some of the country’s biggest companies like Reliance, Tatas, Mahindras, and Indian Oil to form a coalition like the European Hydrogen Coalition. The actualization of this vision requires the companies involved in the auto sector, refinery operations, fuel retailers, specialty chemicals and advanced materials to work collectively as can be seen in several global economies across the globe. One such example is that of the Plug Power Inc. and Renault SA which have recently formed a joint venture to build Hydrogen-fueled delivery vans in Europe as the century-old automotive player bets that the gas will play a crucial role towards clean transportation. To transition into Hydrogen as a fuel, India would be needing cars that can process it, fueling stations to fill it and appropriate technology to store it as Hydrogen is an explosive element by nature.

The idea has been already adopted in countries such as Germany which is aiming to put up 400 hydrogen fueling stations by 2023 with required assistance from the Hydrogen Council. It is being assumed that India could seek aid from Norway, Sweden or New Zealand to carve out a plan of such a system. Referring their national models, the project can be scaled as per India's requirements.

Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements on the earth. There are currently two ways to produce Hydrogen Gas. The first is the greener way which involves electrolysis of water, while the other is through conversion of Natural Gas into two parts hydrogen and one part carbon. This carbon could be solidified to be further used for the production of materials for downstream sectors like space, aerospace, automotive, and electronics.