Govt expands green hydrogen use for cooking, heating in homes with new pilot scheme

Currently, India’s green hydrogen production is negligible as it primarily produces grey hydrogen.

The central government has launched a pilot scheme to explore the use of green hydrogen for cooking, heating, and generator power at residential and community levels.

The President of India has sanctioned the scheme with a budgetary outlay of Rs 200 crore till FY 2025-26, a note floated by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) inviting proposals from the industry showed.

The scheme aims to assess the technical feasibility of green hydrogen for various household, residential, and commercial applications, including city gas services, said a senior MNRE official who is not authorised to speak to the media.

What’s green hydrogen?

Green hydrogen is a carbon-free fuel produced through electrolysis, a process that separates hydrogen from oxygen in water using an electric current. The electricity used in electrolysis comes from renewable sources, such as wind or solar, hence the term “green” hydrogen. The government is pushing for the use of green hydrogen to achieve its target of India becoming net-zero in emissions by 2070.

The government, so far, has worked primarily on replacing fossil fuels with green hydrogen in the industrial (chemicals, fertilisers, oil, gas, steel) and transportation (including shipping) sectors. The latest scheme will expand the scope of the National Green Hydrogen Mission to decentralised sectors such as residential, local community and commercial sectors.

“By replacing LPG in cooking stoves, diesel in off-grid power generation, and conventional fuels in household heating systems, communities can significantly reduce their carbon emissions and improve air quality,” stated the scheme document.

Also Read: Oil & gas firms' prioritise green hydrogen, carbon capture to achieve net-zero targets

The scheme

The government through the scheme is inviting project proposals for innovations in the production of green hydrogen in a decentralised mode, which could be through rooftop solar, small/micro hydel plants, floating solar, wastewater and biomass utilisation. Green hydrogen produced will then be used for community-level applications, such as heating, cooking, and off-grid electricity generation or storage. Joint ventures, consortiums and partnerships, Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), state PSUs, state corporations, Indian R&D institutions, academic institutions and NGOs can participate in the scheme.

In this direction, a few companies have also begun pilot projects to supply green hydrogen through the existing city gas distribution systems in India. Last month, Adani group announced it has started blending green hydrogen in natural gas that is supplied to households for cooking purposes in parts of Ahmedabad. Adani Total Gas Ltd, the group's city gas joint venture with French energy giant TotalEnergies, is blending 2.2-2.3 percent of green hydrogen in piped natural gas supplies to 4,000 domestic and commercial consumers in Shantigram in Ahmedabad.

Also Read: Hydrogen Boom: After the centre, states begin to roll out green hydrogen policies

State-owned power generator NTPC is also supplying green hydrogen blended natural gas to households in Kawas in Surat district, Gujarat, as a pilot project since January 2023. State-owned GAIL has been blending hydrogen with natural gas on an experimental basis in its CGD (city gas distribution) network in Indore since 2022.

Additionally, the scheme also includes the utilisation of green hydrogen-based fuels in off-road vehicles, such as those used in construction and mining, which are energy-intensive sectors.

Under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the Indian government aims to produce 5 million tonne of green hydrogen per year by 2030, to become the world's largest green hydrogen hub. Currently, India’s green hydrogen production is negligible as it primarily produces grey hydrogen, which is produced from fossil fuels like natural gas and naphtha.