Kandla and Tuticorin ports will be India's first green hydrogen and green ammonia refueling hubs for green shipping, Union minister for power and renewable energy RK Singh told Moneycontrol.
"We have identified two ports which will serve as refueling ports for green shipping. One will be Kandla on the west coast, and the other will be Tuticorin port on the east coast. So, we will have green hydrogen, green ammonia refueling facilities for green ships in these ports," Singh said in an exclusive interaction with Moneycontrol on March 25.
On January 13, the government released the blueprint for its ambitious National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) with a total initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore, of which Rs 17,490 crore will be for the production-linked incentives for producing green hydrogen and manufacturing electrolysers. The mission was approved by the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 4.
India is aiming to be a leading exporter of green hydrogen in the world; setting an ambitious target of capturing about 10 percent of the global green hydrogen market, which is expected to touch 100 million metric tonnes (MMT) by 2030. "We already have concrete plans by different industries for setting up six million tonnes of green hydrogen production, which will translate to about 36 million tonnes of green ammonia production," Singh said.
The minister said industries in India are now trying out export orders for green hydrogen. "So, we will emerge as a green hydrogen and green ammonia powerhouse. That's the target. The advantage we have over other countries is that the cost of renewable energy capacity in India is one of the lowest in world. You can set up 1 MW solar energy manufacturing capacity at $600,000. That's the lowest price anywhere in the world. That's why our green hydrogen and green ammonia will be the cheapest in the world," he said.
India's stated target as per the mission is installing five million tonnes of green hydrogen capacity per annum by 2030. However, the government is hopeful of clocking 7-10 MT capacity per annum by 2030, the minister said.
When asked about the meeting on NGHM he held along with Hardeep Puri, India's minister for petroleum and natural gas, on March 22, Singh said that discussions happened on the trajectories that will be imposed on different sectors.
"We are going to put a mandate for changing the feedstock from fossil feedstock to non-fossil feedstock like green hydrogen. We are working out a trajectory for the concerned companies to start blending green hydrogen into the city gas system, and the same will be done for the LNG they use for transport. Another trajectory is being worked out for sectors such as refineries, steel plants and so on for replacing grey hydrogen, which right now they make from imported natural gas, with green hydrogen. Similarly, fertiliser manufacturers will also have to to replace grey ammonia by green ammonia," the minister said.
The government is likely to call for competitive bids to set up fertiliser plants based on green hydrogen or green ammonia. Two plants each for the production of green hydrogen-based urea and green hydrogen-based di-ammonium phosphate are targeted to be set up through the competitive bidding route. By 2034-35, the aim is to substitute all ammonia-based fertiliser imports with domestic green ammonia-based fertilisers, reads the mission document.
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