Hydrogen and fuel cells technologies are of highly strategic importance from India’s point of view and this is also linked to our plans for setting up around 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 mentioned P. C. Maithani, Director, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India speaking at the BRICS E-conference on Hydrogen Fuels. 

India was among the few countries to constitute the National Hydrogen Energy Board in 2004, says Maithani while talking about how the country has been focusing majorly on R&D in the space for industrial and other applications. 

“Apart from meeting electricity needs, transportation is where hydrogen can play a role in replacement of fossil fuels. It can also replace fossil fuels used in refinery and steel industries. Green hydrogen conversion, supply chain and infrastructure development and research and development as it is the fulcrum of all future deployment programs. We are looking at massive R&D programs as otherwise things will remain static. As we know hydrogen R&D projects are at a certain level of development and still little far from other baseline technologies that are being used for various applications. To create demand and move ahead, the demonstration of applications is necessary for validation of niche technologies and to understand the loopholes if any,” commented Maithani. 

The Ministry has initiated various projects on fuel cell production, R&D, supply chain and infrastructure development, reveals Maithani as he adds, “In applications, some of the technologies have been developed. IIT-Delhi has come up with a hydrogen combustion internal engine. These have been tested and found at par with global technologies that are available. One of these projects includes 40 fuel cell driven three wheelers developed by IIT-Delhi and BHU in collaboration with industry partners such as Mahindra and Mahindra. They have cloaked more than 70,000 kilometers on hydrogen and have been found effective. Also, the two hydrogen fuelled mini-buses have been developed by Mahindra and Mahindra at the IIT-Delhi.” 

On the application front, Maithani points how Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Centre for Fuel Cell Technology at IIT-Bombay have been developing fuel cell exchange and one proton cell exchange in collaboration with Mahindra and Mahindra. “The biological route by IIT-Kharagpur has been perfected by it and then quick capacity production has been developed and infact, it has been transferred to few industries for their applications. Fuel cell grade H2 from biomass has been produced by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has entered into a MoU with IISc to transfer the technology where it can be used for various applications. In case of storage, IIT Madras and BHU have developed carbon nanomaterials. Infrastructure wise a beginning has been made and there are many facilities being set up such as fuel refilling stations at IOCL’s Faridabad centre. Indian oil has been running 50 buses on hydrogen compressed natural gas fuel in Delhi successfully.” 

“While there are baskets of activities on R&D, a lot needs to be done. We recognize that while these technologies are promising, there are also a few gaps in terms of cost and efficiency,” clarifies Maithani. 

Roadmap for future

MNRE has developed the Draft National Hydrogen Energy Mission document which includes demand creation, pilot projects, infrastructure, R&D standards and regulatory framework, and indigenous manufacturing. 

Many ministries are working on parallel initiatives, reveals Maithani. “The Department of Science and Technology is supporting advanced basic R&D. Networked platforms for hydrogen technology. New call for proposals launched in June 2021. The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas is implementing H-CNG fuelled by transport buses in Delhi, pilots for Green H2 for refineries, H2 blending in city gas networks. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified standards on safety of FCEVs. They have also notified hydrogen CNG as automotive fuel. Regulatory framework for H2 fuelled vehicles." 

The Department of Heavy Industries is implementing a program on faster adoption and manufacturing of EV (FAME-II) scheme-financial incentives to EVs. BHEL, a public sector entity under the Department of Heavy Industries, is undertaking fuel cell development. They are ready to transfer the technology. NTPC has undertaken significant research in fuel cell technology and they have plans to operate fuel cell buses in high altitude areas such as the Himalayas and replace diesel based energy units in highlands,” mentions Maithani. 

Talking about the immediate way forward, Maithani mentions, “While we have set our goals for 2030, we have kick-started groundwork for 2024 targets. We aim to develop ecosystems and create niche applications in the form of pilots for transport purposes, be it individual or public transport. For instance, railways has come up recently with two proposals on advanced stage usage of hydrogen for locomotive purposes. Steel is a virgin industry where we again have proposals looking at producing green steel where instead of using coke, we could use hydrogen for detox purposes. For the fertilizer industry, we can again use hydrogen instead of ammonia and other natural gases.” 

He goes on to add: “By the end of the year, mission activities will be in place and green hydrogen consumption obligations in some of the industries will also be put in place. This mission apart from demand aggregation, will be the setting up pilot for aggregation, for production, supply chain including setting up fueling stations etc. Another area of work is setting up hydrogen hubs as these are vital for kick starting all the actions. For transport, we will identify the areas where we can experiment in a concentrated way. One of the challenges is that the pilot scale projects at niche areas will require additional investments. Industry can participate in it as a future investment. Public and private can join hands to tackle these issues amicably.” 

On the question of utilizing existing infrastructure, Maithani pointed out effective use of existing natural gas pipelines. “Studies in India show 18% replacement of gas pipelines where hydrogen is possible. This is a low hanging fruit. Research and analytical studies are also important. In 2019, the International Energy Agency had come up with a report that by 2026-27 the hydrogen technologies will be cost effective with baseline. We are working on creating policies, regulations and infrastructure to facilitate it fast.”