Top oil refiner sees India’s green hydrogen push halving costs

Bloomberg

Indian Oil Corp Ltd, the country’s biggest oil refiner and a large user of hydrogen, expects prices of the cleanest form of the fuel to halve after the government scrapped fees on wheeling renewable power across the country.
The offer to waive transmission charges on green energy from one state to the other can reduce costs by as much as 50% from $5-$6 a kilogram at present, Director for Research & Development SSV Ramakumar said in an interview. The country now needs to cross the second-biggest cost barrier by
promoting domestic manufacturing of electrolysers, key hardware needed for producing the fuel.
Green hydrogen, produced from water and green electricity, is seen as a potential path to decarbonise heavy industries, such as steel, cement and oil refineries. India, the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, plans to take the lead and has won support from state-run heavyweights like Indian Oil and NTPC Ltd as well as billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.
“While the whole world is gung-ho about India’s declining renewable electricity costs, inter-state transmission charges inflate the price at application sites,” Ramakumar said. “Now with the policy, the overall pie of green hydrogen cost cycle will reduce by at least 40% to 50%.” Besides free transmission of renewable power, India’s new policy offers help to companies in setting up storage facilities near ports for green hydrogen and green ammonia.