Mukesh Ambani sees green hydrogen costs coming down to $1 per kg in 10 yrs

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries (RIL), on Friday said India can be the first country to bring down the cost of green hydrogen to $1 per kg within a decade, reiterating the company’s push towards alternate energy.     

Addressing the International Climate Summit 2021, he said, “Efforts are on globally to make green hydrogen the most affordable fuel option by bringing down its cost to initially under $2 per kg. Let me assure you all that Reliance will aggressively pursue this target and achieve it well before the turn of this decade.” He added that India can set an even more aggressive target of achieving under $1 per kg within a decade. ‘’This will make India the first country globally to achieve $1 per 1 kg in 1 decade – the 1-1-1 target for green hydrogen,” he added.

According to the European Commission’s July 2020 hydrogen strategy, green hydrogen produced with renewable resources costs anything from $3 to $6.5 per kg. Fuel-based hydrogen is cheaper at around $1.80 per kg.      

While hydrogen generation technologies have been around for a while, green hydrogen is made using renewable energy, making it more sustainable and environment friendly.

‘’The rapid fall in the cost of production has made solar energy highly competitive, attracting large-scale investments. This shall play a key role in ensuring similar growth trends in green hydrogen – the future replacement of fossil fuels,” Ambani said.

While clean energy transition is a global imperative, it is important for India for another reason, he said. ‘’Most of our present energy demand is met by imported fossil fuels costing us $160 billion every year,” he said.

In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for an ‘’energy independent’’ nation before 2047. He highlighted multiple avenues to cut the import bill, including for hydrogen. He also announced a national hydrogen mission.

At another session during the International Climate Summit on Friday, Deepesh Nanda, Chief Executive Officer, GE Gas Power South Asia, said, “India’s potential to transform into an international hub for green hydrogen can be realised through implementing a robust policy framework that can further boost development of the necessary infrastructure, monitor supply chain dynamics and promote using latest innovative technology to burn carbon-free Hydrogen in a safe manner.”

Tirtha Biswas, programme lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), said, “As per CEEW analysis, the total investment potential of green hydrogen in India is $44 billion by 2030. Further, green hydrogen holds the potential to become competitive for end-use sectors like steel and ammonia within the next decade.”

“To scale up green hydrogen, the government should focus on research and development, ensure access to round-the-clock renewable power for decentralised hydrogen production, and explore blending green hydrogen in existing processes, especially the industrial sector,” Biswas added.

Ambani said a new green revolution had already begun in India. “The old green revolution made India self-reliant in food production. The new green revolution will help make India self-sufficient in energy production,” he said.

Making a pitch for more renewable energy, Ambani said, “Taking advantage of over 300 sunny days in a year, India can easily generate over 1,000 GW of solar energy on just 0.5 per cent of our land. Solar is perfectly suited to decentralised energy production, which in turn can promote decentralised socio-economic development.”

“By investing in smart, two-way grids, micro-grids, efficient storage solutions and smart meters, we can enable individuals, communities and neighbourhoods to become both consumers and producers of energy. These installations can be located close to demand. They have low maintenance requirements,” he said.

Ambani noted that the PM had set a goal to reach 450GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. “Out of this, Reliance will establish and enable at least 100GW of solar energy by 2030. This will create a pan-India network of kilowatt and megawatt scale solar energy producers who can produce green hydrogen for local consumption,” he said.

On the new energy business, he said, “We have started developing the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex over 5,000 acres in Jamnagar. It will be amongst the largest integrated renewable energy manufacturing facilities in the world.”

“This complex will have four giga factories, which cover the entire spectrum of renewable energy. The first will be an integrated solar photovoltaic module factory. The second will be an advanced energy storage battery factory. The third will be an electrolyser factory for the production of green hydrogen. The fourth will be a fuel cell factory for converting hydrogen into motive and stationary power,” he said.

Over the next three years, the company plans to invest Rs 75,000 crore in these initiatives.