Electrolyser manufacturing: RIL, Adani, L&T win incentives in maiden tender

The tender was floated under Centre's Green Hydrogen Mission

For India’s maiden tender for electrolyser manufacturing under the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), the Centre has finalised successful bidders which include Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Adani Enterprises, and L&T.

Out of the 21 bidders, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has shortlisted 8 players. These companies have placed bids for the incentives they would require to set up the specified manufacturing capacity of electrolysers. The total incentive awarded is Rs 2,220 crore for 1.5 gigawatts of manufacturing.

Electrolysers use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. They are crucial for producing low-emission hydrogen from renewable or nuclear electricity.

The bids in the first tranche followed the ‘bucket-fill’ method. Of this, 1.2 gigawatts can employ any global technology; the balance is indigenous. The base incentive will start from Rs 4,440 per kilowatt and gradually decrease every year. The incentive period will be five years.

SECI late last year issued a tender for both hydrogen and electrolyser manufacturing. For its maiden green hydrogen manufacturing tender, it called for bids against incentives that the Centre has allocated under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme aimed at setting up green hydrogen and electrolysers.

The SIGHT programme is one of the four components under the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) announced earlier this year. The first phase of the mission will see the setting up of 1.5 gigawatts of electrolyser manufacturing, with 0.3 gigawatts of indigenous capacity, the government said in June.

The Union Cabinet last year approved an initial outlay of Rs 19,500 crore for the National Hydrogen Mission, announced by the prime minister in his 75th Independence Day speech in 2021. The mission will have four components which would aim to enhance the domestic production of green hydrogen and promote the manufacturing of electrolysers – a key component for making green hydrogen.

The initial outlay for the mission will include Rs 17,490 crore for the SIGHT programme, Rs 1,466 crore for pilot projects, Rs 400 crore for R&D, and Rs 388 crore towards other mission components, the Centre said in a statement. The initial target is to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually.