India’s energy demand is projected to increase to 366 GW by 2031–32, requiring installed electricity generation capacity of about 900 GW. Meeting the country’s growing power needs comes with a formidable pressure to transition to cleaner fuels to achieve the Net Zero goals by 2070. This can be sustainably absorbed if we direct our attention to developing a world-class infrastructure for scaling up green hydrogen production in time.
It has been three years since the government announced the National Green Hydrogen Mission to establish India as a global green hydrogen hub. The aim was clear: To produce 5 MMT by 2030. Since 2023, we have made significant progress in realising this goal, yet there remain several areas where we need to accelerate our efforts and reconsider our strategy to fully achieve our targets.
Infrastructure challenges in unlocking India’s green hydrogen potential
While solar and wind energy resources are abundant in India, their power output is variable and dependent on weather and time of day. They require storage or grid management solutions to ensure reliability. Considering this, producing green hydrogen using renewable energy is a much better option. Green Hydrogen can power regions where electrification is difficult, can be stored for week to months, transported across regions, and even traded internationally, all of which are difficult in the case of conventional electrical storage.
Currently, India produces about 6.5 to 6.7 MMTPA of hydrogen, predominantly from fossil fuels. To meet the 5 MMT green hydrogen target by 2030, infrastructure and safety readiness are fundamental. Hydrogen, being highly flammable in nature, ranging from 4% to 75% in air and with an ignition energy nearly 10× lower than methane, requires special tanks and pipes for storage and transportation. The existing natural gas system is unsuitable for green hydrogen, as hydrogen’s unique physical properties would lead to material degradation (hydrogen embrittlement) in standard steel pipes, leading to cracking and high leakage rates.
And this is just one piece of the broader set of challenges. Availability of ultra-pure water close to renewable energy resources is another major constraint. About 80–90% of total freshwater in India goes to the agriculture sector, and the remaining is reserved for household, industry and other purposes. Although green hydrogen production chemically requires only ~9 liters of water per kg of H₂, real systems consume 15–20 liters per kg due to purification and losses and require conductivity of ~1 μS/cm, far purer than drinking water (~1000 μS/cm).
The water sources should also be located close to high-potential regions for solar and wind energy generation, such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, to maximise efficiency and reduce transmission losses. However, many of these regions are water-stressed, increasing the production cost of green hydrogen and reducing the efficiency of the system.
Scaling green hydrogen production strategically
Hydrogen infrastructure development is not merely about installing pipelines and setting the hubs. Being highly reactive and of a small molecular size, it requires stringent safety measures. Hence, public tender for structural development must be made bearing these criticalities in mind. Instead of lowest-price awards, we must prioritise technical qualification, safety design, lifecycle performance, water management, and service capability as preconditions.
The infrastructure rollout must be hub-based rather than project-by-project to ensure the system’s safety and efficiency. Developing shared pipelines, storage, operations, and management across hubs can bring down unit infrastructure costs by 20–30% compared to isolated facilities. And while designing the infrastructure, safety measures must be applied universally across production sites, cities, hubs, and ports as permanent infrastructure features, not as project-specific add-ons. Smaller industrial hubs, such as refineries, fertiliser plants, steel clusters, and ports, that already consume large volumes of hydrogen or energy, are ideal for dedicated hydrogen pipelines (10–50 km), centralised storage, and anchor offtake contracts. This approach would enable faster scaling of green hydrogen production and utilisation at minimal risk.
As far as the water needs for ultra-pure water are concerned, solutions must prioritise non-potable sources and technological innovation. Recycling treated wastewater, industrial effluents, brackish water, and coastal desalination using advanced technologies can make them suitable for green hydrogen production. Certainly, this requires heavy investment in research and development, as well as partnerships with private players.
Given the current infrastructure limitation, we have piloted hydrogen blending into the natural gas grid to reduce carbon emissions, but it is not a long-term solution to the problem. Meaningful decarbonisation requires dedicated hydrogen infrastructure, and we must prioritise this development.
To become a global leader in the production, utilisation, and export of green hydrogen, we must focus on developing a strong and well-connected ecosystem. Installing electrolysers should not be the only priority. While India has clearly established its intent to scale green hydrogen production to meet the growing demand for energy and reduce carbon emissions in hard-to-abate sectors like steel and cement, success depends heavily on multisectoral collaboration and a strategic approach.
(The article has been authored by Surbhi Puri, Director, Green Power International)
