India awards $261 mil for 450,000 mt/year renewable hydrogen production in 2024-25

India awarded Rupees 22.39 billion ($261 million) in incentives for the production of 450,000 mt/year renewable hydrogen in 2024-25 [April-March], the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) said April 1.

Solar Energy Corp of India (SECI), the government's tendering arm, awarded the incentive to nine developers including Reliance Green Hydrogen, Waaree Clean Energy Solutions and L&T Energy Green Tech.

SECI's terms and conditions state that the production facilities will be allowed 36 months from the date of issuance of the Letter of Award to commission full production capacity.

SECI's total award for renewable hydrogen production incentive now stands at 900,000 mt/year, factoring in the award from the first tender in January 2024.

India's Rupees 197.44 billion National Green Hydrogen Mission aims to incentivize the production of renewable hydrogen and its ecosystem with the goal of producing 5 million mt/yearof the fuel by 2030.

"India's green hydrogen sector saw significant developments [in 2024-25]," MNRE said, affirming India's "commitment to clean energy transition."

Meanwhile, non-fossil power capacity increased from 198.75 GW in March 2024 to 222.86 GW in February this year, MNRE said, adding the capacity added is likely to cross 25 GW when the full fiscal year data comes in.

"This is the highest increase in any year," MNRE said. India also achieved a "historic milestone of 100 GW solar power capacity" in January.

According to the National Green Hydrogen Mission, India's renewable hydrogen sector alone would need 125 GW of renewable power to fuel electrolyzers.

India is targeting a production capacity of 500 GW/year by 2030.

Renewables initiatives

MNRE said wind power capacity increased from 45.89 GW in March 2024 to 48.59 GW as of February.

The country's solar PV cell manufacturing capacity increased from around 9 GW in March 2024 to around 25 GW in March 2025, MNRE added.

SECI issued a tender for 500 MW offshore wind energy project off the Gujarat coast in September 2024 which is currently open, MNRE said.

The government approved a viability gap funding scheme for offshore wind energy projects with an outlay of Rupees 74.53 billion, including an outlay of Rupees 68.53 billion for the installation and commissioning of 1 GW of offshore wind energy projects (500 MW each off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu), MNRE said.

However, India's renewable energy expansion would need to pick up pace to facilitate decarbonization as the actual generation of power is heavily dependent on thermal power.

Data from 10 months of the just passed fiscal 2024-25 -- April to January -- shows power generation from wind solar and some other renewables was at 210.67 TWh, accounting for about 15% of the total power generation.

Electrolyzers

Incentives were also awarded for a capacity of 1.5 GW/year of electrolyzer manufacturing in 2024-25, MNRE said.

SECI awarded the incentives to 13 companies including Adani Enterprises, Avaada Electrolyser and Ohmium Operations in August 2024.

Platts assessed UAE hydrogen produced via alkaline electrolysis (including capital expenditures) at $5.81/kg April 1, down 4.3% from a month earlier.

It assessed Japan hydrogen produced via alkaline electrolysis (including capex) at $6.19/kg April 1, down 13% month over month.