India aims to emerge as a refuelling hub for all green ships and providing them with green hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol at cheapest rates, said Power and Renewable Energy Minister, R K Singh, at an event.
“Shipping will go green in the next 10 years, so we have to be prepared for it. We have to emerge as the refueling destination for all the green ships… That is our ambition. Also to provide them with green hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol at the cheapest rates,” said Singh.
He added that India will have to prepare bunkers at the shipyards and prepare pilot projects for which the ministry is already in talks with the shipping ministry.
Singh also said that the ministry will come out with pilot projects for storage of green hydrogen and green ammonia for round-the-clock renewable energy.
Speaking on the ongoing pilots, he said that most of them are already commercially viable.
“If we have round-the-clock renewable energy using green hydrogen or ammonia storage, it will be rated around Rs 4.25 or Rs 5.50. There are already companies which have developed turbines that can use green hydrogen or ammonia, the focus now shifts to replicating these pilots on a larger scale,” he said.
The minister added that this would, at one stroke, free India from the problem of going for large scale imports of Lithium-ion batteries till the country has its own manufacturing capacities.
“This can be done in the next 2 years to 2.5 years flat. So, for the pace at which we are growing, this is the solution, round-the-clock renewable energy using green hydrogen,” he added.
Similarly, Singh said that pilot projects for long distance heavy mobility can be structured in a way that can provide refuelling points for hydrogen in a dispersed manner.
“We can earmark routes for heavy mobility using hydrogen. If we give VGF for the first and second round, then from the third round onwards no VGF will be required, according to me… It will emerge as commercially viable,” he added.
Highlighting the country’s growth and increasing power demands, Singh said that electricity is a clear indicator of where the country is going. Emphasizing the importance of moving away from energy imports, he said that this was India’s moment to emerge as an exporter of energy.
He also highlighted existing green hydrogen pilots for green steel and long-haul transportation. With electric mobility proving impractical for long distances and the bulk of lithium reserves being tied to one country, green hydrogen or ammonia will emerge as frontrunners.
Singh wrapped up by stressing the importance of commercial structuring for the success of these pilots.
