India’s leading industrial and energy companies, including Reliance Industries (RIL), Adani Group, JSW Energy, and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), have submitted bids for the government’s incentives to produce green hydrogen using renewable power, according to sources.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had invited bids in October for setting up green hydrogen electrolyser plants with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW). The government plans to offer incentives of at least 10% of the capital cost of the plants, which use electricity from solar, wind, or other renewable sources to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The sources said that RIL, India’s largest private sector company, has bid for 500 MW of electrolyser capacity, while Adani Group, a conglomerate with interests in renewable energy, ports, airports, and mining, has bid for 300 MW. JSW Energy, a power producer and steel maker, has bid for 100 MW, and L&T, an engineering and construction giant, has bid for 50 MW.
The sources added that the bids will be evaluated based on the lowest incentive sought by the bidders, and the winners will be announced soon. The successful bidders will have to commission their plants within 18 months of signing the contracts, and will have to operate them for at least 25 years.
The government’s initiative is part of its ambitious target to produce 4 gigawatts (GW) of green hydrogen by 2030, and to make India a global hub for green hydrogen production and export. Green hydrogen is seen as a clean and versatile fuel that can replace fossil fuels in various sectors, such as transport, industry, and power generation.
India’s top firms have already announced their plans to invest in green hydrogen, which is expected to become cheaper as the cost of renewable power and electrolysers falls. RIL’s chairman Mukesh Ambani has said that the company aims to produce the world’s cheapest green hydrogen at $1 per kg by 2030.
Adani Group has partnered with French energy major TotalEnergies to create the world’s largest green hydrogen ecosystem, with an investment of $50 billion over the next 10 years. JSW Energy has set a target of producing 10 GW of green hydrogen by 2030, and L&T has formed a joint venture with Japan’s Toshiba to manufacture electrolysers in India.