Reliance Industries Assesses New Technologies To Make Cheaper Green Hydrogen

The fuel is seen as critical to decarbonising hard-to-abate industries such as oil refineries and steel mills, helping meet global targets to zero out emissions and fight global warming

Mukesh Ambani last year had said Reliance will pursue an aggressive target to produce green hydrogen at $1 per kilogram by the end of this decade. ( Image Source :Getty )

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) is evaluating new technologies for making electrolyzers in its efforts to produce low-cost green hydrogen in the country, Bloomberg reported.

Kapil Maheshwari, president for new energy at RIL, said at the Bloomberg NEF summit in Delhi that the conglomerate, as part of the push, also plans to bid for any production-linked incentives (PLIs) the government may offer to encourage the technology.

The Centre unveiled the first phase of its green hydrogen policy in February, offering a range of incentives for firms to set up projects. India is considering offering more “sweeteners” for producers, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh said last week.

Green hydrogen has drawn tens of billions of dollars in investment commitments from investors, including Ambani and Gautam Adani. The fuel, produced by splitting water with the help of clean energy like wind power, is seen as critical to decarbonising hard-to-abate industries such as oil refineries and steel mills, helping meet global targets to zero out emissions and fight global warming.

Maheshwari added that India needs to provide certainty about policies and help build a market for green hydrogen by requiring some industries to purchase the fuel, a step the government is already discussing.

Last year, Ambani had said RIL will pursue an aggressive target to produce green hydrogen at $1 per kilogram by the end of this decade. At the time, the cost of producing the fuel was between $2.22 and $4.62 a kilogram in India.

Both Ambani and Adani have pledged more than $140 billion in green investments, as their fossil fuel-driven empires pivot away from oil and coal.

Green hydrogen is crucial to this shift, as the two business tycoons champion the government’s ambition to make India a global leader for production and exports of this fuel.