• Green hydrogen is hydrogen that is produced using renewable energy through electrolysis.
• Green hydrogen has significantly lower carbon emissions than grey hydrogen.

Challenges in producing green hydrogen

1. Electrolyser challenge

• Electrolyser is a system that uses electricity to break water into hydrogen and oxygen in a process called electrolysis. 
• According to International Energy Agency, as of 2021 the global manufacturing capacity of electrolysers stands at 8 GW/year.
• So, if India were to achieve its 2030 target, it would need 60-100 GW (gigawatt) of electrolyser capacity, which means almost 12 times the current global production capacity.
• Lack of access to critical minerals such as nickel and rare earth metals such as lanthanum and zirconium to overcome the electrolyser challenge.
• These resources are concentrated in China, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, Chile and Peru.
• India has limited processing capabilities in these minerals.

2. Energy source challenge

• Green hydrogen requires renewable energy as a source of electricity.
• India''s plan is to install 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 but currently 174.53 Giga Watts.

3. Endogenous resources challenge

• Production of one kg of hydrogen by electrolysis requires around nine litres of water.
• Electrolysis is the process of using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. 
• In the case of India, its requirement of approximately 50 billion litres of demineralised water supply.
• As several parts of India are already severely water-stressed.
• It will impact biodiversity and create challenges and limitations in the location of electrolysers.

4. Policy challenges

• Uncertainty in the policy framework
• Lack of research and development (“R&D”)
• Capital-intensive process can cause burden to government funds.

Looking forward

• Set up largescale manufacturing, build expertise and secure geopolitical partnerships for the procurement of critical minerals.
• Improve the overall technical and economic viability of electrolysers year-over-year.
• Add efficiently and economically close to 100 GW of overall renewable energy capacity per year over the next seven years and make available dispatch corridors and mechanisms.
• Establish safety standards for green hydrogen storage and transportation, adding to the cost of hydrogen as a fuel.
• Green hydrogen hubs to strike a fine balance between being renewable energy-rich, water resource-rich and being close to hydrogen demand (end-use) centres for them to be economically feasible while keeping the additional costs minimum.

Currently, the global levelized cost of producing green hydrogen ranges between Rs. 250-650/kg while India aims to produce green hydrogen in the range of Rs 100-150/kg by 2030. It is a difficult task to accomplish. There are challenges on the way but there is a huge benefit if India will achieve the green hydrogen target. It will surely boost the economy and will give new hights to our energy sector.