Electrolyser manufacturer Ohmium International (Ohmium) will work alongside technology firm Tata Projects to advance green hydrogen projects in India.
Although no specific projects have been outlined, Ohmium has stated it will supply PEM electrolysers while Tata Projects will manage the EPC process, including engineering, design, integration and optimisation.
“Ohmium is excited to bring our PEM electrolyser technology together with Tata Projects’ EPC expertise to promote green hydrogen production and global sustainability,” said Arne Ballantine, CEO at Ohmium.
“Together, we share the goal of driving the adoption of green hydrogen in India and accelerating the country’s transition towards a sustainable energy future.”
US-headquartered but with an Indian hub in Bengaluru, Ohmium last year raised $250m to help grow its business to 2GW (gigawatts) in annual manufacturing capacity and boost its R&D spending to reduce the costs involved with green hydrogen production.
Manufacturing enterprise Tata Group has made significant investments in green hydrogen across its business sectors.
In 2022, Tata Steel invested €65m ($69.6m) in developing the first stage of a hydrogen-based steel manufacturing project, while Tata Power last year unveiled its plans for a pilot project in green hydrogen and battery energy storage.
India’s green hydrogen mission
Having recently announced its National Green Hydrogen Mission with an outlay of $2.3bn, India has outlined its strategy to accelerate the country’s green hydrogen economy.
Approved in January 2023, the Mission targets at least five million metric tonnes per annum of green hydrogen capacity with an associated renewable energy capacity of about 125GW by 2030.
According to the strategy, the targeted production capacity will bring over $2.4bn in total investments and it is expected to have a total of $96bn in investments by 2030.
A report released earlier this year by Alvarez & Marshall revealed that India’s focus on playing a leading role in the green hydrogen market could result in exports worth $3-5bn and import substitution worth $7-15bn over the next ten years.
“For India, the case to aggressively support green hydrogen is strong,” stated the report. “By moving early, we can stake a claim to a larger share of the global energy trade, substitute some of our imports, especially LNG and spur domestic GDP growth.”
However, to reach its targets, India could need to scale up its outlay to $4-12bn cumulatively in the run up to 2030, depending on how quickly costs fall.
“While this figure is large in absolute terms, it is small in the context of our economy and our oil import bill, which is estimated at a staggering $1-1.4 trillion over the same period.”
To capitalise on its potential and create momentum for nascent green hydrogen projects, Alvarez & Marshall recommends that the government targets the creation of initial domestic demand for one million tonnes of hydrogen by 2027.
“This could be done in a transparent manner through public-private partnership models to design projects. Some of the sectors that should be targeted are refineries, fertiliser, steel and heavy-duty transport.”
The report suggests reducing green hydrogen costs by 45% through supply-side interventions, contract models and tax reductions. However, India faces challenges due to low incentive rates under the SIGHT scheme. Currently, India offers $0.48/kg for the first three years, while the US and Europe provide more substantial incentives of up to $3/kg and $4.9/kg.
