Need to track green hydrogen utilisation: MNRE secretary

Time of India

19-06-2025

India is preparing a plan to track utilisation of
green hydrogen
and build global partnerships for
export
ing the fuel, Secretary Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Santosh Kumar Sarangi said Thursday. Speaking at the CII International Business Conclave on Green Hydrogen, he said traceability of green hydrogen utilisation is very important. He also said concessions for green hydrogen export will be part of India's deliberations in
trade
agreements.
According to the secretary, one is not currently able to decipher whether steel was made using grey or green hydrogen once production is complete. 'Having traceability and trackability (of green hydrogen utilisation) is important,' Sarangi said. Steel is among the sectors where a push is being made for decarbonisation across the world since it accounts for roughly 10 per cent of global emissions.
Sarangi said deliberations are underway with green hydrogen producers to finalise measures for identifying, tracing, and tracking the final product, which is made using green hydrogen.
These efforts are in line with India's
National Green Hydrogen Mission
launched in January 2023, with Rs 19,744 crore outlay. The overarching objective of the mission is to make India a global hub for production, usage, and export of green hydrogen and its derivatives, by targeting 5 million tonnes production per annum by 2030.
The secretary said the government is working towards collaborating with stakeholders in these aspects. 'We are in discussions with Europe, the Port of Rotterdam, and Port of Antwerp to ensure that Green Hydrogen exported to these countries has the right transmission lines,' he said. Responding to queries at the sidelines, Sarangi said
green hydrogen exports
and favourable terms for domestic producers will be part of India - European Union Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
Wind speed forecasts in question
Speaking to ET on the sidelines of the event, Sumant Sinha, Chairman and CEO, ReNew said wind forecasts are not as reliable, affecting project output. Sinha heads the CII National Council on Energy Transition & Hydrogen.
He was responding to a query on the status of round-the-clock (
RTC
) renewable energy projects in the country and the reforms needed. 'The wind speeds are a lot lower than had been forecast earlier, leading to under generation from a lot of the wind projects,' Sinha said. RTC projects generally use a mix of solar, wind, and battery storage to ensure continuous
supply
of clean energy.
According to Sinha, wind forecasts are not turning out to be accurate, leading to wind turbine-based generation projects underperforming. ReNew has India's largest wind portfolio of 4.7 GW, representing 10.5 percent of India's total wind energy capacity.
'Now because we have history and because we have all these wind turbines installed all across the country, we are able to see that and so we are making adjustments for future generation forecasts,' he said.