The government will announce the first part of a green hydrogen policy this week, under which green hydrogen producers will be granted free power transmission for renewable energy projects set up before 2025, Power Minister RK Singh said on Wednesday. He said the Centre would also come out with mandates, after clearance from the Cabinet, that require replacement of some proportion of grey hydrogen used by sectors such as oil refining, fertilisers and steel. Grey hydrogen is hydrogen produced using natural gas or methane, while green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis using renewable energy. “To boost green hydrogen manufacturing, we are giving people liberty to set up renewable energy capacity anywhere by themselves or through a developer. We will give them open access, banking for 30 days, and free transmission if that capacity is set up before 2025,” Singh said, adding that the policy would be released on Thursday or Friday. Renewable energy banking allows generators to deposit surplus power with a discom and withdraw such power later when required.
