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Take a look at the essential events, concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your UPSC Current Affairs knowledge nugget for today on India’s Green hydrogen plants.
Claiming that “a big step has been taken today”, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday inaugurated the state’s first green hydrogen plant in Gorakhpur, with the project aiming to produce 72,000 tonnes of green fuel in a year. In this context, let’s learn about India’s green hydrogen plants and the significance of hydrogen as a fuel.
1. “This is the first such plant in Uttar Pradesh and only second in the country. A big step has been taken today as this plant would ensure blending of green hydrogen with CNG (compressed natural gas) and PNG (piped natural gas),” the Chief Minister said.
2. As a pilot project, the plant will mix 2% green hydrogen with natural gas (both CNG and PNG) for city gas distribution systems. Officials informed that the 2 MW renewable energy plant will generate hydrogen through electrolysis, reducing carbon emissions by around 500 tonnes.
1.The first commercial-scale green hydrogen plant in India’s stainless steel sector was inaugurated virtually on March 4, 2024 at Jindal Stainless Ltd’s (JSL) manufacturing unit in Haryana’s Hisar, by Union Minister for Steel and Civil Aviation, Sh. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia.
2. It is the world’s first off-grid Green Hydrogen plant for the stainless steel industry and the world’s first Green Hydrogen plant with rooftop & floating solar.
3. This project is also a state-of-the-art green hydrogen facility with a target to reduce carbon emissions considerably by around 2,700 Metric Tonnes per annum and 54,000 tons of CO2 emissions over next two decades.
1. Recently, India’s 1st Make-in-India Green Hydrogen Plant in the port sector has been commissioned at Kandla by the Deendayal Port Authority, Kandla. With this, Kandla became the first Indian port to house a megawatt-scale indigenous green hydrogen facility.
2. Developed entirely by Indian engineers, the plant is the first module of a larger 10-megawatt green hydrogen project announced by the Prime minister in May 2025.
3. The plant has an annual production capacity of 140 metric tonnes of green hydrogen. The initiative follows DPA’s earlier green success – the launch of India’s first Make-in-India electric Green Tug.
1. Hydrogen, the most common element in nature, exists only in combination with other elements, and has to be extracted from naturally occurring compounds like water (which is a combination of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom). It is a clean molecule, but the process of extracting it is energy intensive.
2. While hydrogen’s potential as a clean fuel source has a history of nearly 150 years, it was only after the oil price shocks of the 1970s that the possibility of hydrogen replacing fossil fuels came to be considered seriously.
3. The sources and processes by which hydrogen is derived are categorised by colour tabs. Hydrogen produced from fossil fuels is called grey hydrogen. Currently, most of the hydrogen produced for industrial consumption and applications is grey hydrogen.
4. Hydrogen generated from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage options is called blue hydrogen.
5. Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced from water electrolysis—splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen—by using renewable energy-powered electrolysers. It is considered a virtually emission-free pathway for hydrogen production.
6. There are particular benefits to green hydrogen:
(i) It is a clean burning molecule that can be used to decarbonize a variety of industries, such as transportation, chemicals, and iron and steel.
(ii) Hydrogen can be produced by channeling renewable energy that the grid is unable to store or use.
1. To boost India’s green hydrogen exports and encourage energy-intensive sectors to adopt the emerging fuel, the Centre has introduced a certification scheme under the National Green Hydrogen Mission and notified rules for claiming emission offsets under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS).
2. Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi on April 29 launched a scheme to measure, monitor, report, verify on-site, and certify green hydrogen based on a standard introduced by the Ministry in 2023.
3. On April 27, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), nodal agency for the Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme, also announced an offset mechanism for hard-to-abate sectors using green hydrogen under CCTS, to allow them to earn and trade credits.
4. Notably, in 2023, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) introduced a green hydrogen standard, capping emissions at 2 kg of CO2 per kg of hydrogen produced. The certification scheme, based on the standard, applies only to green hydrogen production from electrolysis or conversion of biomass.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2023, recognising the role of Green Hydrogen in India’s ambitions of energy independence by 2047 and Net Zero by 2070. Supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), NGHM views Green Hydrogen as a sunrise sector for India. It has the objective of making India a global hub for the production, usage and export of Green Hydrogen and its derivatives.
The 2030 target for green hydrogen production capacity under the NGHM is 5 million tonnes per annum, contributing to reduction in dependence on import of fossil fuels. Achievement of the mission targets is expected to reduce India’s fossil fuel imports by a cumulative Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030.
With reference to the green hydrogen, consider the following statements:
1. Hydrogen generated using electrolysers powered by renewable power sources is called green hydrogen.
2. India’s 1st Make-in-India Green Hydrogen Plant in the port sector has been commissioned at Kandla.
3. Green hydrogen can decarbonise iron and steel sector.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None
| Answer Key |
| (c) |
(Sources: Yogi Adityanath inaugurates UP’s first green hydrogen project, http://www.pib.gov.in, newsonair.gov.in, Indian stainless steel sector’s first green hydrogen plant, Knowledge Nugget: India’s quest for the first hydrogen-powered train, India notifies certification scheme)
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