Will a hydrogen fuel cell bus be successful in India?

 It will take another 3-4 years to know if green hydrogen fuel cell buses will be successful or not. These type of busses has been rolled out in India and hence technology is available now. Storage and transportation of hydrogen issues will get resolved in due course. Only issue is the cost of green hydrogen production. If India can make it economically, there is a huge export potential.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Monday 25 September 2023 unveiled the nation's first green hydrogen-powered bus that emits just water as it takes the lead in bringing out unrivaled tools to replace fossil fuels. IOC will produce close to 75 kg of hydrogen by splitting water using electricity from renewable sources. This hydrogen will be used to power two buses which will ply across the NCR for trial runs. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, flagging off the buses, said hydrogen will be India's transition fuel for moving away from fossil fuels. IOC's R&D Centre at Faridabad is producing green hydrogen for the pilot run. Four cylinders with a capacity of 30 kg can run the buses for 350 km. It takes 10-12 minutes for the four tanks to fill. Hydrogen when burnt emits only water vapour as a by-product. With three times the energy density and the absence of harmful emissions, hydrogen shines as a cleaner, more efficient choice to meet the energy requirement.

The technology is still some distance away from full-scale commercial deployment. The buses currently have a hydrogen capacity of 30 kg and provide a range of 350 km. At a manufacturing cost of Rs 300-400/Kg of hydrogen, the per kilometre cost of running the vehicles is between Rs 25.7 to 34.3, which is significantly higher (more than 10x) than other fuel sources. So, the next step should be to bring the cost of green hydrogen production at part with petroleum products in next 2-3 years with cheaper solar generated electricity and large scale manufacturing.

The Union Budget has designated green growth as one of the seven themes with thrust on ecosystem development for green hydrogen, infrastructure strengthening for utility scale renewable energy power, pushing India towards net zero target. The focus on green growth, as one of the seven priority areas in the Union Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, will lend a fillip to the transition towards decarbonisation, and achieving the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the larger net-zero goals. The outlay of Rs 19700 crore for the National Green Hydrogen Mission and the annual production target of 5 MMT by 2030 will serve as an impetus to the de-carbonization process and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. This is a welcome move as India tries to rapidly increase the share of renewables in the grid. The Finance Minister also pledged Rs 35000 crore in support for net zero and energy transition objectives. So, Modi government is keen to make green hydrogen fuel a success as it will save foreign exchange.

Picture source: Google / Respective rightful owner

Energy from green hydrogen will be expensive, even in 2050
Green hydrogen is considered a crucial solution to decarbonise ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors and, whilst some commentators suggest it will be available for ~$0.5 /kg – a cost level that is infeasible in our view – we don’t believe it will be available for <$3 /kg (real 2022) at the point of use, even in 2050. $3 /kg is equivalent to ~$80 /MWh, higher than natural gas prices today and 6x higher than pre-energy crisis, steady-state thermal coal prices.
https://sustainability.crugroup.com/article/energy-from-green-hydrogen-will-be-expensive-even-in-2050

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