AP govt proposes to make Vizag first green hydrogen city

Andhra Pradesh Government has proposed to make Visakhapatnam the first green hydrogen city in India even as the Centre has announced to drastically cut the cost of green hydrogen by a fifth over the next five years by offering incentives worth $2.2 billion. The National Green Hydrogen Mission has been finalised by the Government of India with an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore from FY24 to FY30 to make India a global hub for production, usage and export of green hydrogen and other forms of renewable energy, said Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

He disclosed this while speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day Energy Environment Summit with focus on Hydrogen Energy Resource & Opportunity (HERO)-2023 organised by Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE), Visakhapatnam.

Expressing concern over excessive use of fossil fuels, he said the government is giving thrust on renewable energy production so as to achieve targets set for net zero carbon emissions as part of building a decarbonised economy.

The mission envisages that India’s green hydrogen production will reach 5 MMT per annum leading to substantial reduction in dependence on crude exports thereby bringing down the usage of fossil fuels. The mission aims to stop import of fossil fuels worth Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030.

He said the government is confident of avoiding about 50 MMT per annum of CO2 emissions by producing and using the targeted quantum of green energy.