Hydrogen valleys development in Kochi

Kerala hopes to develop hydrogen valleys in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram and achieve 30% green hydrogen blending in the total hydrogen usage in the State by 2027. This was revealed in a preliminary draft drawn up for a Kerala green hydrogen policy.

The draft was circulated for discussion at a workshop on ‘Hydrogen Valley in Kerala’ organised by the Energy Management Centre (EMC), IIT Palakkad, the Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology (Anert), and the Union Department of Science and Technology (DST).

The project for hydrogen valleys in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram will be taken up under the Hydrogen valley scheme of the DST. The draft also mentions the government’s plan to set up a hydrogen hub at Kochi with focus on domestic consumption and export under the India Hydrogen Alliance (IH2A).

A hydrogen valley, as per the DST definition, is a geographical area where hydrogen serves more than one end-sector or application in mobility, industry and energy, covering all the steps in the hydrogen value chain: production, storage, transportation and distribution. ‘Green hydrogen’ is hydrogen produced using renewable energy.

The draft further notes that the State is actively exploring partners to form a consortium for the hydrogen valley project. In this regard, a proposal will be submitted to the DST.

Achieving 30% green hydrogen blending in the total hydrogen consumption by chemical, fertilizer and refinery units in Kerala by 2027, establishing centres of excellence for R&D and developing global partnerships on export of green hydrogen are among the plans.

Kerala also aims to offer incentives to reduce the cost of green hydrogen generation to below $2/kg initially and slash it further to less than $1/kg in the long run, the draft says.

The State hopes to be a leading hydrogen/ammonia producer and exporter as well as a 100% green hydrogen/ammonia consumption State by 2040, the draft says. Kerala is already moving ahead with plans to turn into a 100% renewable energy-based State by 2040 and net carbon-neutral by 2050.