India’s second green hydrogen auction awards $258m to 9 companies

The Indian Government has awarded three-year subsidy payments to nine companies for green hydrogen production projects, with AM Green Ammonia and Waaree Clean Energy Solutions emerging as the biggest recipients. India allocated Rs 22.39bn crores ($258.84m) to support 450,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen production – the maximum allowable under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) Programme.

Last December, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) announced that the country’s second hydrogen auction was oversubscribed, attracting 14 bids for 625,500 tonnes. In the end, four bidders missed out, while those who aimed for maximum subsidies in select years lowered their overall average by quoting ultra-low rates in others. The second tranche of the Incentive Scheme for Green Hydrogen Production offers producers a three-year incentive with caps set at $0.61/kg in the first year, $0.49/kg in the second and $0.37/kg in the third. Although, none of the winners bid for the maximum across the three years.

The programme offered funding under two “buckets”: technology-agnostic pathways for 410,000 tonnes per year, and biomass-based pathways for 40,000 tonnes per year. Eight of the awardees were entered into Bucket 1, while Matrix Gas and Renewables were selected for Bucket 2. Oriana Power, Suryadeep KA1 Project, L&T Energy Green Tech, GH2 Solar, Green Infra Renewable Energy Farms, Reliance Green Hydrogen and Green Chemicals, Waaree and AM Green Ammonia were selected in Bucket 1. AM Green secured the highest bid for technology-agnostic pathways, winning the maximum 90,000 tonnes per year and Rs 513 crore in incentives – just ahead of Waaree, which received Rs 510.3 crore for the same capacity. Meanwhile, bidders like Avaada GreenH2, ChemSepT Engineering, Nishal Enterprises, and Ocior Energy India appear to have missed out on funding.