WB approves $1.5 bn for green hydrogen push in India

The World Bank has approved the second round of $1.5 billion loan to help India push its low-carbon energy development. The funds will help promote the development of a vibrant market for green hydrogen, continue to scale up renewable energy, and stimulate finance for low-carbon energy investments.

India is the fastest-growing large economy in the world, and the economy is expected to continue to expand at a rapid pace. Decoupling economic growth from emissions growth will require scaling up renewable energy, especially in hard-to-abate industrial sectors. This, in turn, will require an expansion of green hydrogen production and consumption as well as a faster development of climate finance to boost the mobilization of finance for low-carbon investments.

World Bank’s Second Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation – the second in a series of two operations similar in size –will support reforms to boost the production of green hydrogen and electrolyzers, critical technology needed for green hydrogen production. It will also support reforms to boost renewable energy penetration, for instance, by incentivizing battery energy storage solutions and amending the Indian Electricity Grid Code to improve renewable energy integration into the grid.

In June 2023, the World Bank approved the first $1.5 billion First Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation, which supported the waiver of transmission charges for renewable energy in green hydrogen projects, the issuance of a clear path to launch 50 GW of renewable energy tenders annually and creating a legal framework for a national carbon credit market.

The reforms supported by the World Bank funding are expected to result in the production of at least 450,000 metric tons of green hydrogen and 1.5 GW of electrolyzers per year from FY25/26 onwards. In addition, it will significantly help to increase renewable energy capacity and support reductions in emissions by 50 million tons per year. It will also support steps to further develop a national carbon credit market.