Thirteen companies, including major players like Reliance Green Hydrogen, ReNew E-Fuels, L&T Energy, Waaree Energies, AM Green, GH2 Solar, and Avaada GreenH2, have submitted bids for government incentives to produce green hydrogen under the second tranche of the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) scheme.
The technical bids were opened on Monday, following the submission deadline of December 6. The scheme offers a maximum incentive of ₹5,400 crore under this tranche. According to a government official, the financial bids are expected to be opened and evaluated within the next 10 to 15 days.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had invited bids to establish green hydrogen manufacturing capacities totalling 450,000 tonnes per year under this tranche. However, the total capacity bid by companies exceeded this target, reaching 622,500 tonnes.
Other firms that joined the bidding process include Ocior Energy, Suryadeep KA1, Green Infra Renewable, Matrix Gas and Renewables, Oriana Power, and Nishal Enterprises.
The SIGHT programme is a crucial part of India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission, launched in January 2023 with a financial outlay of ₹17,490 crore. Out of this, ₹13,050 crore has been allocated for green hydrogen production capacities until the financial year 2029-30.
The scheme offers technology-agnostic and biomass-based pathways for green hydrogen production. Of the total capacity on offer, 410,000 tonnes per year is open to all technologies, while the remaining capacity is reserved for biomass-based methods.
For technology-agnostic production, a single bidder, along with its parent or affiliate company, can bid for a maximum capacity of 90,000 tonnes per year and a minimum of 10,000 tonnes. For biomass-based production, the capacity limit ranges from a minimum of 500 tonnes per year to a maximum of 4,000 tonnes.
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), operating under the MNRE, is the implementing agency for the scheme. Under the second tranche, bids will be evaluated based on the least incentive demanded. The “bucket-filling” approach will be followed, where the bidder asking for the lowest incentive will be awarded capacity first, followed by the next lowest bidder, and so on until the total capacity is filled.
The incentive for the production of green hydrogen has been capped at ₹50 per kg for the first year of production, ₹40 per kg for the second year, and ₹30 per kg for the third year. Production units approved under this policy shall be commissioned within 2.5 years from the date of receiving the letter of award.
India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission aspires to achieve annual manufacturing capacities of at least 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen with an associated addition of about 125 GW in the capacity of renewable energy.
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