More than half of the eight companies that secured bids in January for electrolyser manufacturing under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme have informed the government that they expect to commence operations at their facilities by next year, well ahead of the 2026 deadline, reported The Economic Times.
This development is expected to boost India’s green ambitions as electrolysers are crucial for green hydrogen production.
John Cockerill Greenko Hydrogen, L&T Electrolysers, Reliance Electrolyser Manufacturing, and Adani New Industries anticipate their manufacturing units to be operational by 2025.
“A majority of the allottees are on track to commission their facilities well ahead of schedule and have communicated this to the government,” a senior official stated. Other winning bidders include Jindal India, Ohmium Operations, Advait Infratech, and homiHydrogen.
Electrolysers utilize electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen through a process called electrolysis. Green hydrogen, produced using electrolysers powered by renewable energy sources, is essential for decarbonizing various industries.
Presently, India relies on the global market for sourcing electrolysers for its green hydrogen initiatives. To reduce this dependency and lower green hydrogen production costs, the Solar Energy Corporation of India issued a request in July 2023 to select electrolyser manufacturers to establish 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of capacity.
Industry experts note that the current global market price for an electrolyser is $600 (approximately Rs 50,000) per kilowatt (kW). Under the PLI scheme, the cost is projected to decrease to $564-570 (Rs 47,000) in India. However, electrolyser prices in China remain lower at $400 (Rs 33,000) per kW.
“Many of the winning companies had existing partnerships with electrolyser technology firms,” commented an executive from one of the participating companies. “Some had secured technology licenses before bidding, enabling them to advance their electrolyser deployment ahead of schedule.”
