Energy transition: green hydrogen, grids, targets, the International Solar Alliance and conservation

Detail

1. Green hydrogen: what it is and how it is made

• Hydrogen is a fuel and an industrial raw material. When it burns or is used in a fuel cell, it gives out only water. The pollution comes from the way it is made.
• Green hydrogen is hydrogen made by electrolysis of water using renewable electricity (solar, wind).
• Step 1 (cause): renewable power is passed through water in an electrolyser (a machine that splits water using electric current).
• Step 2 (process): water (H₂O) splits into hydrogen gas at one electrode and oxygen gas at the other.

• Step 3 (result): almost carbon-free hydrogen, because no fossil fuel is burnt at any step.

• Grey hydrogen is made from natural gas (methane). Carbon dioxide is released while it is made. Most hydrogen used in Indian refineries and fertiliser plants today is grey.

• Green Hydrogen Standard (2023, MNRE): hydrogen counts as "green" in India only if total emissions are not more than 2 kg CO₂ per kg of H₂. This covers water treatment, electrolysis, gas purification, drying and compression.

Feature	Grey hydrogen	Green hydrogen
Raw material	Natural gas (methane)	Water
Energy used	Fossil fuel	Renewable electricity
Process	Steam reforming of gas	Electrolysis
CO₂ released	High	≤ 2 kg CO₂/kg H₂ (India's 2023 standard)
Present cost	Cheaper	Costlier; cost falls as solar power and electrolysers get cheaper

2. National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM)

• Launched: January 2023. Outlay: ₹19,744 crore. Ministry: MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy).
• Target for 2030:
• 5 million tonnes (MMT) of green hydrogen a year.
• About 125 GW of new renewable capacity linked to it.

• Expected gains: about ₹8 lakh crore of investment, about 6 lakh jobs and about ₹1 lakh crore saved on fossil fuel imports [2].

• SIGHT (Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition): money support for two things:

• making electrolysers in India;

• producing green hydrogen.

• Research: a ₹400 crore R&D scheme under the Mission supports 23 projects on production, storage, safety and industrial use. In 2025 a ₹100 crore call for proposals was launched for start-ups, with up to ₹5 crore for each project [5].

• Green Hydrogen Hubs (recognised October 2025): these are places where hydrogen will be made, used and exported [2][3]. All three are major ports.

Port (official name)	State	Water body	Notes
Deendayal Port, Kandla	Gujarat	Gulf of Kachchh, Arabian Sea	West coast; close to Gujarat–Rajasthan solar and wind belt
Paradip Port	Odisha	Bay of Bengal, Mahanadi delta	East coast; near refinery and steel belt
V.O. Chidambaranar Port, Thoothukudi (Tuticorin)	Tamil Nadu	Gulf of Mannar	South-east coast; close to Tamil Nadu wind farms

• Kandla progress:
• In 2025 a megawatt-scale, made-in-India green hydrogen plant began work. It cost about ₹13 crore and can make nearly 140 tonnes a year [3][4].

• A ₹42 crore, 750 m³ green methanol bunkering and refuelling facility is being built. Bunkering means filling ships with fuel. It will support a Coastal Green Shipping Corridor between Kandla and Tuticorin [3].

• Users of green hydrogen (demand sectors):

• Refineries: to replace grey hydrogen in oil processing.
• Fertiliser plants: green hydrogen → green ammonia → urea and other fertilisers.
• Steel: hydrogen can replace coking coal to remove oxygen from iron ore. This gives green steel (see manufacturing-industries-india).
• Shipping: fuels such as green ammonia and green methanol.

3. Grid integration: the Green Energy Corridor

• Why it is needed:
• Solar and wind power is made mainly in a few windy and sunny states, far from big cities.
• Its output goes up and down with weather and time of day.

• So new transmission lines and grid balancing are needed to carry it to users.

• Green Energy Corridor (GEC, 2015): a dedicated transmission network that brings renewable power from states rich in renewables into the national grid. The main states are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, along with Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Agencies: MNRE, POWERGRID and state transmission companies.

• Ladakh project (GEC Phase-II, Inter-State Transmission System; Cabinet approval October 2023):
• Plan: 13 GW of renewable capacity with a 12 GWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Pang, Ladakh. Pang is on a high, cold desert plateau with strong sunshine and thin air [15].
• A new Inter-State Transmission System will carry this power out and connect it to the national grid [15].
• Why Ladakh: it has very high solar radiation, cold air that helps solar panels work better, and large areas of barren land.

4. Targets and where India stands

• Key terms:
• Non-fossil capacity: power plants that do not burn coal, oil or gas. These are solar, wind, hydro, biomass and nuclear.
• Installed capacity: the maximum power plants can produce, measured in GW.
• Generation: the electricity actually produced, measured in units (kWh). A country can have a high share of non-fossil capacity but a low share of non-fossil generation, because solar works only by day and wind changes with the seasons.

• Emission intensity of GDP: greenhouse gas released for every rupee of GDP.

• The targets:

• 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030.
• Updated NDC (2022). An NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) is a country's own climate pledge under the Paris Agreement. India's updated NDC promises:
  • 50 per cent of installed power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030;
  • a 45 per cent cut in emission intensity of GDP from the 2005 level by 2030.

• Net zero by 2070: by then, India's emissions will be balanced by what is removed from the air. This was announced at COP26, Glasgow (2021) as part of the "Panchamrit" (five nectar elements) pledges. The politics of these pledges is covered in climate-change.

• Progress:

• 50 per cent non-fossil share of installed capacity was crossed in June 2025, five years early [6][7].
• On 30 September 2025 total installed capacity crossed 500 GW (500.89 GW). Non-fossil sources made up 256.09 GW, which is over 51 per cent [6].
• Within this (30 September 2025): solar 127.33 GW, wind 53.12 GW [6].
• On 29 July 2025, renewables met 51.5 per cent of a 203 GW demand. Solar gave 44.50 GW, wind 29.89 GW and hydro 30.29 GW [6].

• In April–September 2025 (FY 2025-26): 28 GW of non-fossil capacity was added, against only 5.1 GW of fossil capacity [6].

• Reality check:

• Coal still produces about three-quarters of India's electricity (2024-25). This is because a coal plant runs day and night, while solar and wind do not.
• The capacity share has passed 50 per cent, but the generation share has not.

5. Just energy transition

• Just energy transition: moving away from coal in a way that is fair to the people and regions that depend on it.
• Who is at risk:
• coal miners and transport workers;
• state budgets that depend on coal royalty;

• railways, which earn a lot of freight income from coal.

• Coal districts most affected: Jharkhand (Dhanbad, Bokaro), Chhattisgarh (Korba) and Odisha (Talcher, Ib Valley).

• Responses:
• reskilling workers for new jobs;
• bringing new industries to coal districts;

• reusing mine land for solar parks, fish ponds, forests or eco-parks.

• JETPs (Just Energy Transition Partnerships): finance deals in which rich countries fund a coal phase-down. They have gone to South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam, not India. India pays for its own transition, mainly through domestic policy.

6. International Solar Alliance (ISA)

• Launched: by India and France at COP21, Paris, on 30 November 2015.
• Treaty-based: the ISA became a treaty-based international intergovernmental organisation in December 2017, when Guinea became the 15th country to ratify the Framework Agreement [8].

• Ratify means a country formally agrees to be bound by a treaty.

• Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana. It is the first treaty-based international body with its headquarters in India.

• Membership:
• It was first meant for sunshine-rich countries lying between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
• In 2020 membership was opened to all UN member countries.
• The USA became the 101st member in November 2021 [10].
• In November 2024 there were 120 signatory countries, of which 102 had ratified and become full members [9].

• The 8th ISA Assembly (New Delhi, 2025) had representatives from 137 countries [11].

• Role: gathers finance and technology for solar power in developing countries. Its work includes:

• readiness and enabling activities;
• risk mitigation, which makes solar projects less risky for lenders;

• new ways of financing solar projects [9].

• One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG):

• India's idea, proposed in 2018.
• Logic: "the sun never sets". If solar grids are linked across time zones (for example West Asia, South Asia, South-East Asia), the sun is always shining somewhere. Power can then flow from day-side regions to night-side regions.
• It was launched with the UK as the Green Grids Initiative – OSOWOG at COP26, Glasgow (2021).

7. Conservation of energy

• Core idea (NCERT Class 10): "energy saved is energy produced." One unit of power saved is one unit less that a power plant has to make.
• NCERT:
• India is among the least energy-efficient countries in the world. This means it uses more energy for each unit of output than many others.

• What people can do:

  • use public transport instead of private vehicles;
  • switch off lights, fans and appliances that are not in use;
  • use power-saving devices;
  • use non-conventional (renewable) sources.

• NCERT Class 12:

• recycle scrap metal, which saves both minerals and the energy needed to make new metal;

• use substitutes for scarce minerals.

• Laws and institutions (beyond NCERT):

• Energy Conservation Act, 2001: the main law on energy efficiency.
• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), 2002: the body that carries out the Act. It works under the Ministry of Power.
• Star labelling: 1 to 5 stars on appliances such as ACs, refrigerators and fans. More stars means less power used.
• PAT (Perform, Achieve and Trade) scheme:
  • Big energy-using industries get energy-saving targets.
  • Those who beat their target earn energy saving certificates.
  • Those who miss their target must buy these certificates.

• UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All, 2015): gave out cheap LED bulbs, which use far less power than old filament bulbs.

• Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022 and the carbon market:

• In force: the amendment came into effect on 1 January 2023. It gives the government power to set up a carbon credit trading scheme [12].
• Carbon credit: a permit or certificate for one tonne of CO₂ (or equal gas) that is cut or avoided. It can be bought and sold.
• Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) notified on 28 June 2023 and amended on 19 December 2023 [13].
• First sectors covered: aluminium, cement, steel, paper, chlor-alkali, fertiliser, refinery, petrochemical and textile [14].

Prelims Hooks

• Green hydrogen = electrolysis of water using renewable power. Grey hydrogen = made from natural gas. India's 2023 standard: ≤ 2 kg CO₂ per kg H₂.
• NGHM (January 2023): ₹19,744 crore; 5 MMT a year by 2030; about 125 GW of linked renewables; SIGHT = Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition.
• Hydrogen hub port–state pairs (October 2025): Deendayal/Kandla – Gujarat; Paradip – Odisha; V.O. Chidambaranar/Thoothukudi – Tamil Nadu [2]. Trap: Kandla is on the Gulf of Kachchh, not the Gulf of Khambhat.
• Ladakh renewable project: 13 GW + 12 GWh battery storage at Pang [15].
• India's installed capacity crossed 500 GW on 30 September 2025 (500.89 GW; non-fossil 256.09 GW, over 51%) [6]. The 50% non-fossil capacity NDC goal was met in June 2025, but coal still gives about three-quarters of generation.
• NDC (2022): 45% cut in emission intensity (not absolute emissions), base year 2005. Net zero by 2070 (not 2050).
• ISA: India and France, COP21 Paris, 30 November 2015. HQ Gurugram. Treaty-based from December 2017 (Guinea was the 15th to ratify) [8]. USA was the 101st member (2021) [10].
• OSOWOG (India, 2018) became the Green Grids Initiative with the UK at COP26 Glasgow (2021). It was not launched at Paris.
• JETP countries: South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam. India is not a JETP country.
• Energy Conservation Act 2001 → BEE 2002 → 2022 amendment (in force 1 January 2023) → CCTS notified 28 June 2023 [12][13]. UJALA = LEDs (2015). PAT = tradable energy saving certificates for industries.

Mains Points

• Capacity vs generation gap (GS-III):
• India crossed 50% non-fossil capacity five years early (June 2025) and 500 GW total capacity (September 2025) [6].
• But coal still gives about three-quarters of electricity.
• Causes: solar and wind are intermittent, storage is limited, and transmission is weak.

• Responses: Green Energy Corridors, battery storage (12 GWh at Pang, Ladakh [15]), pumped hydro, and cross-border grids under OSOWOG.

• Green hydrogen as an industrial strategy:

• It cuts emissions in "hard-to-abate" sectors (refining, fertiliser, steel, shipping), which electricity alone cannot clean up.
• It reduces gas and ammonia imports, saving about ₹1 lakh crore by 2030 [2].
• Port hubs at Kandla, Paradip and Thoothukudi bring production, use and export together on the coast [2][3].

• Challenges: high cost, water demand in dry, solar-rich regions, and electrolyser manufacturing capacity.

• Just transition in the eastern coal belt:

• Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha depend on coal for jobs, state revenue and railway freight.
• Needed: reskilling, new industries, reuse of mine land, and diversified district economies.

• Unlike South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam, India has no JETP finance, so domestic planning must carry the load.

• Demand-side conservation is the cheapest "new" energy:

• The NCERT idea that "energy saved is energy produced" is backed by law: the EC Act 2001, BEE, star labels, PAT and UJALA.
• The carbon market under the 2022 amendment now covers nine energy-intensive sectors [12][14].
• The ISA brings this agenda to the Global South, through finance and risk reduction for solar projects [9].