Unleashing Decarbonized Power with Hydrogen and Natural Gas

The pitfalls of carbon overconsumption are visible the world over, and India is no exception. Altering weather patterns, greater frequency of cyclones, sudden extinction of flora and fauna, rising ambient pollution, are but a few repercussions. Duly, India has taken firm and steady action to enable energy transition. Whether in leading the announcement of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Climate Deal, expanding renewable capacity, easing climate financing, or announcing the goal of achieving net-zero emissions in the distant future – our efforts have been diverse and plentiful.

The Green Hydrogen Policy, unveiled by the Power Minister of India recently, is another step towards enabling a sustainable tomorrow for the country. Globally, green hydrogen has been recognized as an essential component of a future low-carbon economy. Several countries have taken steady steps to propose and develop standalone hydrogen strategies. The challenge today, thus, is not in recognizing the potential of hydrogen but in enabling a clear roadmap that accelerates both the supply of green hydrogen and its market demand. India’s recent policy has taken a leap in this direction.

From gas to hydrogen
Globally, fossil fuel-based power plants in their traditional form have been the greatest polluters through the 19th and 20th centuries. India has stayed further investments in fresh thermal plants, but great scope for emission control remains in existing plants. Continued innovation leading to advanced gas turbine technology and flexible fuel burning capabilities are bringing visible change in output of natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants, which are today the lowest emitting fossil fuel power plants, whether measured based on CO2, SOx, NOx, particulate matter, or mercury. Now, there is further scope to modify existing and future gas power plants that can be decarbonized to avoid CO2 lock-in.

Here, hydrogen makes a strong case for itself to emerge as the chosen fuel; along with investments in carbon capture technologies. A combination of hydrogen and natural gas can form a potential pathway to accelerating energy transition and providing clean, reliable, and sustainable power supply. For businesses too, replacing a natural gas turbine with 100% hydrogen is an efficient solution to decarbonizing their fleet of gas plants. Further, the use of hydrogen eliminates all power plant combustions. And, if the produced hydrogen is green – then overall emissions from gas-based power plants can drop to zilch.

To elaborate, there are two ways to turn gas generation into a zero or near zero-carbon resource; both pre-, and post-combustion. The most common pre-combustion decarbonization approach is to change the fuel to hydrogen, which can be introduced to new gas turbines and existing gas turbines alike. For existing units, upgrades can be scheduled with planned outages; and for new units, these capabilities can be a part of the initial plant configuration or phased-in overtime as hydrogen becomes more available.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. However, despite its plentiful nature, it does not exist on earth as a standalone molecule – it likes to bond with others. Therefore, to yield pure hydrogen, we must intentionally separate it from its pair, usually in the form of water (H2 O), or hydrocarbons (e.g., CH4 , methane). Today, hydrogen production from the electrolysis of water is growing across the globe. Costs of electrolysers have been a concern, however, a recent TERI report estimates that by 2030, green hydrogen will become increasingly competitive, coinciding with a decline in electrolyser costs from `6.3 crore/MW today to `2.8 crore/ MW.
 

A tricky aspect with green hydrogen production is that you tend to consume more electricity to produce the hydrogen through electrolysis than you generate from the combined-cycle gas power plant. For this to make sense, we would ideally need a surplus of renewable energy that can be dedicated to hydrogen production. Otherwise, it is more efficient to just use electricity directly from renewables. However, when the goal is to store excess renewable energy power for extended periods, hydrogen could be dispatched to compensate for lean periods. Overall, a combination of hydrogen and gas will catalyse the transition to complete utilisation of zero-carbon fuel.

For a cleaner and greener India
India’s path towards a carbon-free 2070 is well underway. There is great promise and expectations as we move ahead. In fact, a report recently said that India has immense potential to emerge as the Middle East of green hydrogen and the recently-announced green hydrogen policy has set the precedent. Indeed, the new policy has correctly adopted a wide perspective to ease green hydrogen manufacturing, transportation, storage, and distribution. Further, the single portal project clearance with a 30-day timeline will help attract fresh investors who can bring new technology to the country.

Eventually, though, we may have to further segregate our policy, as different sectors may require varying models and policy frameworks – and hydrogen comes with the complementing versatility to play an equally important role in diverse sectors such as transport, residential, industrial, power, etc. Also, hydrogen is difficult to store because of its extremely low volumetric density. It is the simplest, lightest, and most abundant element in the universe; but it is also extremely flammable. All these qualities combine to make its logistics and transportation rather complicated.

Nonetheless, for a clean energy future, green hydrogen will emerge as a frontrunner. Its diverse application and use across industries, efficiency in controlling pollutants, and innate energy capacity will find many consumers – especially as we battle climate change through complete transition. For India, a country of over 1.32 billion people, the complete adoption of green hydrogen across industries and sectors will take time. Nonetheless, we must begin tracing our steps at the earliest.

India has made a confident leap with its green hydrogen policy, and it must now sustain this momentum to take its people towards a clean, green, and secure future.

- Deepesh Nanda, CEO, GE Gas Power South Asia