Pune-based H2E Power Systems expects to start manufacturing electrolysers to produce green hydrogen by April, said company founder and CEO Siddhartha Mayur. business Line,
The company, he said, will build electrolyzers with all four technologies — alkaline, proton exchange membrane, solid oxide and anion exchange membrane — spending $40 million for that purpose.
plan
The first 50 MW plant to be commissioned in April is coming up at Jalgaon in Maharashtra. Mayur said that while the manufacturing infrastructure for a 1 GW electrolyzer will be set up, H2E Power will start with 50 MW and go up to 200 MW next year.
Peacock said that H2E Power developed the technologies though with technical help from the German Fraunhofer Institute. H2E Power owns the intellectual property. The company will showcase its 500 kW AEM electrolyzer at the Hannover Messe to be held in April, he added.
AEM is an emerging technology, which is said to be the cheapest alkaline and efficient PEM. Alkaline is said to be not so safe; PEM requires expensive platinum group metals.
business Line In January last year, H2E Power had reported plans to get into the manufacturing of electrolyzers. Mayur had then said that the company was financially backed by the Poonawalla family which owns the Serum Institute of India, the vaccine maker. The family holds a stake in H2E Power.
If H2E Power manufactures electrolyzers in India from April, it could become the second company after US-headquartered Ohmium to produce the machines in the country.
That’s all the electrolyzers India will need if it is to meet its target of producing 50 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030. Long, has said that 5 million tons of green hydrogen would require 32 GW of electrolyzers (assuming all green hydrogen would come from water splitting – the biomass route is another option).
‘pleasant surprise’
Mayur said the allocation of ₹19,400 crore for the green hydrogen sector was a pleasant, surprise New Year gift by the government, as the industry was expecting only around ₹3,000-4,000 crore. He said that the allocation will be a game-changer and will give a boost to the manufacturing of electrolyzers in India.
When asked about the cost of green hydrogen, Mayur said that at the current prices of renewable energy, green hydrogen cannot be sold for less than $3 per kg even with the best of technologies. He added that if green hydrogen prices are to come down, then renewable energy should be affordable.