Power demand up 40GW-50GW on daily basis compared to year ago: R K Singh

Union Power Minister R K Singh on Tuesday quantified the pace of economic growth in the country in terms of rise of electricity demand, and said that India's power demand is about 40 GW-50 GW more than the corresponding day last year.

Addressing a day-long conference on 'Green Hydrogen Pilots in India' here, he said India has the potential to be one of the biggest manufacturers of green hydrogen in the world.

The conference showcased various Green Hydrogen Pilots being implemented by both public and private sector companies of India.

"We have this huge economy which will continue growing at 7 to 8 per cent for the next 2 to 3 decades. Our energy requirements are huge. Our power demand has grown up by 21 per cent in August 2023, as compared to August 2022," the minister said.

Singh further noted that on a daily basis, "our power demand is about 40 GW-50 GW more than corresponding day last year, that is how fast we are growing."

He stressed on the need to take effective measures to reduce our huge energy import bills. "... We have been huge energy importers. If we don't do something about this, our import bills will multiply," he said.

"We have to set up a huge ecosystem for renewable energy. Our pace of capacity addition in renewable energy is one of the fastest in the world. Our cost of making renewable energy and our cost of producing green hydrogen will be one of the lowest in the world," he said.

Singh said that India will emerge as a huge exporter and the world will come to follow our approach on green hydrogen.

Speaking about the environment, he said that India's contribution to the global carbon dioxide load is just four per cent while our population is 17 per cent.

He gave an overview of ongoing green hydrogen pilots and steps being taken by India in this direction.

"Many green hydrogen pilots are going on in India and across the world. We have pilots for green steel and in heavy duty transportation. Electric mobility is not viable for long distance heavy mobility; hence hydrogen or ammonia is the answer."

The shipping industry is expected to go green within around 10 years.

"So, we have to emerge as a refuelling destination for all green ships, since we can provide them with green hydrogen or green ammonia or whatever fuel they want at the lowest cost.

"We have to prepare bunkers at shipyards and also have pilots for green shipping on our own. We are in talks with the Ministry of Shipping, to take this forward," he said.

He said that India will come out with a pilot for green hydrogen or green ammonia for storage for round-the-clock renewable energy.

Singh opined that most of the methods of running the pilots are already commercially viable. There are already companies which have developed turbines which can use hydrogen or ammonia for making electricity.

"If we have to make it successful, we have to make it commercially viable. Commercial structuring is key to making it a success," the minister said.

He said that the world is changing. "We are leading this change, we are leading the world," he said.

New & Renewable Energy Secretary Bhupinder Singh Bhalla said that the real stars of the National Green Hydrogen Mission are the pilot projects, which have been allocated Rs 1,466 crore and these hold the key to innovation and experimentation.

He informed that an amount of Rs 456 crore is set aside for steel, Rs 495 crore for transport, Rs 115 crore for shipping and Rs 400 crore for other projects.