India’s Punjab prioritises biomass for green H2 policy

The northern Indian state of Punjab is aiming to produce 100,000 t/yr of green hydrogen with a focus on production from biomass, according to its green hydrogen policy published on 17 October.

The new policy "shall promote green hydrogen and ammonia production mainly using abundantly available biomass", the Punjab government said.

Punjab's economy is heavily based around agriculture thanks to abundant water resources and fertile soil. The sector produces huge quantities of residues such as paddy straw and biomass waste including from husk, sugarcane, cotton and sunflower stalk. The state government plans to use this for energy production, including hydrogen.

Biomass can be used to produce hydrogen through gasification, with comparatively low emissions. That said, Punjab's policy makes no reference to use of carbon capture technology and CO2 storage or utilisation which could cut emissions further, and in some cases even make the biomass-to-hydrogen process carbon negative.

The focus on the biomass route differentiates Punjab from other Indian states which are prioritising hydrogen production from renewable electricity. That said, India's tender for green hydrogen production subsidies has funds set aside to specifically support 40,000 t/yr production from biomass.
Punjab's overall production ambitions are fairly modest compared with those announced by other Indian states.

The 100,000 t/yr would be equivalent to around 2pc of India's overall target to produce 5mn t/yr of green hydrogen by 2030. Some individual states have set much more ambitious green hydrogen production goals, with Andhra Pradesh aiming for 500,000 t/yr by 2028, Rajasthan targeting 2mn t/yr by 2030 and Gujarat planning to produce 8mn t/yr by 2035.

Punjab's policy envisages that a slew of incentives will help achieve its hydrogen goals. These include subsidies for capital costs on the production side and direct operating support for consumption as well as financial support to stimulate hydrogen use in the mobility sector, with a special focus on first movers (see table).

Other incentives for project developers are similar to those planned by other states, including reductions on intra-state power transmission fees as well as exemptions from stamp duties for land registration and from taxes for converting agricultural land for industrial use.

Punjab's energy development agency (Peda) will be in charge of implementing the policy and is for now consulting with stakeholders on the draft.

By Akansha Victor