Indian Railways and predictable green hydrogen demand

Rail transport is one of the few uses of low-emission hydrogen with predictable demand. The publication reports that Indian Railways is evaluating cheaper green hydrogen to expand train operations, with a national target of 5 million tonnes a year by 2030.

What is missing is the supply chain that delivers this target. The Press Information Bureau release on the Indian cabinet's approval of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, of 4 January 2023, associates these 5 million tonnes with around 125 GW of additional renewable capacity and allocates Rs 17,490 crore to SIGHT, the domestic electrolyser manufacturing programme.

The consequence concerns timing and cost. A hydrogen rail programme buys fuel availability for decades, and that availability depends on electrolyser factories and renewable generation still being built. Without installed manufacturing capacity, the end price remains tied to a few suppliers.

The viability of hydrogen trains in India is defined by the pace of installation of manufacturing capacity, not by the announced cost of the fuel.