Augmenting India’s push for green hydrogen, the Ministry of Power (MoP) has proposed a uniform renewable purchaseobligation (RPO) on distribution licensees, open access consumers and captive power consumers. The said proposal has been issued under the Draft Electricity (promoting renewable energy through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2021.
Under this, industries shall be allowed to meet their RPO by purchasing green hydrogen. The quantum of green hydrogen would be computed by considering the equivalence to the green hydrogen produced from one MW of electricityfrom the renewable sources or its multiple. The norms shall be notified by the Central Commission.
The draft also states eligibility to take power through green energy open access. Only consumers who have contracted demand or sanctioned load of hundred kW and above shall be eligible to take power through green energy open access. For the captive consumers under green energy open access, there will be no limit of supply of power. However, conditions such as the minimum number of time blocks for which the consumer shall not change the quantum of power consumed through open access may be imposed in order to avoid high variation in demand to be met by the distribution licensee.Own generation of power from renewable energy sources by an entity will also be allowed.
Green hydrogen is the hydrogen produced using electricity from the renewable sources. The draft follows the recent announcement of the National Hydrogen Mission in India. The government of India aims to make India a global hub for the production and export of green hydrogen.