The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued guidelines for quantifying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from offsite water drawal and treatment under the Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme of India (GHCI). The guidelines aim to support compliance with the Green Hydrogen Standard for India and align emission accounting practices with ISO 19870:2023 for green hydrogen certification.
The guidelines define five operational scenarios. Scenario A applies to hydrogen producers that own and operate captive offsite water treatment facilities, requiring the use of primary metered data for emissions calculations. Any renewable energy claims must be backed by valid evidence, such as load dispatch certificates, power purchase agreements, or green tariffs mechanism certificates, while the use of renewable energy certificates for such claims is not allowed. Scenario B pertains to water supplied through municipal bodies or state-owned utilities, where default emission benchmarks will apply unless the utility provides verified proof that the water supply is entirely powered by renewable energy.
Scenario C applies to industrial clusters with jointly owned or common water treatment infrastructure, where a special purpose vehicle or third party operator manages the facility, and emissions are allocated according to each user’s water consumption. Scenario D applies to the use of treated municipal wastewater or recycled water, where only the incremental treatment required to upgrade the water to electrolysis grade is considered for GHG emission calculations. The emission boundary begins at the producer’s facility gate, while emissions associated with municipal sewage treatment and water supply remain outside the hydrogen production boundary. Meanwhile, Scenario E applies to hybrid systems that combine multiple water sources (such as municipal supply and captive desalination), requiring producers to maintain daily records and calculate a weighted average emission factor.
