Plug Power Plans Major Hydrogen Production Plants in India

A U.S.-headquartered manufacturer of green hydrogen fuel cells wants to build what the company’s president called multi-gigawatt electrolyzer projects in India.

Sanjay Shrestha, president of Plug Power, in an interview with ETEnergy World said, “We will be excited to be doing multi-gigawatt electrolyzer projects in India before the end of 2030 depending on demand and cost drivers driven by the Indian government.”

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Plug Power in January received a $1.7-billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Dept. of Energy, one of the last energy-related loans from the outgoing Biden administration.

Shrestha said his company was looking to collaborate with a partner in India to gain a better understanding of that country’s market for hydrogen.

“We are happy to collaborate with a big player locally in India who understands the market here better than we do and has much bigger reach in the local market so that we can get this industry jumpstarted by driving cost down, and bringing green hydrogen at economic parity much soone_r,” said Shrestha. _Green hydrogen is hydrogen produced using renewable energy.

The executive said Plug Power would explore strategic partnerships within the hydrogen industry if it can grow its projects in India, noting that could depend on mandates for the use of hydrogen from the Indian government.

Shrestha said the Indian government should look at production tax credits for hydrogen, similar to those established in the U.S. by the Inflation Reduction Act. Other countries, including Australia, also have passed legislation calling for tax credits for hydrogen production.

Plug Power currently operates a 1.2-GW electrolyzer factory in Rochester, New York. The company has said it could expand that facility without significant additional investment. Plug Power in early 2024 began operating a green hydrogen production plant in Woodbine, Georgia; that plant has eight 5-MW PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolyzers. The company also is nearing completion of a 100-MW PEM electrolyzer project in Europe.