Wedoany.com Report-Mar 21, India’s government has finalized its second green hydrogen auction, awarding subsidies totaling ₹22.39 billion ($258.84 million) over three years to nine companies. This initiative falls under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) Programme, aimed at incentivizing the production of 450,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually.

Under the auction's guidelines, bidders were eligible for subsidies capped at ₹50 ($0.61) per kilogram in the first year, ₹40 ($0.49) in the second, and ₹30 ($0.37) in the third year. However, none of the successful companies opted for the maximum across all years. Instead, they strategically requested higher subsidies in certain years offset by ultra-low bids in others to reduce overall averages.

Two distinct "buckets" structured the auction: Bucket 1 was technology-agnostic, covering 410,000 tonnes annually, and Bucket 2 focused on biomass-based methods, capped at 40,000 tonnes. Bucket 1 winners included Oriana Power, Suryadeep KA1 Project, L&T Energy Green Tech, GH2 Solar, Green Infra Renewable Energy Farms, Reliance Green Hydrogen and Green Chemicals, Waaree Clean Energy Solutions, and AM Green Ammonia. Matrix Gas and Renewables was the sole recipient in Bucket 2.

AM Green Ammonia emerged as the highest recipient within the technology-agnostic category, securing subsidies worth ₹513 crore ($59.3 million) for the maximum allowed capacity of 90,000 tonnes per year. Waaree Clean Energy Solutions closely followed, receiving ₹510.3 crore ($59 million) for an identical capacity allocation.

"Those that bid for the maximum for one or two of the years brought down their overall average by requesting extremely low subsidies in other years."

Some bidders, such as Avaada GreenH2, ChemSepT Engineering, Nishal Enterprises, and Ocior Energy India, failed to secure any funding. The auction's lowest subsidy request came from solar firm Oriana Power, which bid just ₹0.01 ($0.00012) per kilogram for 10,000 tonnes per year of hydrogen production.

Originally, three companies competed in Bucket 2, but ChemSepT Engineering withdrew before the final bids were disclosed, and Nishal Enterprises did not secure support for its 1,000-tonne annual bid. Consequently, Matrix Gas and Renewables remained as the only successful bidder in the biomass category, awarded subsidies for 1,500 tonnes per year.

Unallocated biomass capacity was redistributed to Bucket 1, increasing its total supported capacity to 450,000 tonnes per annum. The previous auction round had eight successful bidders, including two firms—UPL Limited and CESC Projects Limited—which notably did not seek any subsidies.