France’ Lhyfe Labs produces green hydrogen directly from wind power

New Delhi: In a first, Lhyfe Labs SAS of France has produced green hydrogen directly from wind power, the firm said in a statement.

This comes in the backdrop of Acme Solar’s plans to produce green hydrogen in India and Europe with Lhyfe Labs. Acme Solar and Oman’s Tatweer also plan to invest $3.5 billion for green ammonia and green hydrogen production.

“Renewable hydrogen produced directly from wind power becomes reality. At the end of August, just a year after the foundation stone was laid for this industrial facility like none else in the world, Lhyfe, a pure player in renewable hydrogen, began producing its first hundred kilograms of ecological hydrogen and is ready for industrial scale production,” the Lhyfe Labs statement said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August announced India’s National Hydrogen Mission in the backdrop of India spending Rs12 trillion annually to meet the energy needs. Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electrolyzer powered by electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. It can be a game-changer for India, which imports 85% of its oil and 53% of gas demand.

“Following a few days of testing at this first site, for which the foundation stone was laid only a year ago in Bouin (Vendée, France), Lhyfe has produced 627 kilograms of renewable hydrogen, using an electrolyser powered by wind turbines a few meters away,” the statement said.

Speaking at the International Climate Summit, Reliance Industries Ltd’s chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani announced his ambitious plans to bring green hydrogen cost to under $2 per kg by 2030. He also said that India can set even more aggressive target of achieving under $1 per kg new age emission free fuel within a decade.

“The purpose of this initial production was to finalize tests, before the end of September when industrial production and sales will start for new partners whose names will be revealed soon. Lhyfe will henceforth produce 300 kilograms of renewable hydrogen a day, before ramping up to a tonne a day in the coming months,” the statement added.

With the current cost of green hydrogen produced by electrolysis estimated at around ₹350 per kg, India’s green hydrogen playbook plans to bring it down to ₹160 per kg by 2029-30. Such a cost price will make India's plan to build green hydrogen plants to run on electricity produced by green energy sources an unique value proposition.