The problem
Green hydrogen in India costs about what grey does. Here is exactly where the money goes.
Most attempts optimise a single variable, usually electrolyser capex. The cost sits in five places at once, and fixing one leaves the other four intact.
- Grid dependency38%40–60% grid electricityHow we fix it →
- Battery storage15%₹25–35/kg amortisedHow we fix it →
- Water treatment10%₹15–20/kgHow we fix it →
- Storage & transport22%₹45–55/kgHow we fix it →
- Demand risk15%₹20–30/kg risk premiumHow we fix it →
Shares are indicative of a conventional Indian plant's cost stack · industry benchmark
Driver 1 of 5
Grid dependency
An electrolyser wants to run all day. The sun does not. Conventional plants buy grid power for 40–60% of their hours, and in India that grid power is both expensive at industrial tariffs and largely coal-fired, which undercuts the green claim as well as the margin.
- Industry-standard figure
- 40–60%grid shareindustry benchmark
- Source
- Industry benchmark: published Indian project filings and CEA tariff data for utility-connected electrolysis.
- What GreenFuel does instead
- We run 22 hours on sunlight and stored heat, with 0–5% grid dependency.
- Modelled saving ₹60–80/kg →
Driver 2 of 5
Battery storage
The usual answer to the sun setting is a lithium battery bank. It adds ₹2–3 crore per megawatt of capex, degrades on a known curve, and imports its supply-chain risk. Amortised, that is ₹25–35 on every kilogram.
- Industry-standard figure
- ₹2–2.5 Cr/100 kW equiv.industry benchmark
- Source
- Industry benchmark: Indian BESS tender pricing, 2024–25, per 100 kW equivalent.
- What GreenFuel does instead
- Sand batteries for heat, fuel cells burning our own hydrogen for power. No lithium bank.
- Modelled saving ₹20–27/kg →
Driver 3 of 5
Water treatment
Electrolysis needs ultra-pure water. In coastal and industrial locations that means desalination or heavy chemical treatment — 8–12% of production cost. Alkaline stacks make it worse by using 12–15 litres per kilogram.
- Industry-standard figure
- 8–12%of costindustry benchmark
- Source
- Industry benchmark: coastal green hydrogen feasibility studies; desalinated water at ₹3–5 per 1000 L.
- What GreenFuel does instead
- Sites chosen for clean groundwater, and a PEM stack using about 9 litres per kilogram.
- Modelled saving ₹12–17/kg →
Driver 4 of 5
Storage & transport
Hydrogen is light; the steel that holds it is not. Round cylinders waste truck-bed space, and the tare weight of steel dominates every delivery. Storage and transport land at ₹45–55 per kilogram delivered.
- Industry-standard figure
- ₹45–55/kgindustry benchmark
- Source
- Industry benchmark: Indian industrial-gas distribution costs for compressed hydrogen within 100 km.
- What GreenFuel does instead
- Conventional cylinders while we learn, then stackable kidney-flask carbon-fibre vessels from Year 5.
- Modelled saving ₹15–20/kg →
Driver 5 of 5
Demand risk
Lenders price in the biggest risk of all: nobody has to buy the gas. A merchant hydrogen plant carries a ₹20–30 per kilogram risk premium in its financing, and that premium is what turns an otherwise sound project into an unbankable one.
- Industry-standard figure
- ₹20–30/kg risk premiumindustry benchmark
- Source
- Industry benchmark: project-finance term sheets for merchant renewable-fuel assets in India.
- What GreenFuel does instead
- A twinned high-heat factory at every site consuming 30% of output. Demand becomes a fixed internal load.
- Modelled saving ₹15–20/kg →
Fix one and the other four still sink you.
The model page shows how the five are solved together, and what each solution is built from.