Indonesia & India launch pilot project on hydrogen-fueled vehicles

Indonesia’s Directorate General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation has announced a plan of hydrogen use trials for the operation of buses, trucks, and other heavy-duty vehicles.

Eniya Listiani Dewi, the head of the directorate general, said that in addition to vehicles running on biofuels and electricity, hydrogen-powered ones will play a crucial role in the future of environmentally friendly transport.

The country’s national hydrogen strategy specifies the enhancement of low-carbon hydrogen use in transport until 2060. Accordingly, the proportion of buses using clean fuel will be on the rise, with 20% of the total buses expected to switch to hydrogen energy by 2060, necessitating a hydrogen volume increase nationwide.

In the railway sector, the state-owned railway company KAI also aims to replace diesel locomotives with hydrogen- or battery-powered systems.

The Indian ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has lauched pilot projects to use green hydrogen in the long-haul transportation sector under the national green hydrogen Mission.

The program aims to support the deployment of green hydrogen through fuel cell electric vehicles(FCEVs) and hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE) based trucks and buses in a phased manner. It will also explore blending green hydrogen-based ethanol,methanol and other synthetic fuels to run automobiles.

The program eventually envisions setting up"Hydrogen Highways" for heavy-duty and long-haul vehicles, with certain routes to be equipped with distribution networks and refueling stations.

The program has an outlay of ₹ 4.96 billion (~$59.8 million) until thefinancial year 2025-26 and will be implemented through the Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and nominated executingagencies.

Financial assistance in the initial years will be provided to FCEVs andhydrogen ICE vehicles to close the funding gap, considering their highercost. The ministry expects the cost of hydrogen to come down with thefalling costs of renewable energy and electrolyzers. Expenses to producegreen hydrogen or land will not be funded.