Gujarat Aims to be Green Hydrogen Hub: Governor's Speech

Gandhinagar, Feb 19 (PTI) Gujarat is ready to become the "national hub" of green hydrogen production, Governor Acharya Devvrat said on Wednesday in his address to the state legislative assembly on the first day of the Budget session here.
The state has set itself a production target of 30 lakh tons of green hydrogen per year, he said, highlighting the government's stress on the development of renewable sources of electricity over the years.
The Budget session will go on till March 28.
"Gujarat is ready to become the national hub of green hydrogen in the country with its immense renewable energy potential, robust port infrastructure and well-developed LNG pipeline network. The state government has set itself a production target of 30 lakh metric tons of green hydrogen per year," said Devvrat.
Under a policy rolled out in 2023, unused government land was leased out for the production of green hydrogen using unconventional energy sources such as solar and wind, said Devvrat, adding that entrepreneurs in the sector signed MoUs of Rs 3 lakh crore at the last year's Vibrant Gujarat Summit.
"Generation of about 100 gigawatts of power from unconventional energy sources will be required for the production of green hydrogen. The government has approved allotment of nearly 1.99 lakh hectares of land to establish a Renewable Energy Park for its production," he said.
Green hydrogen, notably, is hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water, using renewable electricity and thus causing relatively less greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional energy sources.
Gujarat's performance in solar and wind energy production was also noteworthy, the governor said.
Under the `Gujarat Renewable Energy Policy, 2023', solar power plants with total generation capacity of 3,886.56 MW had been commissioned as of December 2024, increasing the state's total solar power generation capacity to 16,796 MW, he said.
Wind farms with a combined power generation capacity of 627.26 MW were commissioned till December 2024, increasing Gujarat's total wind power generation capacity to 12,474 MW, the governor added.
Total established electricity generation capacity of the state is 57,664 MW, the highest among the states in the country, Devvrat noted.
"Gujarat is the pioneer state in the entire country in the field of renewable energy with a capacity of 31,483 MW.....it is a leading state in the country with a capacity of 12,474 MW wind energy and 16,796 MW solar energy," he said.
The BJP-ruled state was the first in the country to announce a solar policy in 2009, and put in place necessary infrastructure and legal framework to promote solar power, the governor noted.
The state has encouraged installation of rooftop solar panels, achieving 4,822 MW of installed capacity and ranking first in the country, he added.
The state is also a leader in Artificial Intelligence or AI-driven innovation, the governor said.
"An AI Center of Excellence has been established at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, in collaboration with NASSCOM and Microsoft, which is aimed at fostering AI-enabled solutions across various sectors to accelerate socio-economic development and governance," he noted.
The Science and Technology Department has established an AI Task Force to promote AI adoption in key sectors such as finance, healthcare, and agriculture in the state, the governor informed.