As the world moves towards cleaner sources of energy, efforts are being made to build hydrogen infrastructure in Tamil Nadu, with the participation of small and medium scale industries. IIT Madras and Hyundai Motors along with financial support from state govt are indigenously developing the entire hydrogen supply chain from production and storage to application. Located at IIT-M’s Thaiyur campus, the Hyundai HTWO Innovation Centre will primarily build applications for the power and mobility sector.Focusing on localisation of electrolyzers for hydrogen production, creation of microgrids for hydrogen utilisation, and building refuelling stations for hydrogen mobility, the research centre plans to involve MSMEs in various stages of production lifecycle. Prof V Kamakoti, director of IIT-M, said the institute has the technical know-how and intellectual property. IIT-M currently has capabilities in direct solar water splitting, sea water electrolyzers, hydrogen microgrids, gas turbines and fuel cells. Through this centre, it aims to improve the maturity of technologies to commercial grade, which involves nuanced manufacturing capabilities. The centre aims to tap precision manufacturing, coating capabilities of small industries in the Chennai, Hosur and other regions currently serving automobile, aerospace and defence industries. He further said that apart from technology development, it aims to make the technology more efficient and economically viable to help adoption. An MSME unit proprietor in Chennai, with research experience in hydrogen fuel cells, said the state has the capabilities. But currently, due to lack of commercial adoption or scale, most hydrogen technologies are imported in the country, adding that these are crucial for energy security. The Union govt is strategically pushing for developing hydrogen production technologies through hydrogen valleys which are in the initial phase of their work. This centre will work with other valleys to enable faster adoption. Dr Aravind Kumar Chandiran, project principal investigator of HTWO Innovation Centre, said that without the support of MSMEs, India cannot achieve its ambitions in localising green hydrogen infrastructure by volume. “MSMEs will play a huge role in supply chain and localisation. Coating is an essential part of the electrolyzer building. Alkaline electrolyzer is a conventional device for hydrogen generation and it uses corrosive electrolyte. So the contacts have to be coated with corrosion-resistant materials. In India, there are many MSMEs which work on coating for auto segments and shall be repurposed for this. Similarly, they can be employed for machining complex gas flow channels in electrolyzers,” he told TOI. Gopalakrishnan C S, whole-time director and chief manufacturing officer of Hyundai Motors which has provided 100 crore funding, said the centre will act as an open platform and startups, incubators and companies can extensively use this infrastructure and create viable and scalable solutions for the hydrogen ecosystem. “We will provide the facilities like fuel cells, test rigs, and infrastructure,” he said. “Hyundai is trying to combine the global expertise and local talent here”, he said. The auto major has been investing in hydrogen technology for more than two decades and has research centres across the world.Girish Ramakrishnan, chief executive of TANSAM centre of excellence, which helps MSMEs and others build smart manufacturing facilities, said they would help MSMEs with skilling, product testing and guidance for setting up production lines for emerging technologies, including for hydrogen and electric vehicle supply chain.
