Green hydrogen has the potential to serve as a clean and economical carrier of energy, which is why there have been significant investments in research and development globally in recent years. At the University of Michigan, MI Hydrogen is contributing to these efforts, developing leading research needed to accelerate the use of hydrogen beyond industrial limits.

Greg Keoleian, co-director of MI Hydrogen and professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), led a master’s capstone project that recently completed work that identified the best power sector pathways and applications of green hydrogen in India, where the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) aims to position the country as a leader in green hydrogen.

“The power sector in India is currently responsible for a large portion of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, and coal is the dominant fuel source being used. These emissions are growing rapidly, driven by its economic development, and solutions to decarbonize the economy are urgently needed. This project explored the potential role that green hydrogen technology can play in India’s power sector decarbonization strategy,” says Keoleian.

The master’s capstone project team was comprised of seven SEAS graduate students who collaborated with the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to evaluate three potential applications of green hydrogen and green ammonia (produced from green hydrogen and nitrogen) for India's power sector: long-duration storage, captive loading and ammonia co-firing. 

"India experiences extreme periods of intermittency with renewable energy due to the region’s monsoon season. This project has given nonprofit RMI and the Indian government a way forward that will promote renewable energy use year-round, regardless of intermittent periods,” says Hollie Wilburn (MS ’25), a member of the project team. 

The project team began by conducting a literature review, defining the scope and developing pathways for using green hydrogen and ammonia for India through the three applications. They then started working on the technical, economic and policy analyses. The outcome of the work was a comprehensive report to inform India on the policies and actions needed to make it feasible. 

“Through our technical analysis, we identified and evaluated 10 distinct pathways for the production, storage and utilization of green hydrogen in India's power sector. This helped us identify the most technically and economically feasible options to support India's green hydrogen goals and future energy transition,” says Jean Poll Alva Araujo (MS ’25), one of the project team members.

The economic analysis of each pathway was conducted through a synthesis of a range of government and private research resources, including those from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 

"We set up certain parameters to assess the costs of each pathway, which involved identifying and calculating the per-unit cost of each process. Then, we combined the individual costs relevant to the pathway being analyzed, taking into account efficiency losses, and calculated the cost of delivered electricity,” says Pete Schultz (MS ’24), another member of the project team.

Wilburn adds, “For the policy analysis, we looked at both state and federal level policies related to our three applications, then compared them to green hydrogen policy recommendations from two International Renewable Energy Agency reports. This allowed us to see what types of policies India was lacking, so we could make recommendations on how to strengthen the NGHM and state-level policies. This also served as a way to determine what states would be optimal for deploying our three applications.”

The group also conducted an energy efficiency analysis using Sankey diagrams, a form of energy flow visualisation, to illustrate energy flows, including losses, inputs and outputs. They found that one of the most efficient ways to use green hydrogen is through fuel cells. Combined with the knowledge that green ammonia offers significant advantages as a long-term energy storage medium compared with liquid green hydrogen, the team recommended a hybrid approach.

“Our analysis recommends a hybrid storage approach, combining compressed hydrogen storage for short-term needs with underground or ammonia-based seasonal storage to optimize energy efficiency and enhance grid resilience,” says Alva Araujo. 

There are multiple paths India can take to ramp up renewable electricity generation and utilization. 

“The team recommends that new renewable electricity generation in India should first be used directly in the electricity grid rather than for hydrogen production. The study showed that the green hydrogen pathways had very low overall system energy efficiencies and should be considered on a limited basis, for example, where renewable electricity is being curtailed,” says Keoleian. “The analyses conducted by the team are expected to provide useful insights and guidance for the electric power sector and government policy makers as they continue to develop and implement clean energy strategies and technologies across India.”

The other project team members were: Abhishek Gupta (MS/MBA ’26), Cyan Lee (MS/MSE ’25), Nicholas Nonnenmacher (MS ’25/MPP ’26) and Loren Steinberg (MS ’25).