Green Hydrogen and the Economics of the Energy Transition | Sachin Chugh

Green hydrogen may be one of the most talked-about answers to the energy transition. But what happens when the hype meets the economics?

Amid the excitement around renewable energy, green hydrogen, and the promise of a low-carbon future, the real challenge lies beyond the technology itself. How do you make the numbers work? Where does hydrogen genuinely add value? And what does it take to build an energy system that is not only cleaner, but also secure, affordable and commercially viable?

These questions sit at the heart of this Brown Business episode, part of our Member Stories series, featuring Sachin Chugh, Energy and Hydrogen Leader at Arup UK and Vice President of the Hydrogen Association of India.

With more than two decades of experience across IndianOil and Arup, Sachin brings a perspective shaped by both the technical and commercial realities of the energy sector. This conversation moves beyond the familiar narrative of hydrogen as the fuel of the future and into the far more complex question of how that future can actually be built.

At its core, hydrogen is not a primary source of energy. It is a molecule that has to be produced using energy, and that simple distinction changes the economics of the entire conversation. Green hydrogen therefore cannot be considered in isolation. Its viability is tied to the cost and availability of renewable power, the technology used to produce it, storage, transmission, infrastructure and, ultimately, the industries willing to use it.

That is where the conversation takes a particularly interesting turn.

The much-discussed ambition of bringing green hydrogen down to $1 per kilogram meets the realities of electricity costs, electrolyser economics and system integration. Rather than reducing the question to a single headline number, the discussion explores why the real cost of hydrogen depends on how an entire project and its surrounding ecosystem are designed.

For India, the stakes extend beyond climate targets. Energy security is becoming an increasingly important part of the equation in a country heavily dependent on imported crude oil and natural gas. Green hydrogen and its derivatives could potentially help transform sectors such as fertilisers, ammonia and steel, industries where simply replacing molecules with electricity is not always straightforward.

But building this ecosystem will require balance. India may have significant opportunities in exporting green molecules to markets willing to absorb a premium, yet domestic demand and energy resilience remain equally important. The challenge is not simply producing hydrogen at scale; it is creating the infrastructure, markets and economic conditions that allow the wider ecosystem to grow.

And hydrogen is only one piece of the puzzle.

As renewable energy increasingly tests the limits of existing grids, the energy transition is becoming a question of storage, flexibility and system design. Batteries may meet shorter-duration needs, while pumped hydro and hydrogen can play different roles as storage duration and scale increase. The future, therefore, is unlikely to belong to one technology alone.

Perhaps the most important takeaway is that the energy transition cannot be built on enthusiasm alone. Investment decisions require a much deeper understanding of geography, renewable-energy reliability, transmission, water, land, certification, offtake agreements and the overall bankability of a project.

This is ultimately a conversation about what happens when ambitious energy visions meet commercial reality, and why understanding that gap may determine which ideas actually shape the next generation of global infrastructure.

Listen to the episode and explore the economics, opportunities and challenges shaping the global energy transition.

Disclaimer: The perspectives expressed by the guest are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of our platform. This discussion is intended solely for knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as an endorsement.

Produced by Global Indian Series for the Global Indian Network.

Script by Rajan Nazran
original idea: Rajan Nazran

Introduction music: (https://freesound.org/people/Timbre)