Hydrogen can be cheap if we produce it using excess electricity,Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia is looking to reduce the production costs of green hydrogen by tapping into surplus electricity generated from hydroelectric and solar power plants, according to Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry.The ministry’s Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Eniya Listiani Dewi explained that electricity that is not absorbed by the national grid can be diverted directly into hydrogen production.”Hydrogen can be cheap if we produce it using excess electricity,” Eniya said here on Wednesday.This cost-reduction strategy will become increasingly crucial as Indonesia expands its solar power capacity.Eniya pointed out that if national solar power capacity reaches 100 gigawatts (GW), excess electricity generated during peak daylight hours—when grid demand is typically lower—could be redirected to produce hydrogen, eliminating the need for expensive battery energy storage systems.”A 100-gigawatt solar power system with high utilization will not necessarily rely on battery storage. When connected to the grid during the day and demand drops, we can simply switch to hydrogen production,” she noted.Currently, production cost for green hydrogen remains relatively high, ranging from US$3 to US$7 per kilogram. By comparison, traditional gray hydrogen costs US$1 to US$2 per kilogram, blue hydrogen ranges from US$1.5 to US$3 per kilogram and naturally occurring (white) hydrogen sits between US$0.5 and US$1.5 per kilogram.Eniya said affordable hydrogen holds strong potential to support domestic industrial growth, particularly in the fertilizer and chemical sectors, which currently depend heavily on imported raw materials. Because hydrogen functions as a secondary energy carrier produced from primary energy, its development remains closely tied to the availability and cost of underlying power sources.In addition to green hydrogen, the ESDM Ministry is also exploring the potential of natural or white hydrogen—extracted directly from underground deposits—as a long-term primary energy source to support the country's broader various clean energy transition.