India’s green hydrogen ambitions — backed by the National Green Hydrogen Mission’s target of 5 million tonnes of annual production by 2030 — are creating a materials problem that doesn’t get enough attention: how do you safely store, transport, and process a gas and its associated chemicals in equipment that won’t corrode, embrittle, or fail under constant chemical exposure?
For electrolyser plants, hydrogen refuelling stations, and the water treatment and chemical dosing systems that support them, the answer increasingly points to one material: Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP). Purpose-built FRP tanks, scrubbers, and piping are quietly becoming the standard choice wherever green hydrogen infrastructure meets corrosive process chemicals.
Why Green Hydrogen Plants Have a Corrosion Problem
Green hydrogen production relies on electrolysis — splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity. The process involves highly demineralised water, alkaline or acidic electrolytes (depending on the electrolyser technology), and auxiliary chemical dosing systems for pH control and gas purification.
Each of these process streams is aggressive toward conventional materials:
- Demineralised water is corrosive to mild steel and even some grades of stainless steel over time.
- Alkaline electrolyte systems (common in alkaline electrolysers) attack carbon steel and require specialised linings.
- Acidic dosing systems used for water treatment demand materials that won’t degrade under continuous chemical contact.
A tank or vessel failure in any of these systems doesn’t just mean a repair bill — it means unplanned downtime in a plant where uptime directly determines the cost per kilogram of hydrogen produced.
Where FRP Tanks Fit Into the Green Hydrogen Value Chain
FRP storage tanks and process vessels are now specified across several points in a green hydrogen facility:
- Demineralised water storage tanks feeding the electrolyser stack
- Chemical dosing and neutralisation tanks for pH correction
- Scrubbing systems for gas purification and effluent treatment
- Acid and alkali storage for electrolyte make-up systems
Because FRP is inert to a wide range of acids, alkalis, and demineralised water, it eliminates the recurring lining repairs and cathodic protection systems that steel tanks require in the same service. This matters directly for lifecycle cost — a green hydrogen plant is a 20-25 year asset, and the storage and dosing infrastructure needs to match that timeline without repeated vessel replacement.
“The materials question in green hydrogen infrastructure is often treated as an afterthought next to electrolyser technology — but a single corroded dosing tank can take a production line offline for days.” — Industry perspective on hydrogen plant reliability
The Case for FRP Over Lined Steel or Stainless Steel
Lined carbon steel and stainless steel remain common defaults simply because they’re familiar, but both carry trade-offs that FRP avoids:
- Lined steel tanks are only as durable as the lining — once it’s breached, the underlying steel corrodes rapidly and is difficult to repair in the field.
- Stainless steel resists many chemicals but is vulnerable to chloride stress corrosion cracking, a real risk in coastal green hydrogen projects planned along India’s western and southern ports.
- FRP tanks are manufactured as a single corrosion-resistant structure — there’s no lining to fail and no susceptibility to chloride-induced cracking.
FRP also offers a significant weight advantage during construction and transport to remote or coastal hydrogen plant sites, where crane capacity and site access are often constrained.
What to Specify When Sourcing FRP Tanks for Hydrogen-Adjacent Applications
Plant engineers evaluating FRP vessels for green hydrogen or electrolyser-support applications should confirm the following with their manufacturer:
- Resin selection matched to the specific chemical service (vinyl ester for aggressive acid/alkali duty, isophthalic for general demineralised water storage)
- Design compliance with relevant pressure vessel and storage tank codes for the application
- Manufacturer’s in-house testing and certification for tensile strength, corrosion resistance, and fire performance
- Track record supplying tanks for chemical-process-adjacent industries, not just general water storage
A Growing Track Record in India
leading FRP products manufacturer in India with decades of experience in chemical-industry tanks and vessels are already positioning their product lines for this shift. FGPL (Fibrograts), an FRP products manufacturer operating out of Indore since 2009, has built its storage tank and reaction vessel range specifically for corrosive-service industrial applications — the same category of demand now emerging from green hydrogen and electrolyser-support infrastructure.
As India’s green hydrogen capacity scales through the current decade, the plants that avoid materials-related downtime will likely be the ones that treated tank and vessel selection as an engineering decision from day one — not an afterthought bolted on after the electrolyser order was placed.
About the Author
This article is contributed by FGPL (Fibrograts), a leading FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) products manufacturer in India since 2009, serving over 500 corporate clients across 20 states and 10 countries with FRP storage tanks, reaction vessels, gratings, cable trays, and industrial composite solutions from its Indore manufacturing facility. Learn more at fibrograts.com.
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