HIGHLIGHTS
- India Hydrogen Alliance (IH2A) hosted a closed-door workshop in partnership with Scottish Development International (SDI) on August 27. The workshop was a knowledge sharing initiative to develop a common understanding of building a hydrogen ecosystem in India with a focus on sharing Scotland’s experience of building a hydrogen ecosystem in Europe. The workshop was attended by key industry players, policy makers and research bodies and focused on exploring how cross-border private sector collaborations can lead to the development of a H2 economy for India. The session was structured around key learnings shared by three expert speakers - Molly Iliffe, ERM, Laura Fleming, Siemens Gamesa and Gordon Mcintosh, Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group.
- India Hydrogen Alliance (IH2A) hosted a closed-door workshop in partnership with Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) on August 31. The session focused on developing a holistic, value-chain approach to decarbonize steel and cement. This workshop is the first of a series of e-meetings with representatives from industry and technical agencies, from which BEE and IH2A will prepare a national blueprint and roadmap for net-zero steel and cement. Shri Abhay Bakre, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), delivered the inaugural keynote address. The sessions included an in-depth discussion with participants on challenges, opportunities, and solutions.
- FTI Consulting and TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) have launched the ‘South-Asia New Energy Series’ Report on energy transition and domestic manufacturing opportunity for global hydrogen supply chains. The report has been compiled as an outcome of a joint initiative that brought together 37 global and Indian leaders from clean energy policy, finance, transport and infrastructure, industrial decarbonisation and social impact sectors. The recommendations from the report address policy design for a new energy ecosystem, public and private funding, decarbonizing transport (related infrastructure), industry and new energy skills for transition and the gender dividend. IH2A founding co-leads Jillian Evanko, CEO Chart Industries, Dr Anurag Pandey, R&D Lead Reliance Industries Limited, and IH2A Steel & Cement Workgroup Lead Prabodha Acharya, Chief Sustainability Officer JSW Steel are part of the expert voices featuring in the report. Link
POLICY DEVELOPMENTS
- National Hydrogen Mission Announced: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the National Hydrogen Mission (NHM) on India’s 75th Independence Day, stating that the aim is to make the country a global hub for the production and export of green hydrogen. The announcement is in line with the proposal made in 2021 Budget Speech, for the launch of NHM. Hydrogen is likely to play a crucial role for India to achieve its renewable energy target of 450 GW by 2030. Link
- Green H2 to be mandated for Refineries soon: The Power and Renewable Energy Minister, R K Singh has said that renewable energy ministry has sent the proposal to make it mandatory for user industries to produce or procure green hydrogen to meet part of their needs for cabinet approval. Once the cabinet approves the proposal, oil refineries and fertiliser sectors will be asked to implement the policy immediately. As per the proposal, starting 2023-24, refineries will need to use green hydrogen for meeting 10% of their requirement, rising to 25% in five years. The proposal also seeks to extend the policy to other industries. Link
- India’s Potential to be a Global Leader in GH2 Production: NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant, in addressing an industry event with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), said that green hydrogen has the potential to drastically reduce CO2 emissions, reduce energy imports, with the potential to make India a global leader in green hydrogen. He highlighted the need for proactive collaborations between innovators, entrepreneurs, and government to nurture the hydrogen ecosystem in India. He also noted that India can be a major exporter of both green hydrogen and green ammonia. Link
- Indian Railways Invites Bid for Exploring H2 Tech in Trains: Indian Railways Organization of Alternate Fuel (IROAF), the green fuel vertical of Indian Railways has invited bids for Hydrogen Fuel Cell based Train on railways network with the aim to ascertain whether existing diesel trains can be retrofitted to use hydrogen instead. If existing diesel-powered trains can be converted into hydrogen fuel-powered trains it will not only amount to cost savings of INR 2.3 crore (USD 0.32m) annually but also save the carbon footprint (NO2) of 11.12 kilo tons per annum. Link
- India Invites UK to Participate in GH2 Storage Bids: Power and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh has said that India is interested in collaborating with the UK on offshore wind and has invited them to participate in the upcoming green hydrogen, lithium-ion bids. He also stressed on the need of the developed and developing countries to work together for bringing down the cost of storage of renewable energy. Link
- Waste-to-Hydrogen Infrastructure Plant under development: Waste management cleantech firm, GPS Renewables has teamed up with on-site hydrogen generation and supply company HyGear to develop India’s first bio-methanation based green hydrogen plant. Steam methane reforming of natural gas represents one of the lowest emissions and cost-effective production pathways available for hydrogen and will further support India on its decarbonisation journey. Link
- ArcelorMittal to Invest $13.6 Bn in Renewables: Leading Steel major, ArcelorMittal is set to invest INR 1 lakh crore (USD 13.6 billion) in Gujarat in areas of steel making, solar energy, wind energy and hydrogen production. This is in line with the company’s overall commitment to reduce CO2 emissions intensity by 25% by 2030, as highlighted in its recently released Climate Action Report. Link
- Ohmium Launches India’s First GH2 Electrolyzer Gigafactory: Ohmium International, a US-based renewable energy start-up, has launched India’s first green hydrogen electrolyzer Gigafactory in Bengaluru. The Gigafactory will manufacture India-made Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) hydrogen electrolyzers with an initial manufacturing capacity of about 500 MW per year and will scale it up to 2 GW per year. PEM Electrolysers are the primary component for the production of green hydrogen and this development could open up export opportunities for India manufactured electrolysers. Link
- Reliance forms nine-member New Energy Council: Mukesh Ambani has enlisted eight global technocrats, many of whom are advisers to governments, as part of a nine-member New Energy Council to enable Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL NSE 1.20 %) to pivot from its traditional oil-to-gas business into a green energy giant. Link
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
- UK launches hydrogen strategy: The UK government finally launched its long-awaited hydrogen strategy, setting out proposals to build the fledgling energy sector using a contract for difference (CfD) support mechanism similar to the one used to kick-start the nation’s successful offshore wind sector. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration wants to build 5GW of hydrogen capacity by 2030 to be used in industry, transport, and heating, helping the UK to become a carbon neutral economy by 2050. Link, Link, Link
- Russia targets Europe and Asia Pacific with 15 million tpa hydrogen export ambition: Russia is stepping up its hydrogen ambitions with the release of a draft concept for the development of the industry in the country, as it looks to become one of the largest exporters of the fuel to Europe and the Asia Pacific. In a statement this week, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the draft concept defined the goals, strategic initiatives, and key measures to launch Russia’s hydrogen industry. Link
- Berlin supports green hydrogen research with €40m: The German government is providing €40 million in funding to Namibia for research and development of the nascent green hydrogen industry. The driest country on the African continent has enormous potential for solar energy production that could be used to develop the green hydrogen industry. Link
- Oman is latest Gulf state to pursue 'clean hydrogen': Oman is the latest Gulf state to make a push for ‘clean’ hydrogen, by launching a grouping of 13 public and private entities to develop a framework for its future use. The new alliance, named ‘Hy-Fly’, includes oil and gas operators, educational and research institutes as well as port operators apart from government agencies. Link
- Australian hydrogen capability finder launched by NERA: Australia’s first hydrogen capability finder has today (August 23) been launched by National Energy Resources Australia (NERA). Dubbed HyCapability, the free online tool aims to connect Australian hydrogen businesses with both domestic and global markets as the country strives to be a leader in hydrogen. Link
- Fossil-free steel ready for delivery: SSAB has now produced the world’s first fossil-free steel and delivered it to a customer. The trial delivery is an important step on the way to a completely fossil-free value chain for iron- and steelmaking and a milestone in the HYBRIT partnership between SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall. Link