HIGHLIGHTS
- A report from the India-U.K. Green Hydrogen Science Policy Dialogue was released in December (Full report here). The dialogue was organized by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to Govt of India and the British High Commission. The policy Dialogue concluded with a suggestion that the development of a blueprint for a UK-India Hydrogen Centre of Excellence would support delivery of the 2030 Roadmap for India-UK future relations. Link
POLICY DEVELOPMENTS
- Inter-Ministerial Consultations Underway for India's Hydrogen Policy: Rajnath Ram, Energy Advisor, NITI Aayog has stated in an interview that the government is progressing towards launching a National Hydrogen Policy. While stakeholder consultations have happened, inter-ministerial consultations are underway to launch the hydrogen policy. He further pointed that India should aim to export green hydrogen in near future. Link
- Oil India to Set Up Green Hydrogen Plant in Assam: Oil India Ltd, the country’s second-largest state-owned oil explorer, is setting up a plant to manufacture green hydrogen at its Jorhat oilfield in Assam. The pilot plant will generate green hydrogen using AEM technology. Pankaj Kumar Goswami, Director (Operations), Oil India, said the hydrogen so generated will be blended with natural gas using the existing infrastructure. Link
- Govt Planning to Blend 15% Green Hydrogen with Piped Natural Gas: The government is planning to blend 15% green hydrogen with piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic, commercial, and industrial consumption. The move is in line with India’s ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and becoming carbon neutral by 2070. Earlier this year, Power Minister R K Singh had announced that the government will bring green hydrogen under renewable purchase obligation (RPO), which essentially means that bulk buyers such as Discoms and captive users have to buy a certain proportion of renewable energy (RE) out of their total power requirement. A similar mechanism will be created for hydrogen, and it will be called hydrogen purchase obligation (HPO). Link
- NTPC Awards India's First Green Hydrogen-based Microgrid Project: State-run power company NTPC said it has awarded a standalone fuel-cell based green hydrogen microgrid project at Simhadri, in Andhra Pradesh. As per the statement, this will be India's first green hydrogen-based energy storage project and one of the largest in the world. The ministry said that it would be a precursor to large-scale hydrogen energy storage projects and would be useful for studying and deploying multiple microgrids in various off grid and strategic locations of the country. Link
- Sentient Labs Launches India’s First Zero-Emission Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus: Sentient Labs, a Pune-based R&D innovation lab, has launched a hydrogen fuel cell bus that runs on an indigenously developed hydrogen fuel cell and electric powertrain. The hydrogen fuel cell was developed in collaboration with the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) and Central Electro Chemical Research Institute under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Recently, Sentient also announced the world’s first technology to generate hydrogen directly from agricultural residue for use in fuel cell-powered vehicles. This technology adds to the line-up of efforts around sustainable mobility. Link
- Panel Formed to Prepare Energy Transition Roadmap for India: The government is planning to draw up an energy transition roadmap for the oil and gas sector that could prove to be a key step for India's path to net-zero emissions by 2070. The oil ministry has set up the Energy Transition Advisory Committee headed by former petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor, who demitted office in November, to draft the strategy. The panel will include representatives of all public-sector oil and gas companies and will reach out to other stakeholders in the sector. Link
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
- BNSF, Caterpillar, Chevron to Pilot Hydrogen-Powered Locomotive: BNSF, Caterpillar, Inc. and Chevron U.S.A., Inc. have teamed on a locomotive pilot to “confirm the feasibility and performance of hydrogen fuel for use as a viable alternative to traditional fuels for line-haul rail.” Progress Rail, a Caterpillar company, will design and build a prototype hydrogen fuel cell-powered locomotive for line-haul and/or other rail service; Chevron will develop the fuelling concept and infrastructure; and BNSF will make available its lines for prototype testing. Link
- Germany Approves 900 Mn Euros for Green Hydrogen Project: Germany will put 900 million euros ($1 billion) into a funding scheme to support green hydrogen as the government seeks to boost investment in climate protection. The H2Global project is designed to speed up the global market ramp-up of green hydrogen by using a "double auction". Under the scheme, hydrogen or hydrogen derivatives are bought cheaply on the world market and sold to the EU's highest bidder. As Germany's new government seeks to decarbonise Europe's biggest economy, renewable hydrogen will play a crucial role. Link
- Australia Starts Trials for Hydrogen Guarantee of Origin Certificates: The Australian government has commenced trials for a Guarantee of Origin (GO) scheme for the hydrogen sector, which will pave the way to certifying the green credentials of the country's hydrogen exports for future customers. A GO certificate is designed to certify that a product has been made from sustainable sources, and in the case of green hydrogen it will certify that electricity used was from renewable energy sources. Under the system, hydrogen players will be able certify locally produced hydrogen and its derivatives by measuring and tracking emissions from hydrogen production. Link
- Government Backs Concept for Zero-Emission H2-Powered Planes: The UK Government has announced the creation of a new concept aircraft which it says will run on liquid hydrogen and could “one day fly to the other side of the world with zero carbon emissions and just one refuelling stop”. The project showcases the huge potential of liquid hydrogen powered aircraft as the UK drives for a cleaner and greener air travel future and builds on progress already achieved by the Jet Zero Council, a partnership between industry and government with the aim of delivering zero emission transatlantic flight within a generation. Link
- Western Australia and the Netherlands to Collaborate on H2 Exports: Western Australia’s (WA) state government and the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands have signed a deal to build up a green hydrogen export supply chain. They will also collaborate to share knowledge in relation to policy, regulation, and technology development. Link