HIGHLIGHTS
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IH2A Niti Aayog Workshop on ‘Funding India’s H2 Clusters and Projects: The second workshop in the IH2A Niti Aayog workshop series was conducted on February 17, 2022, to build the hydrogen economy in India. The NITI Aayog- India Hydrogen Alliance (IH2A) Hydrogen Economy Capacity Building Series is a collaborative effort for government and industry stakeholders to discuss key elements of the proposed hydrogen economy. The workshop was attended by representatives from the European Investment Bank (EIB), World Bank, OECD, GIZ, CDC and FMO, Government of India, Government of Kerala and industry players from across the hydrogen value chain.
Industry body India Hydrogen Alliance (IH2A) has proposed the creation of a H2Bharat Public-Private Taskforce for a GW-scale national hydrogen hub development plan to NITI Aayog and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), with the aim of identifying at least five large GW-scale green hydrogen hubs for development in India, within next 18-months.
POLICY DEVELOPMENTS
- Govt. Unveils First Phase of H2 Policy: The government has unveiled first phase of India’s green hydrogen policy, promising cheaper renewable power, fee waiver for inter-state power transmission for 25 years for projects commissioned before June 2025, land in renewable energy parks, and mega manufacturing zones to help local industries wean themselves off fossil fuels. The policy is aimed at promoting green hydrogen and green ammonia. The government is also planning to bring in Green Hydrogen Consumption Obligation in fertilizer production and petroleum refining, akin to renewable purchase obligations (RPO). At the COP-26 summit in Glasgow last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to make India carbon-neutral by 2070. Link
- Electrolyser Supply Crush a Major Impediment to India’s H2 Ambitions: A global supply crunch of electrolysers needed to produce green hydrogen and a lack of domestic manufacturers to make them pose a major challenge to India’s ambitious hydrogen plans. India plans to manufacture 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030, half of the European Union’s target 2030 target of 10 million tonnes. Power Minister R K Singh has said that India would need ~10 GW of electrolyser capacity to achieve its aim. Link
- India to Create $20Bn Renewable Energy Opportunity Annually: NITI Aayog: NITI Aayog's Energy Adviser, Rajnath Ram has said that growing momentum towards local manufacturing in India is an opportunity for the country to develop a strong foothold in the $226 billion of global renewable energy market by 2026 (growing at CAGR of 21%). He further said that India itself will be creating a market opportunity worth $20 billion annually. India's green dream should be based on reduced import dependence while also increasing the domestic manufacturing capability. Link
- NTPC Plans to Set a $2 Benchmark Cost by 2025-26 for GH2: State-run power giant, NTPC, is discussing to set a $2 benchmark cost for production of green hydrogen by 2025-26 as per Mohit Bhargava, CEO of NTPC Renewable Energy. He clarified that to achieve that aim, cost of electrolysers and power would have to come down significantly. He mentioned that NTPC has started a pilot of capturing carbon dioxide and uses it along with green hydrogen to make green methanol. Green hydrogen has multiple use cases including in sectors like fertilizers and refineries. Cutting the cost of green hydrogen would allow for its much-needed commercialisation across sectors. Link
- India's Green Energy Exports to Touch $500 Bn in 20 years: Mukesh Ambani: Chairman & MD of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Mukesh Ambani said that India’s green energy exports would cross $500 billion in the coming two decades. The statement comes at a time when RIL has started aggressive expansion into the green energy sector with solar equipment manufacturing, green hydrogen production and energy storage. IH2A Workgroup Lead, RIL has ambitious plans to become net carbon zero by 2035. BS
- Adani Group in Pact with Ballard to Manufacture H2-Fuel Cells in India: Adani Group has signed a non-binding pact with Ballard Power Systems to evaluate a joint venture for investment in commercial production of hydrogen fuel cells for various mobility and industrial applications in India. As per the MOU, both parties will examine various options to cooperate, including potential collaboration for fuel cell manufacturing in India. Adani Enterprises’ newly formed arm Adani New Industries Limited (ANIL) will be housing the group’s green hydrogen initiatives. Link
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
- India and Australia Sign Letter of Intent on Solar, ‘Clean’ Hydrogen: India and Australia have agreed to jointly work towards reducing the cost of new and renewable energy technologies and scaling up deployment to accelerate global emissions reduction. The two sides signed a letter of intent (LOI) in this regard during the 4th India – Australia Energy Dialogue, co-chaired by India’s Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R.K. Singh, and Australia’s Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, Angus Taylor. The focus of this LOI will be scaling up the manufacture and deployment of ultra-low-cost solar and “clean” hydrogen. Energy transition was a major area of discussion in the dialogue and both sides have agreed on a forward action plan for areas like energy efficiency technologies; grid management etc. Link
- US Hydrogen Bus Council Forms FC Coalition: The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Council (HFC Bus Council) in the US has formed a national coalition of public transit agencies, manufacturers, and suppliers working together to advance the hydrogen fuel cell electric bus economy and its applications in the public transit sector. The mission stated by the HFC Bus Council is to “educate policymakers, regulators, and transportation stakeholders on the benefits of hydrogen fuel cell electric buses and related infrastructure”. Link
- First Hydrogen Train in Japan Hits the Rails for Test Run: Japan has unveiled its first hydrogen-powered train that is a step toward the nation’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The country will be testing the hydrogen-fuelled train next month. The hydrogen-fueled train has been developed by East Japan Railway Co in partnership with Toyota Motor Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. The commercial services likely to begin in 2030. The government has said it aims to boost hydrogen’s usage amount to 20 million tons by 2050. Link
- ABB, IBM, and Worley Partner to Create Hydrogen Solution: ABB, IBM, and Worley have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on helping energy companies build and operate green hydrogen facilities more efficiently and at scale. The planned three-party ‘Green Hydrogen Solution collaboration’ aims to develop an integrated, digitally enabled solution for facility owners to build green hydrogen assets more quickly, cheaply, and safely, and operate them more efficiently. Under the collaboration, ABB will provide offerings for electrical infrastructure, automation, operations digitalization, Worley will provide engineering, procurement, and construction expertise, and IBM will provide systems integration services, as well as data framework and management solutions. Link
- Kawasaki Chairman Appointed Hydrogen Council Co-Chair: The Hydrogen Council made changes in leadership, appointing Yoshinori Kanehana, Chairman of Kawasaki Heavy Industries a New Co-Chair of the Council along with Tom Linebarger. The Hydrogen Council is a global initiative that gathers industry players under a long-term ambition for hydrogen to foster the energy transition.
- EU Aims to Make Africa a World Champion in H2 Exports: The European Union needs to decarbonise its industry rapidly if it wants to achieve its climate ambitions. However, it simply lacks the space and sunshine to produce “green” hydrogen from renewable energy in sufficient quantities. Because of that, Africa is set to play as big a role in the EU’s hydrogen import ambitions. Africa has huge potential to produce low-cost hydrogen because of abundant sun energy and has a relatively low energy consumption. The production of hydrogen should also allow Africa to diversify its economy while simultaneously helping Europe to achieve its aim of becoming carbon neutral. Link