HIGHLIGHTS
- India Hydrogen Alliance (IH2A) hosted a closed-door workshop in partnership with NITI Aayog on September 29. The session focused on Hydrogen Supply Chain Development & Domestic Manufacturing. The workshops are co-curated by IH2A and its members and partner organisations, on a voluntary and non-commercial basis, together with NITI Aayog, Government of India as part of a series of capacity building sessions. Amitabh Kant, CEO NITI Aayog delivered the inaugural keynote address. The session included an in-depth discussion with participants on challenges, opportunities, and solutions.
- IH2A team along with Green Steel Workgroup Lead JSW Steel held discussions with the Ministry of Steel Building a National large-scale demonstration Green Steel Project and support on creation of a National Roadmap.
- IH2A made a presentation on “Green Hydrogen Transitions” at a GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and Government of Kerala workshop on “Integrated Sustainable Urban Transport Systems for Smart Cities” on 4th September 2021. The initiative was meant to support Kerala State Transport Department in developing a plan for deploying H2 fuel cell powered public transportation in the state.
- IH2A and its members participated in the International Climate Summit 2021 organized by the PHD Chamber of Commerce on 3rd September 2021. The conference with its theme on “Powering India’s Hydrogen Ecosystem’ was inaugurated by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and also featured Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy Mr. R.K. Singh
READ: Business Standard’s story titled ‘Making green hydrogen viable demands financial, tech support to lower costs’ highlighting IH2A’s plans to work with the government to draw up a blueprint for commercializing hydrogen technologies and systems to build net-zero carbon pathways in India. Link
POLICY DEVELOPMENTS
- India Makes Clean Energy Commitments at UN Summit: India at the first leader-level meeting on energy under the UN General Assembly in 40 years has made commitments to increase renewable energy installed capacity to 450 GW by 2030 and to develop a National Hydrogen Energy Mission to scale up annual green hydrogen production to 1 MT by 2030. It also announced to begin a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme to add 10 GW solar PV manufacturing capacity by 2025. India plans to reduce its emissions intensity of GDP by 33-35% over 2005 levels by 2030. Link
- Kerala to Kick-Start India's Ambitious Green Hydrogen Mission: India’s aggressive push for hydrogen energy will see its commencement from the state of Kerala as it has initiated talks with leading energy companies, such as Indian Oil, NTPC, GAIL, Bharat Petroleum, and Air Products, for producing green hydrogen from Cochin International Airport’s (CIAL's) solar power facility. Kerala has already drafted a road map to push hydrogen manufacturing in the state and has initiated discussions with fuel cell makers like Ballard Power Systems Inc. and HyGen. The hydrogen produced from CIAL will be used to run Kochi Metro’s feeder buses. Link
- US, India Launch Taskforces on H2, Biofuels: The US department of energy along with its Indian counterpart has launched new public-private task forces on Hydrogen and Biofuels to expand the use of clean energy technologies to decarbonize the energy sector. The United States and India are both committed to promoting a successful outcome at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this year. Over the last five years, USAID has contributed to the deployment of 5 GW of renewable energy across India. Link
- JSW Energy to Invest $4.8Bn in Green Energy Projects: The Government of Maharashtra and JSW Energy Ltd have signed two MoUs to set up two green projects worth INR 35,500 crore (USD 4.8 billion) to generate 6,500 MW clean energy in northern and western Maharashtra. This would comprise a 1,500 MW hydro-based power project and a 5,000 MW wind power project spread across 1,870 hectares, to be set up within the next 18 months. The investment inflow from JSW will account for a considerable increase in renewable energy sources within Maharashtra by proving cheap and green renewable power round the clock. Link
- India Can Achieve GH2 Cost of $1/kg in a Decade: Ambani: IH2A’s founding member, Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Chairman, Mukesh Ambani said that India could even set a more aggressive target of achieving green hydrogen ~$1/kg within a decade going beyond the global aspirations of achieving ~$2/kg. This will make India the first country globally to achieve $1 per 1 kilogram in a decade - the 1-1-1 target for Green Hydrogen. Link
- Adani Group to Invest $20Bn in Renewables in 10 years: India’s Adani Group will invest USD 20 billion in clean energy generation, component manufacturing, transmission, and distribution over 10 years. The mega investments in green energy come amid pressure from governments and investors on companies reliant on fossil fuels to cut their carbon footprint to fight climate change. Adani Group plans to triple its renewable power generation capacity over the next four years to 63% of its total portfolio from 21% now. Link
- India Revamps Incentives for Autos: As reported by Reuters, India has revised its proposed USD 8 billion scheme for the auto sector which will now focus on incentivising companies to build electric and hydrogen fuel-powered vehicles. This marks a significant shift from the government's original plan to incentivise auto and auto part makers to build mainly gasoline vehicles and their components for domestic sale and export, with some added benefit for electric vehicles (EVs). As per the sources, under the new proposal, India will give incentives to automakers for building EVs and hydrogen fuel cell cars only as the government does not want to spend money on promoting old technologies. Link
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
- South Korea earmarks $10Bn for e-mobility: South Korea has passed a bill aiming for carbon-neutrality by 2050 as well as a large zero-emission transport budget for 2022. The National Assembly accelerated the targets for carbon reduction with the bill while the state aims to spent twelve trillion won ($10.3Bn) in 2022 on e-mobility. Link
- New York joins California in setting 2035 zero-emission passenger car goal: New York has become the second US state to sign legislation requiring passenger cars and light-duty trucks to be zero-emission from 2035, paving the way for uptake of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to be accelerated. Link , Link
- Japan, Russia to cooperate in hydrogen, ammonia to fight climate change: Japan and Russia agreed to work together on hydrogen and ammonia production, the Japanese industry ministry said on Thursday, as the long-time partners in oil and natural gas shift the focus to cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels. Link
- Mercedes-Benz teams up with SSAB to explore fossil fuel-free steel for cars: Swedish steelmaker SSAB said it had partnered with Daimler's Mercedes-Benz to introduce fossil fuel-free steel into vehicle production, with prototype parts for body shells planned for next year. Link
- Chart Industries unveils onboard liquid hydrogen fuel system: Chart Industries unveiled a new product line for heavy-duty trucks, an onboard liquid hydrogen fuel system, at the ACT Expo in Long Beach, California. The horizontal liquid hydrogen fuel system, now available for commercial use, is intended to meet growing market demand for a variety of fuel cell and internal combustion engine applications. Link
- Hydrogen Highlights in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill in the US Senate: The U.S. Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) by a bipartisan vote of 69–30. In addition to funding for roads and bridges, the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package includes a number of provisions to spur investment in clean energy innovation technologies—in particular, it provides resources to accelerate research, development, demonstration, and deployment of clean hydrogen in the United States. Link