Green energy experts-stakeholders to brainstorm at ICGH 2023
About 48 projects on green hydrogen and green ammonia have been publicly announced in India, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Secretary Bhupinder Singh Bhalla said at a curtain-raiser of an international conference which will be attended by 1,500+ delegates in Delhi.
“There is a lot of traction from the industry, as far as green hydrogen opportunity is concerned,” he informed media on 28 June 2023, adding that combined production from these projects would be about 3.5 million tonnes.
The three-day International Conference on Green Hydrogen (ICGH-2023), to be held 5-7 July 2023, will have no less than 25 deep-dive sessions aimed at establishing a green hydrogen ecosystem.
Green hydrogen experts from the Americas, Australia, Africa, Europe and India will present regional perspectives at ICGH-2023.
“The Conference will also guide us in determining the focus areas for R&D and on the standards and regulations needed,” said Bhalla, adding that a Working Group on Standards for Green Hydrogen Manufacturing has already submitted a report comprising around 100 recommendations to Bureau of Indian Standards and other standards-related organizations.
The Government is working on Definition of Green Hydrogen and Global Standard are needed.
Bhalla expressed the hope that the conference helps to also evolve some global standards for green hydrogen.
“It is an evolving field, so every country is learning, so India is going to come up with a definition based on what we believe should be green hydrogen and eventually, we should be having a global standard on the definition of green hydrogen.
“This should have clear starting and ending points, so that we can effectively evaluate our energy transition and adoption of green hydrogen.”
Speaking on demand creation, the Secretary said that the government is working with respective Ministries to promote green hydrogen.
“The Ministry is also working on provision of incentives for electrolyzer manufacturing and for production of green hydrogen. As regards production of green hydrogen, incentives will be awarded based on setting up of green hydrogen plants; in a second model, incentives will be provided for consumption, based on a Demand Aggregation Model,” he elaborated.
A draft of the incentive scheme for electrolyzer manufacturing and part of the incentive scheme for production of green hydrogen have been finalized and will be rolled out soon, he announced.
He said that the total incentives being offered under the Mission is more than Rs.17,000 crores under the year 2030, which will be rolled out in tranches, so that the government will learn from the first tranche and evolve the second one.
On the question of funding for green hydrogen, Bhalla highlighted the need for Rs.8 lakh crores of investment under National Green Hydrogen Mission.
The Government is talking with banking and financial system, private sector and other stakeholders for financing of green hydrogen, he said, adding that the Government would be handholding industry in order to attract funding for the sector.
The Secretary said that the government is working with states on development of green hydrogen hubs.
Explaining the concept, he said, “A Green Hydrogen Hub is an area where production and consumption occur in close proximity. If a particular green hydrogen production capacity is purely export-oriented, they would be largely near the ports and this is a call which the private sector is going to take.
“We are working with the Ministry of Shipping in order to explore setting up of green hydrogen hubs at major ports. Hubs will be selected for infrastructure support from the government based on parameters identified under the policy to be rolled out, but hubs in addition to what the government supports can also come up, based on initiatives by the industry.”
The National Green Hydrogen Mission was launched by the Government of India on 4 Jan 2023, as part of its decarbonization strategy. The Mission places significant emphasis on R&D in green hydrogen and aims to make India a global hub of Green Hydrogen production, utilization and export.
The Mission will kickstart major interventions in policies and technology to develop a robust Green Hydrogen ecosystem in the country. It seeks to do this by creating demand, strengthening the supply side, and focusing on policy and regulatory frameworks, innovation and affordability.
The Mission will encourage private investment in the sector and enable rapid scale-up, technology development, establish standards & regulatory framework and enable rapid cost reduction.
R&D in green hydrogen not only fosters sustainable energy solutions but also opens opportunities for job creation and economic growth in India’s clean energy sector. By prioritizing R&D, India is poised to become a global leader in green hydrogen technology, paving the way for a cleaner and greener future.
The Secretary stressed that the green hydrogen ecosystem is important in order to attain the basic production target of National Green Hydrogen Mission, of producing 5 MMT of green hydrogen per annum by 2030.
“Electrolyzer production capacity in the world is very limited, this capacity has to come up in India. And for this, it is important that we learn and adopt the appropriate technology for electrolyzer manufacturing as well as for various individual components of the manufacturing process,” he said.
“Through this process, we are creating a platform where experts can talk about various steps of the value chain, so that we can learn from others; this would comprise not only production, but also marketing and collaborations. Our focus is on the entire value chain which is important for the success of the National Green Hydrogen Mission.”
The conference is being organized by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, in partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Office of Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India. Fiinews.com
