The Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF) organised a Working Group 1 meeting on Plant Engineering and Production under the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force on 23 November 2022. Dr. Nicole Glanemann, Deputy Head, German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) commenced her welcome remarks by reinstating Germany’s goal to promote an international hydrogen economy to help reduce the cost of green hydrogen and focusing to remain a net importer of energy even in a climate neutral future. In 2020, the German government dedicated a fund of 2 billion Euros to its International Green Hydrogen Strategy, which will be increased by another 3.5 billion Euros.

Dr. Glanemann’s speech was followed with a presentation by Mr. Sidharth Jain, Founder & CEO, MEC Intelligence, on the Current Market Developments in Green Hydrogen in India. As per their research it was found that the annual domestic hydrogen consumption in India is around 6 million tons (mainly for fertilizer production and refining). Mr. Jain said that it could be summarised that the Government of India’s four focus points to replace the domestic hydrogen consumption under the National Hydrogen Mission are: establishing a global platform for hydrogen manufacturing and related technologies, forming strategies for demand creation, creating demonstration projects for application in transportation industry sector, and having a single window clearance and across-state harmonization of policy.

He offered more details on how the Government of India already has a demand creation strategy in progress with several papers published, including one by NITI Aayog on creating demand through mandates and corridors. Speaking about projects, Mr. Jain said that 38 projects have been announced so far with some even looking into exporting of green ammonia. Furthermore, he said that state-level hydrogen policies have been implemented in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya, with states like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan having released draft policies.

The key obstacle in establishing green hydrogen as identified by Mr. Jain is the green hydrogen price gap. It is said that a cost reduction of 50% to 60% is needed to make green hydrogen competitive in the market. With this, the floor was open to participants to indulge in discussion about what the next steps should be for industry leaders and researchers. The discussion was kickstarted with a multimedia interactive Q&A on foreseen electrolyser capacity to be installed in India, highest potential for near term domestic offtake of green hydrogen and main barriers for the same. This led to several insights being provided from the German and Indian businesses.

Mr. Vineet Goyal, Managing Director, Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer, India, introduced himself to the participants and was approved to head the group. Mr. Goyal agreed to convene future meetings for this working group under the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force and will support streamlining the topics of discussion. The meeting concluded with substantial action points narrated by the participants and an urgency to learn more about the upcoming green hydrogen projects in India.