• IGHC

After 6th Inter-Governmental Consultations between India and Germany in 2022, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Germany, both the countries announced plans to develop an Indo-German Green Hydrogen Roadmap and to establish an Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force to develop the roadmap. On the same day, India’s Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy R. K. Singh and German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Change Dr. Robert Habeck signed a joint declaration to create the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force.

Under the agreement, the Task Force has been established with support of the Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF), with the goal to strengthen bilateral cooperation in production, utilization, storage and distribution of green hydrogen through building enabling frameworks for projects, regulations and standards, trade and joint research and development (R&D).

India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) was nominated to be part of the Task Force, along with leading government agencies, R&D institutions, industrial enterprises, and bilateral cooperation bodies in India and Germany.

The kick-off meeting of the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force was held virtually on 20 September 2022. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Vandana Kumar, Additional Secretary Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of India and Dr. Stefanie Schmid-Lübbert, Head Bilateral Energy Cooperation, Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Govt. of Germany. Image Source: Indo-German Energy Forum.

IESA is participating in all four Working Groups established under the Task Force, covering critical aspects of developing a green hydrogen ecosystem:
(1) Plant Engineering and Production
(2) Transport, Storage & Consumption
(3) Finance, Insurance Industry & Trading
(4) Quality Infrastructure & Legal Framework.
The Plant Engineering and Production Working Group will focus on technical project design of production plants of green hydrogen and its derivatives such as ammonia and methanol, as well as manufacturing and supply chain of plant components and equipment. The Transport, Storage & Consumption Working Group will focus on storage and transportation infrastructure including port infrastructure for national and international trading of green hydrogen and its derivatives, along with challenges and opportunities in existing hydrogen consuming industries and emerging and potential applications. The Finance, Insurance Industry & Trading Working Group will analyze what financing and insurance mechanisms and trading platforms are needed for uptake of green hydrogen ecosystem in the two countries and propose a roadmap for the same. The Infrastructure and Legal Framework Working Group will address the challenges in implementing enabling infrastructure across the green hydrogen value chain, along with legal framework covering standards and norms, certification and contracting mechanisms for green hydrogen projects and trading.

In their respective focus areas, each Working Group will contribute to the Task Force’s overarching objectives of ensuing knowledge exchange among stakeholders in the two countries on state-of-the-art developments, identifying opportunities for joint projects, as well as practical barriers and risks, and translating practical insights into recommendations for the political dialogue. The Working Groups began deliberations in 2022.

India, the third largest hydrogen producer and consumer country in the world today, announced the National Green Hydrogen Mission in January 2023 with the target to grow the green hydrogen production to 5 million tonnes per year by 2030. The total Mission outlay of ₹19,744 crores (~$2.2 billion) includes dedicated outlays for fiscal incentives for green hydrogen production and manufacturing, pilots, and R&D. By 2030, the Mission expects to bring in investments of ₹ 8 lakh crores (~$97 billion), create 6 lakh jobs, while facilitating renewable energy expansion, manufacturing, and reduction of fossil fuel & feedstock imports and greenhouse gas emissions.

Germany announced its National Hydrogen Strategy in 2020 and updated it in 2021. With EUR 7 billion (~$7.5 billion) in government investments earmarked for developing green hydrogen, Germany plans to deploy 5 GW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030 with additional 5 GW to be added in the following decade. The Strategy includes an outlay of EUR 2 billion (~$2.2 billion) to establish international trade partnerships, given that Germany’s (and broadly EU’s) targets will necessitate green hydrogen imports to Germany (and EU) in the long-term. In December 2022, Germany’s H2Global Fund of EUR 900 million released the first call for tenders (worth EUR 360 million) to support production and import of green ammonia from outside Europe.

Given Germany’s leadership in green hydrogen and renewable power technologies and industry and India’s expected market potential, low-cost renewable energy resources, and manufacturing expansion goals, the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force is expected to leverage these complementarities between the two countries to foster green hydrogen ecosystem in both India and Germany.

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