The second meeting of the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force was organised on behalf of the Indian Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) and German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) by the Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF-SO) on 6th June 2023 at Atal Akshay Urja Bhawan in New Delhi under the co-chairmanship of Shri Ajay Yadav, Joint Secretary, MNRE and Dr. Andreas Nicolin, Deputy Director General, BMWK.

Post the first meeting of the Task Force on 20 February 2022, the four Subworking Groups have met several times to identify challenges in the green hydrogen value chain and seek action accordingly.

The meeting kickstarted with welcome remarks from Sh. Yadav, MNRE, who offered an overview of the decisions agreed upon by the Task Force members after the first meeting. He then provided a background of India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission and highlighted the important work to be carried out under the mission.

Dr. Nicolin, BMWK, in his welcome remarks thanked everyone for the second meeting of the Task Force and outlined the priorities from Germany’s National Green Hydrogen Strategy. He emphasised on the need for partnerships between the two countries to establish an efficient green hydrogen ecosystem and touched upon the H₂Global tender which has been opened for Sustainable Aviation and Sustainable Maritime Fuel (SAF/SMF).

Dr. Phillipp Stammler, Head of National Hydrogen Strategy, BMWK, took over the floor then to provide inputs on Germany’s National Green Hydrogen Strategy. As per the Green Hydrogen Strategy, Germany expects a demand of up to 100 TwH of hydrogen in 2030. Germany sees a high demand for hydrogen in the hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel and chemical industry but also the maritime sector. Currently, Germany has a demand of 55Twh of mainly grey hydrogen, mostly for the chemical sector, which means that there is a large carbon footprint. Hence, the strategy focuses on creating a demand of 95 - 100 Twh green hydrogen. The inputs provided by Dr. Stammler created a fruitful backdrop for the heads of the Subworking Groups under the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force to inform the esteemed members about the work conducted in each of the subworking groups.

Mr. Vineet Goyal, Director, Steinbeis and Head of Subworking Group on Plant Engineering and Production, informed that there was a consensus among the members to learn about ongoing and upcoming GH2 projects in India and abroad which has been consistently shared with them. This subworking group had also highlighted the importance of learning about the production cost of green ammonia in India. Based on this, MEC+ Intelligence conducted a study and thereby produced a tool which calculates the cost of green ammonia and green fertilisers with configuration of renewable plants across India. Mr. Goyal said that in the future, the subworking group hopes to focus on identifying activities for cooperation and partnerships in the form of trade fairs, delegations and business roundtables.

The Head of Subworking Group 2 on Transport, Storage and Consumption, Mr. Tom Mikus, NOW GmbH, briefly took the participants through the knowledge sessions organised on decarbonising the shipping sector in India. He also informed that an efficient tool has been developed on identifying locations for hydrogen hubs in India. This tool analyses and maps logistics and storage infrastructure for GH2 derivatives in India. Under this subworking group, the tool is scheduled to be officially launched later in the year and a study on location assessment for green ammonia production will also be organised.

Mr. Tapas Kapadia, CEO, RWE Supply & Trading India, and Head of Subworking Group 3 on Finance, Insurance Industry and Trading, said that there was a keen interest among members to learn about carbon ( CO₂) certificates as an additional revenue stream for GH2 projects. Hence, a webinar was organised on the same with Mr. Phillip Veh, Perspectives Climate Group. Further information dissemination was conducted on financing options for GH2 projects. Some of the financing tools identified have been H2UPPP, PtX Development Fund by KFW Development Bank, and the most important H2Global tender. In the future, this subworking group hopes to learn about the insurance sector for green hydrogen.

Finally, the Co-Head of Subworking Group 4 on Quality Infrastructure, Safety and Legal Framework, Mr. Markus Hoffmann von Wolffersdorff, KNPP, expanded on the reports and studies conducted. This subworking group has been presented with a report on green hydrogen certification for export to Europe with a special focus on bidding zones as per the Delegated Acts under RED II. Under this group, a study on gap analysis of green hydrogen related standards and norms in India needs to be finalised and further knowledge sessions need to be organised on certifications for building a green hydrogen ecosystem.

Having received the detailed overview on the Task Force, the Co-Chairs expressed their pleasure on the work conducted and highlighted the importance of cooperation for developing the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Roadmap.