India is working on a pilot project on Blue Hydrogen, Hydrogen CNG (H-CNG) and Green Hydrogen

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said that India is looking towards kick-starting the hydrogen ecosystem development.

Addressing the Hydrogen Round Table on ‘Hydrogen Economy: New Delhi Dialogue – 2021’, he said that in India had taken various initiatives with respect to the greater use of hydrogen in the country's energy mix.

According to a statementnt issued by the Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry,
Pradhan argued that hydrogen had great potential to emerge as a future source of energy.

"The enthusiasm about hydrogen has a simple reason: whether it’s used in a fuel cell or burned to create heat, wherever hydrogen replaces fossil fuels, it slows global warming," the Minister said.

He submitted that the inclusion of hydrogen as an energy carrier in the future energy portfolio presents a unique opportunity to address emerging energy vectors, including power to gas, power to power, and power to mobility and even vehicle to grid applications.

India recently announced the National Hydrogen Mission in the Union Budget 2021 for making a hydrogen roadmap for the country, the Minister informed.

India was working on a pilot project on Blue Hydrogen, Hydrogen CNG (H-CNG) and Green Hydrogen, he recalled.

Through technological advancements, hydrogen was being blended with compressed natural gas for use as transportation fuel as well as an industrial input to refineries, Pradhan explained.

50 buses in Delhi are plying on blended hydrogen in Compressed Natural Gas on a pilot basis. "We plan to scale it up in the coming months across the major cities of India," he added.

The minister said that energy was integral to support the country's fast-growing economy, adding that India was developing an energy sector which will be growth-centric, industry-friendly and environment-conscious.

The Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas said that the contours of India’s energy transition were changing fast.

“Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi has outlined a new energy map of India in October last year with seven key drivers, and, indeed, one of them is development of emerging fuels, particularly Hydrogen,” he noted.

The minister said that the government was developing a clear roadmap for a self-reliant India or an AatmaNirbhar Bharat, which seeks to place India as a manufacturing hub well-integrated with global supply chains. In this effort, energy will have a defining role.

India remains committed to environmental and climate causes with a massive thrust on deploying renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, he stated.

In the past six years, India has increased its renewable power portfolio from 32 GW to almost 100 GW.

"We are well on track to achieve 450 GW target of renewable energy generating capacity by 2030," he added.

Diversification of our energy basket would be the key lever enabling this transition, Pradhan recalled.

He stated that it was equally important that the new energy-mix options synergize and co-exist with the established base technology already operational in the respective countries, in which, huge capital investments have been made.
That’s why the emergence of hydrogen at the centre stage is a welcome development, he added.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was committed to augment the hydrogen supply chain infrastructure in the country, the Minister noted.

The Minister said that Hydrogen is also capable of aligning with the Ministry’s other flagship schemes, like the promotion of compressed biogas under the Sustainable Alternative for Affordable towards Transportation (SATAT) scheme or promoting the gas-based economy or other initiatives on Waste-to-Energy.

Pradhan said that by establishing synergies with natural gas, hydrogen can be easily adopted in the energy mix without seeking major infrastructural overhauling.
The Minister announced that India, with its steadfast efforts towards leading the energy transition, backed by robust political will, was committed to engage with partners for ushering-in the hydrogen economy.

Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, UAE, Angus Taylor, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, Australia, Dan Jørgensen, Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, Denmark, and David M. Turk, Deputy Secretary of Energy, the United States also addressed the inaugural session of the roundtable.