New Delhi, 8 September, 2022: European Commissioner for Energy, Ms Kadri Simson, and H.E. Mr R.K. Singh, Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, today inaugurated the First EU-India Green Hydrogen Forum. The event was organized jointly by the Delegation of the European Union and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, in close cooperation with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Hydrogen Europe. Mr Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy gave the welcome speech.

The Forum served as a platform to exchange best practices, policy frameworks and production and application technologies for renewable hydrogen as well as opportunities for EU-India cooperation in this area. The forum also delved into the potential for international hydrogen trade, the role of international standards, including sustainable transportation, the legal requirements for the certification of renewable hydrogen and research and innovation. The event brought together EU-India businesses to discuss potential joint projects on hydrogen.

 The European Union and India have set ambitious programmes and targets for a wider adoption of green hydrogen. While India announced its National Hydrogen Mission last year, the EU launched the European Hydrogen Strategy in 2020.  The Russian invasion of Ukraine has further accelerated the implementation of EU Green Deal policies, including on hydrogen. The targets set by the Hydrogen Strategy have been further raised by the REPowerEU plan: the EU is now targeting the production of 1 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2024, and 20 million tonnes of hydrogen by 2030.

International cooperation is a key part of EU’s hydrogen policy and India is a major partner also in this respect.

Highlighting India as a key strategic partner for the EU in energy and notably for sustainable hydrogen, Commissioner Simson said, “The EU and India have a strong common interest in green hydrogen, from its energy security aspects to developing secure supply chains and competitive, rules-based markets. Today’s forum helps to channel this interest and allows us to learn from each other. I believe that the focus on hydrogen has to go together with massive deployment of renewable energy in Europe and India.”

The Commissioner stressed that the EU would be keen to explore together with financing partners the possibility to build a pipeline of hydrogen projects in India, leveraging private sector investments in innovative technologies under the framework of EU Global Gateway initiative

Facilitating Business-to-Business interaction

The event featured a strong participation from the European and Indian business community. Mr Vineet Mittal, Co-chair, CII Renewable Energy Council and Mr Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO, Hydrogen Europe highlighted the importance of Hydrogen to achieve the climate-neutral plans of the EU and India and in the world’s climate mitigation efforts. They stressed that to decarbonise our economies, we will need to develop over the coming decade a sustainable supply chain for secure and clean hydrogen. EU-India cooperation can be critical to accelerate this transition.

Mr Herib Blanco, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) presented the prospects of international trade in Hydrogen; Ms Daria Nochevnik, Director Policy and Partnerships, Hydrogen Council shared insights on “towards robust tradeable certification systems for hydrogen”. European and Indian representatives from Energy Monitor, Port of Antwerp-Bruges, RWEST India, Topsoe, Avaada Group, ACME, Renew Power, and Bureau of Indian standards participated in the deliberations.

State of play of existing and upcoming hydrogen projects in the EU and India was also discussed extensively in the forum. Mr Lalit Bohra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India and Mr Bart Biebuyck, Executive Director, Clean Hydrogen Partnership delivered the introductory remarks. Representatives from Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), European Investment Bank, Airbus, Sunfire, HyDeal project, New Energy Coalition, Reliance Industries Ltd., L&T, Suzlon Group participated in the discussion.

EU-India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership

The EU and India have in recent years intensified their energy dialogue through the 2016 EU – India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership. The two sides have been successfully working together in a number of areas that are crucial for the clean energy transition: energy efficiency in buildings, solar energy, offshore wind energy, integration of renewable energy through smart grids, electricity market regulation and biofuels. In December 2021, the EU and India added new topics of mutual interest, such as hydrogen. The   first EU-India Green Hydrogen Forum will offer an important contribution to these plans. The EU is also looking at supporting India’s climate mitigation plans by leveraging private sector investments in innovative technologies such as green hydrogen under the framework of EU Global Gateway initiative.

Keynote Address by the Commissioner at the First EU – India Green Hydrogen Forum