Green hydrogen is emerging as a significant lever among the set of technologies to lead the world towards meeting its net-zero targets. However, there is still a need for a unified approach, favorable policies, fuel cell technology, and enhanced infrastructure to develop its full potential.
Understanding the importance of bringing together the right collaborators, to discuss the government initiatives and technological advances by companies, the Consulate General of Belgium and its partners, the Belgian regional trade agencies (Flanders Investment & Trade, Hub. Brussels, & Wallonia Export & Investment Agency (AWEX)) organized the Belgo-Indian Conclave on green hydrogen. This webinar was conducted with the support of the “Confederation of Indian Industry & Agoria as Industry partners” and “Boston Consulting Group” as the Knowledge partner.
Constructing roadmap to green hydrogen economies
The opening remarks by the Consul General of Belgium in Mumbai, Pierre-Emmanuel Brusselmans, shed light on the Indian government’s initiatives on green hydrogen, namely the recently announced National Hydrogen Energy Mission and the development of an incentive scheme for electrolyzer manufacturing. Furthermore, he emphasized the historical ties between India and Belgium, which are now extending to clean energies in the form of Joint Working Groups & trade missions.
The first session of the conclave began with the keynote address of Ms. Tinne Van Der Straeten, the Minister of Energy, who discussed Belgium’s progress in installing offshore wind farms and forming interconnections with neighboring nations for increased access to renewables. These are important initiatives for the country aiming to reduce its carbon emissions by 55% by 2030.
Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, delivered the keynote address from the Indian side and spoke of India’s commitment to tackle climate change & its progress on its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). While commenting on the possible partnerships, he stated that the green finance from the EU region will benefit Belgium to become an affordable destination for R&D at scale.
He added, “India aims to create demand for 60 GW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030, which will require large-scale green financing and support.” In such a situation, he explained that Belgium companies also have the opportunity to take advantage of the manufacturing incentives in India while also taking the lead in developing global standards for green hydrogen.
Pilot projects by renowned multinational companies
Thereafter, well-known Belgian companies presented pilot projects that have allowed them to successfully and seamlessly integrate these renewable energy sources into their business model.
Sven Goethals, Tractebel, through his experience in India, believes that India will see green hydrogen utilization initially in sectors such as mobility, refining, and ammonia. He showcased projects on green ammonia in Australia, green refining in France, and green hydrogen for mobility in Germany and how India could benefit from their learnings. He further spoke of the company’s participation in green hydrogen projects with the Chilean government and their offshore green hydrogen R&D.
The second speaker, Raphael Tilot, shared that with a 25% world market share in electrolyzer manufacturing and with installations in 30+ countries, John Cockerill has been working on growing its manufacturing capabilities. They have achieved this by setting up 200 MW factories in France and Belgium in addition to the 350 MW factory in China. Additionally, John Cockerill is focusing on performance improvements through increased efficiency, densities, and stack size.
Herbert Jost, DEME Group, concluded the session while shedding light on DEME Group’s upcoming 500 MW project in Duqm, Oman which benefits from an abundance of solar & wind potential. He believes India must select which green hydrogen application they want to focus on among ammonia, methanol, refining, etc. while developing a framework for 100% green PPAs since not all such projects can be connected directly to the renewable assets.
The third session began with Indian corporates, sharing how Reliance, Indian Oil, and ReNew Power are taking a lead in constructing green hydrogen economies. Mr. Hital Meswani, Reliance Industries, explained the need to find quick solutions through pilots for the 4 parts of the value chain – generation, storage, transport, and consumption. He said that Reliance will soon launch their 4 GW factories – solar PV manufacturing, battery storage, electrolyzers, and fuel cells. Speaking on providing higher yield than electrolysis, Dr. SSV Ramakumar, Indian Oil Company Limited, shared his future aspects of focusing on composite cylinders for H2 storage to achieve a compression pressure of 350 bar which will increase to 750 bar. IOCL’s multiple pilots for fuel cell buses will be essential in testing the feasibility of different production routes for Green H2, including electrolysis and biomass gasification.
Deepak Gupta, ReNew Power, concluded the session by highlighting operational issues that need to be tackled – strengthening policy and regulations, providing availability of equipment at optimized costs through financing support for short-term requirements – all of which will help India become a net exporter of green hydrogen.
Association that leads to production tech innovations
This digital event broadly classified the opportunities and challenges along with the avenues for cooperation in terms of constructing a green hydrogen ecosystem on a global scale. Moreover, it explained India’s National Hydrogen Mission and Belgium’s initiatives to develop new technologies and large-scale infrastructure projects in green hydrogen production.
The event was further augmented by the participation of Mr. Vishal Mehta, BCG India, who acknowledged Belgium’s leadership in hydrogen technology in his closing remarks while welcoming the announcements by Amitabh Kant, John Cockerill, and Hital Meswani on developing green hydrogen economies.
The conference was rounded-up with a vote of thanks by Mr. Thiagarajan, who thanked all the organizers and partners in furthering green hydrogen development for their active participation & cooperation in organizing the conference, which builds a strong foundation for Belgium and Indian players to collaborate on clean hydrogen.
The next steps?
Recently, the Belgian Council of Ministers recently approved the federal hydrogen vision and strategy on a proposal from Ms. Tinne Van der Straeten. The strategy aims to prepare Belgium as well as possible for the climate changes, in addition to the technological and economic challenges of the coming decades. A more robust framework will be drawn up in consultation with the regions to ensure that hydrogen projects supported at the regional level would fit into the federal strategy. It is also notable that both the Flemish and Walloon regions had decided to devote a significant part of the budget of their post-coronavirus recovery plan to promote clean hydrogen a sustainable alternative energy source. All these initiatives will only take Belgium one step further towards meeting its green hydrogen goals.
Pooling resources can accelerate the process and test technologies in markets that will drive demand. Through this conclave, it is clearly visible that there is room for synergy between Belgium & India to accelerate hydrogen deployment globally through strong collaborative partnerships. The strong combination of structural enablers, government ambition & corporate interest sets a strong ecosystem for India and Belgium to collaborate across multiple dimensions within green hydrogen across knowledge-sharing projects, pilots & partnerships in developing new use-cases for hydrogen, production technology innovation, and creating routes for the supply of green molecules.
https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/renewable/belgian-indian-conclave-an-association-for-green-hydrogen-economies/88026776
