The second day of the International Conference on Green Hydrogen (ICGH-2024) witnessed the announcement of India’s exclusive partnership with the European Hydrogen Week scheduled to be held in November 2024.

The day highlighted India’s intent to address the green regulations of the EU to boost exports. In addition, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was signed between Chane Terminal from the Netherlands and ACME Cleantech from India for Ammonia import terminals.

The event also saw sessions bringing out the perspectives of the EU, Australia, and the Netherlands about the scope and challenges in the Green Hydrogen sector.

The EU session chaired by Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India with Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO, Hydrogen Europe focused on the role of green hydrogen as a crucial component in global decarbonization efforts.

The discussion highlighted that the European Union (EU) is focused on reforming its Emission Trading System (ETS) to help price carbon effectively, to encourage the scaling up of hydrogen as a competitor to fossil fuels.

Following this, Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India spoke to Dr. Patrick Hartley, Leader of the CSIRO Hydrogen Industry Mission who shared that collaboration, both domestically and internationally, is essential, particularly with countries like India, to drive industry scale-up, technology advancement, and workforce development. Regulatory frameworks, storage solutions, and large-scale renewable energy access remain critical challenges for the hydrogen sector.

The Netherlands session chaired by Dr. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India provided an in-depth overview of the Netherlands' comprehensive strategy for advancing global hydrogen advancements. The session was attended by Han Feenstra, Coordinator of the Hydrogen International Programme and Senior Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy; Mark-Simon Benjamins, Business Manager at Havenbedrijf Rotterdam N.V; and Marisa Gerards, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

Professor Ajay K. Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India said, “As we look toward the future, the green hydrogen sector stands out as a key driver of progress, with projections indicating that it will create over four crore jobs by 2050. This remarkable growth not only highlights the sector's potential to significantly advance environmental sustainability but also underscores its crucial role in fueling economic development and innovation.”

Nishaanth Balashanmugam, Director of GH2 India said, "Green hydrogen is the only solution to almost 18 to 20% of the world's carbon emissions."