India to organise International Conference on Green Hydrogen (ICGH-2023) on July 5-7

New Delhi: The government is organising an International Conference on Green Hydrogen (ICGH-2023) during July 5-7 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, to bring together the global scientific and industrial community to discuss recent advances and emerging technologies in the entire green hydrogen value chain. The conference will enable the sector stakeholders to explore the evolving green hydrogen landscape and innovation-driven solutions in the sector.

The conference is being organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), in partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Office of Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India, said the MNRE on Wednesday.

International Conference on Green Hydrogen

Addressing a curtain raiser press conference on the international conference, MNRE Secretary Bhupinder S Bhalla said, “The fundamental aim of the conference is to explore how we can establish a Green Hydrogen ecosystem and foster a systemic approach for meeting the global goals for decarbonisation through Green Hydrogen. Apart from domain-specific research interactions on hydrogen production, storage, distribution and downstream applications, the conference will also discuss green financing, human resource upskilling and startup initiatives in this area. The conference will enable to share and learn from international best practices in the sector.”

On being asked if the government is planning to sign bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the conference, the MNRE Secretary replied in the negative. “This is not a platform for signing of MoUs or for holding government-to-government discussions. It is a platform that aims to bring together industry leaders, academics to exchange knowledge on the best technologies available for green hydrogen production, standards and regulations needed for the industry and learning about focus areas for R&D, among other things,” said Bhalla.

Various feature plenary talks, expert panel discussions and technical deliberations held at the conference will provide domestic and international participants from the industry and research communities to dive deep into these national and global priorities, in line with the objectives embedded in India’s of National Green Hydrogen Mission, a mission launched by the government to help achieve India’s target of Net Zero by the year 2070, said the MNRE in a statement.

Addressing a curtain raiser press conference on the international conference, the Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla said that outreach and industry partnership are integral parts of the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The Secretary underlined the role of industry in various steps of the value chain, such as production, distribution and storage. He said that the conference seeks to bring the best brains together to explore solutions towards developing and strengthening the national green hydrogen ecosystem.

The Secretary said that the conference is the first major event on green hydrogen. He said that the green hydrogen ecosystem is important in order to attain the basic production target of National Green Hydrogen Mission, of producing 5 MMT of green hydrogen per annum by the year 2030. “Electrolyser production capacity in the world is very limited, this capacity has to come up in India. And for this, it is important that we learn and adopt the appropriate technology for electrolyser manufacturing as well as for various individual components of the manufacturing process. Through this process, we are creating a platform where experts can talk about various steps of the value chain, so that we can learn from others; this would comprise not only production, but also marketing and collaborations. Our focus is on the entire value chain which is important for the success of the National Green Hydrogen Mission,” he said.

Responding to a media query, Bhalla said that at the last count, about 48 projects on green hydrogen/green ammonia have been publicly announced in India. “A lot of them are talking about green ammonia, which totals to production of around 3.5 million metric tonnes per annum of green hydrogen. There is a lot of traction from the industry, as far as green hydrogen opportunity is concerned.”

Bhalla said that a Working Group on Standards for Green Hydrogen Manufacturing has already submitted a report comprising around 100 recommendations, to Bureau of Indian Standards and other standards-related organisations.

‘Govt working on definition of Green Hydrogen, global standard needed’

Bhalla said that the government is working on a definition for green hydrogen and expressed hope that the conference helps to also evolve some global standards for green hydrogen. He added that there is no standard definition for green hydrogen, with different countries and private organisations coming up with multiple definitions. “It is an evolving field, so every country is learning, so India is going to come up with a definition based on what we believe should be green hydrogen and eventually, we should be having a global standard on the definition of green hydrogen. This should have clear starting and ending points, so that we can effectively evaluate our energy transition and adoption of green hydrogen.”

The three-day international conference will no less than 25 deep-dive sessions aimed at establishing a green hydrogen ecosystem, with expected participation of more than 1,500 delegates from India and abroad. Delegates will also get to hear regional perspectives on green hydrogen, by the Americas, Australia, Africa, Europe and of course, India.

The conference will also have demos, prototypes by PSUs, private companies and startups, as well as B2B and B2G meetings.

Conference agenda

The opening day of the conference will have sessions on Hydrogen Production-Electrolysis and Bio-Pathways, Hydrogen Storage, Distribution and Refuelling, Hydrogen Energy Ecosystems & Assessment, Fuel Cells & Electrolysers: Key materials and components, Hydrogen Production-Thermochemical Nuclear/Other, hydrogen in mobility, Integrated Hydrogen Systems, Hydrogen in Industries, and a panel discussion on Disruptive Science and Technology.

Day 2, ie, July 6, will have two plenary lectures, one presenting a Japanese and another an Australian perspective on the role of green hydrogen. The technical sessions for the day would be on Pipeline Infra, and Compatibility, Hydrogen Economy-Logistics and Infrastructure, Codes, Standards and Regulations, Hydrogen Valleys/ Hubs / Clusters, Start-ups in Hydrogen, Hydrogen Strategies and Polices, Green Financing, Strengthening R&D Ecosystem. The day will close with a Panel Discussion on Carbon Emissions associated with Green Hydrogen Production.

The third and final day of the international conference will feature a plenary lecture presenting a European perspective and a panel discussion among key industry stakeholders. The conference will conclude with the valedictory session.

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