Centre Working on Hydrogen Energy Development Targets: MNRE Secretary

The government is in the process of setting up targets for hydrogen energy development in the country, Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, secretary, MNRE has said.

The government is in the process of setting up targets for hydrogen energy development in the country. And a committee of officials has been formed to set those specific targets to develop this source of energy, according to Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

As reported by ET, Chaturvedi said that the targets will be set up under a hydrogen mission and will outline the quantifiable deliverables of the relatively new source of energy in the Indian sector. Hydrogen currently is not included in India’s plan to develop 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022.

“As a part of a hydrogen mission, this committee would outline clearly quantifiable deliverables. It would be focused towards creating volumes, addressing regulations, supporting demonstrations, and research and development,” he said at an online event on the potential of hydrogen energy organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

He said the committee represents officials from various ministries. He did not specify when the targets would be declared, but he said the ministry was currently focused on a medium to the long-term timeline for the mission’s execution.

“We also expect the cost of hydrogen-based energy will fall significantly over the next few years,” Chaturvedi said.

According to TERI, hydrogen use in India can expand between three to ten times by 2050 if the focus shifts towards a carbon-neutral economy. The main usage of hydrogen would be in fuel cells for electric vehicles, it said.

In August, FTI Consulting and TERI had announced a policy and economic research partnership focussing on the hydrogen economy, carbon capture and renewable energy (RE) in India.

The joint partnership agreement covers policy and research initiatives for the development of a hydrogen-based economy in India, development of fuel-cell manufacturing and policy ecosystem, development of carbon capture systems and new and emerging areas in renewable energy. The two firms will undertake policy and economic research, leveraging TERI’s team of energy experts and FTI Consulting’s Global Clean Energy team, to create a hydrogen economy policy roadmap in India.