National Green Hydrogen Mission: Bridging Government, Academia, and Industry for Sustainable R&D Breakthroughs

On February 22, 2024, a pivotal meeting was convened in New Delhi by Shri R. K. Singh, the Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, focusing on the Government’s Green Hydrogen Research and Development Scheme. This significant assembly, chaired by Minister Singh, witnessed the participation of a distinguished array of attendees, including Shri Ajay Sood, the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, Shri Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), Shri Ajay Yadav, Joint Secretary of MNRE, along with a broad spectrum of representatives from both the government sector, academia, and industry. Esteemed institutions and organizations such as SECI, NCL, various IITs, IISc, NISE, BPCL, DRDO, CSIR, HAI, BHEL, BARC, and representatives from the private sector joined the meeting, contributing their insights both in person and via video conferencing.

During the meeting, Minister Singh emphasized the critical need for concentrated research efforts under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, aiming to pinpoint primary research areas, support research institutions robustly, develop necessary technologies, and ensure their practical application. He highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts across various fields of expertise to focus on predetermined priority areas.

A significant part of the discussion was dedicated to enhancing the efficiency of electrolyzers as a crucial step towards reducing the cost of Green Hydrogen production. Minister Singh urged the exploration of more cost-effective alternatives for the production and transportation of Green Hydrogen. He also shed light on ongoing research, including modifications to Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) for running on Hydrogen derivatives and the potential of sea-water electrolysis as a cost-effective production method.

Furthermore, the possibility of forming consortiums to conduct research across the entire Green Hydrogen value chain was discussed. The MNRE presented an initial list of over 40 problem statements under four main categories: production, storage & transport, applications, and safety, cross-cutting analysis & integration. These statements served as a basis for identifying priority areas for the first wave of R&D projects.

The meeting outlined the structure of R&D projects under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, categorizing them into Mission Mode projects with a 0 – 5 years horizon, Grand Challenge projects extending to 0 – 8 years, and Blue Sky projects with a vision reaching 0 – 15 years into the future. The initiative also includes identifying and supporting Centres of Excellence, with an initial focus on Mission Mode projects, marking a significant step towards the development and deployment of Green Hydrogen technologies.