India has a cost advantage in production of green energy, says Minister Hardeep Puri

Davos: Union Minister for petroleum and natural gas, and housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri has said that India has a cost advantage in production of green energy and electrolysers.

"In the Indian energy story, the thing that stands out is that in the next 20 years, 25% of the increase in global demand is going to come from India," said Puri at the CII-Bain session on 'Green Hydrogen Opportunity in India' at Davos 2024.

"If you look at the costs, the India advantage is that we are able to significantly reduce the cost of production of green solar energy and electrolyzers" he added.

Among other speakers at the session were Sumant Sinha, Founder, Chairman and CEO, ReNew, Jorgen Sandstrom, Head, Transforming Industrial Ecosystems, World Economic Forum, and Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, chairman, Indian Oil Corporation.

In his address, Shrikant Vaidya said, "Our endeavour is to see that the consumption of green hydrogen goes up and spiking CNG with green hydrogen will be one very big area where the consumption can go up. While hydrogen in mobility will take its own time, industries such as the steel industry and the fertiliser industry can benefit from the use of green hydrogen and they need to come forward in a very big way."

Jorgen said, "We are working on how we can drive energy transition and industrial transformation in a smart, efficient and a sustainable way and the acceleration of the green hydrogen economy."

Sumant Sinha, Founder, Chairman and CEO, ReNew commended the supportive policies of the government and added that "They create a situation where India can become a globally competitive producer, not just for the domestic market but it can also emerge as an exporter".

A Bain & Company and WEF study titled 'Green Hydrogen: Enabling Measures Roadmpa for Adoption in India' was also launched during the session.

The study underlines that the role of green hydrogen is strategic and critical to achieve net zero and optimize India's imports. It notes that India can competitively participate in global value chain and become an energy exporter for Green Hydrogen. It also identified that the biggest challenge in large-scale adoption of green hydrogen today is the cost premium vs. current processes.

Green hydrogen, it notes, needs to come down to a benchmark goal of $2/kg for a green energy ecosystem to develop in India. In terms of energy production, that equates to a renewable energy cost of less than or equal to Rs 2/kWh.

Earlier, Minister Hardeep Puri, held productive discussions with Catherine MacGregor, Chief Executive Officer of ENGIE group in Davos.

"Held very productive discussions with Ms Catherine MacGregor, Chief Executive Officer of @ENGIEgroup in Davos. We discussed possible collaboration in areas of Natural Gas, CBG & LNG as they already 492 biomethanation plants globally. Appreciate their unique electron+molecule strategy for decarbonisation. Informed her that, for accelerated adoption of Green Hydrogen in its energy basket, India has launched the National Green Hydrogen Mission with mission outcomes projected by 2030 as the development of green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMTPA with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW, making India a global hub for the production, usage & export of green hydrogen & its derivatives" the Minister said in his post on X.

The minister also met Jeremy Weir, Executive Chairman & CEO and Richard Holtum, Head of Gas, Power & Renewables & Member of the Executive Committee of Tarigura Group which has an extensive presence across the energy value chain. They discussed how Trafigura can play a pivotal role in securing affordable crude and LNG supplies and discussed about global oil tanker movements.

Another crucial meeting for Minister Hardeep Puri was with Luis Henrique Guimaraes - CEO, Cosan, the biggest natural gas distributor in Brazil. The Minister invited his company to be a part of the India's growth story and transition towards becoming a natural gas based economy. The Minister Informed him about the plethora of opportunities for Cosan to invest in India - the fastest growing economy, the largest energy incremental demand centre in times to come & a preferred investment destination across conventional fuels, renewables & sustainable biofuels.

Hardep Puri also met Vimal Kapur, Global CEO of Honeywell. During the meeting the Minister proposed fostering stronger collaborations between Indian companies and Honeywell to work for the global Sustainable Aviation Fuel opportunity. They also discussed opportunities along the green hydrogen value chain including further R and D, technology transfer, manufacturing & development of electrolysers in India. They also discussed possible collaborations in areas of Biofuels, Carbon Capture Utilization & Storage, & the Global Biofuels Alliance. The Minister invited the CEO to participate in the India Energy Week to be held in Goa in February 2024.

The Minister also met Juergen Mueller, CTO of software company SAP. They discussed how, as India is the fastest growing economy, the largest energy incremental demand centre in times to come & a preferred foreign investment destination, India presents a myriad of opportunities for SAP.