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large-demonstration stage projects in developed markets and has led to most H2 technological know-how and Intellectual Property (IP) residing in EU and US jurisdictions. Most electrolyser manufacturing technology and IP in both these jurisdictions, including at least two high-profile listed H2 companies founded by Indian-origin persons. Asian attempts to catch-up to the H2 developments in Western Europe and SENIOR MANAGING the US provide some interesting perDIRECTOR, FTI CONSULTING spectives. Japan and South Korea have embraced all-in strategies for developing the national H2 infra. Both countries are betting on building a global supply chain capability on transport use cases and relying on sea-borne H2 from Australia and other parts of Asia, given their weak renewable energy generation position. India should co-create an H2 Fund with Global Interestingly, both countries have prioritized the building of expensive national Multilateral Agencies and European Sovereigns H2 infrastructure as a prerequisite for their H2 transport focus in the following decade i.e. 2030-40. This is counter to what the EU and US have done – the ndia has been supporting R&D efforts on hydrogen (H2) public effort has moved towards H2 inconsistently for the last two decades, with a national dustrial clusters rather than building out network of experts, institutions and the H2 Centre of infrastructure over a large geography. In Excellence at IIT-Kharagpur, with public funding for other parts of Asia, China has focused pilot-stage projects. The last H2 and Fuel Cell Roadmap on Alkaline Electrolyser manufacturing was an aspirational document that was backed by H2-Internal to drive low-cost commercialization of Combustion Engine (ICE) transport applications, with proof- H2 systems and government mandates of-concept H2 vehicles by Auto Original Equipment Manufac- that may be difficult to replicate outside turers (OEMs). Some applications for H2 power (off-grid China. power for telecom towers) relied on natural gas as India’s choices in this input and were rendered economically unviable context are framed by inas gas prices fluctuated. The result was that ternal and external con“Creation of an H2-dedicated despite consistent efforts, we have numersiderations. Internally, Energy Transition Fund ous small R&D pilots some of which incorIndia needs to articucould address the resource porate indigenously developed technology late the appropriate allocation question as well but untested at scale. H2 commercialisaas make a meaningful and In the interim, H2 technology develtion strategy that it targeted policy intervention oped has advanced rapidly – with large wants to adopt. This to build large-stage national scale demonstration projects in different could take the shape H2 demonstration stage use cases (transport and industrial uses), of three questions that projects...” supported by national-level policies and public need to be answered. funding in the developed markets. While the cost 1. Should India embark on of H2 is still prohibitive and economically unviable a national (as Japan and South for deployment, this has not stopped private capital flows to Korea are doing, with a strong emphaearly-stage H2 companies (some of which are publicly traded sis on transport use-case) or a cluster/ companies with enviable valuations) and projects, enabled by regional approach (as is the case in the matching public climate change funding in developed econo- US and EU) towards H2 commercialisamies. Access to funding has meant growth in H2 infra and tion?
AMRIT SINGH DEO
CO-CREATE H2 FUND
I
