Scotland, JSW Steel, CSIR-NCL Join Forces with ‘India H2 Alliance’ to Transition towards Hydrogen Economy

Just two months after its formation, Reliance and Chart Industries-led India H2 Alliance (IH2A) has expanded its membership with the inclusion of national and international organisations, having a common goal of contributing to India’s transition towards building a hydrogen economy and supply chain.

IH2A, being the first India-specific industry coalition for hydrogen, on-boarded Scottish Development International (SDI), JSW Steel, CSIR-National Chemical Lab (CSIR-NCL), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and The World Resources Institute (WRI) India as its members.

As a member of the industry coalition, Scottish Development International (SDI), the international arm of the Scottish Government, will bring significant expertise from large-scale hydrogen demonstration projects at Aberdeen, Fife, Orkney, and the Western Isles in Scotland which could leverage India in hydrogen policy design and project development.

Speaking on the India-Scotland partnership, David Rennie, Global Head of Energy, Scottish Development International (SDI), said, “Scotland is set to become a leading hydrogen nation, with an ambition to generate 5GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen by 2030 – enough to power the equivalent of 1.8 million homes. A Clean Energy partnership between India and Scotland with a focus on green hydrogen, both at a G2G and a B2B level, can create new hydrogen champions, new energy jobs and economic growth in both regions. We look forward to working with all stakeholders to realize this vision through the IH2A industry coalition in India, as we continue dialogue with the government of India in the run-up to Glasgow COP26.”

Besides, India’s leading steel player JSW Steel will lead the IH2A energy transition coalition’s steel and cement workgroup.

This is significant as steel and cement have been identified as priority industrial sectors for decarbonisation, where hydrogen may be adopted early on.

Commenting on the partnerships, Jillian Evanko, President and CEO, Chart Industries and Founding Co-Lead, IH2A, said, “we are excited to partner with JSW Steel on jointly developing the hydrogen eco-system in India. This is a leadership moment for decarbonisation in the steel industry and we are proud to have India’s largest steel player with us.”

“JSW Group is uniquely placed to lead on green hydrogen topic as we have significant interests in steel, cement and renewable energy. As the IH2A Work Group Lead for Steel and Cement, we will bring other industry majors and the government together to build consensus for a common path towards hydrogen commercialisation in the steel and cement sectors. Green steel as hydrogen product exports can be a national strategy for taking leadership in the global hydrogen value chain, by embedding hydrogen in the industrial supply chain. This is a leadership opportunity,” said Prabodha Acharya, Chief Sustainability Officer, JSW Steel.

On the other hand, state-owned CSIR-National Chemicals Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) will encourage public-private-partnerships in hydrogen projects.

On joining the alliance, Dr. Ashish Lele, Director, CSIR-NCL, said, “Public-private partnerships and active collaboration across the hydrogen value chain are critical for the development of a domestic hydrogen supply chain. The government has invested significantly into hydrogen research and development in the past decade. The time is ripe for taking the next step towards setting up large-scale demonstration projects and taking a multi-sectoral approach for different use-cases. We look forward to collaborating actively with the private sector and help put India on the global hydrogen map.”

CSIR-NCL is a premier governmental research agency in India focussed on R&D in chemical and allied sciences and engineering with an emphasis on clean energy, climate change and sustainability.

Meanwhile, the three national sustainability think tanks i.e. TERI, CEEW and WRI India will collaborate as partners of the IH2A industry coalition.