NEW DELHI: The UAE’s experience and know-how would help India in its green hydrogen program, authorities and experts said on Tuesday, following a new cooperation agreement between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi.
Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh visited the UAE over the weekend and signed a memorandum on green hydrogen development and investment with his Emirati counterpart, Energy and Infrastructure Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei.
Green hydrogen, also called renewable hydrogen, can be used as fuel. It is produced from the electrolysis of water in a process powered by renewable energy and thus does not generate polluting carbon emissions.
All over the world, green hydrogen is emerging as a future alternative to fossil fuels, and the UAE has been one of the pioneers in developing it.
“The UAE has not only vast experience but also a lot of technological progress in green hydrogen,” Sunjay Sudhir, India’s ambassador to the UAE, told Arab News.
“The UAE can also bring in investment,” he said, adding that as India has made huge progress in green hydrogen, there were “lots of complementarities between the two countries.”
Earlier this month, India approved an incentive plan of 197.4 billion rupees ($2.4 billion) to promote the green hydrogen industry and become a major exporter in the field.
The program, the National Green Hydrogen Mission, aims to reduce production costs and increase the scale of the industry by 2030, as it targets the production of 5 million tons of green hydrogen generating 125 GW of power a year.
It is expected to cut about 50 million tons of annual carbon emissions, as the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases seeks to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
The plan is also forecast to help reduce India’s dependence on fossil fuels and cut import costs by 1 trillion rupees.
The agreement with the UAE is seen as a step forward in implementing these plans.
“It’s an important step forward given that renewables are the future,” said Muddassir Quamar, a Middle East expert at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.“I think where India can benefit is investments and technology cooperation.”
The cooperation is likely to be beneficial for both countries.
“India can collaborate on the production of low-cost electrolyzers that will play an important role in reduced cost of green hydrogen production,” Dr. Lakshmi Priya, a researcher at the Indian Council of World Affairs, told Arab News.
India and the UAE were “old energy partners” and it would be easy for them to cooperate, she said.
“The MoU will definitely help India in accelerating our green hydrogen mission…It is a significant move on part of both the countries as the need of the hour is to lap up the opportunities emerging from this new sector.”
