Background

Hydrogen is increasingly gaining prominence in realising economy-wide decarbonisation, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors. Its versatility in terms of being deployed across multiple end-use sectors makes it an attractive vector for global energy transition as well as energy security through both global trade and decentralised production/consumption. However, Hydrogen has thus far been restricted to niche applications and has not been a serious contender to support climate change mitigation due to the high emission intensity of the existing production processes. The precipitous fall in the Levelized Cost of Renewable Energy, particularly Solar Energy, has led to a renewed interest from the global community in the Hydrogen sector. Solar Energy-based Green Hydrogen, despite currently lacking cost-competitiveness with Grey Hydrogen, is being seen as a promising candidate for rapid decarbonisation of the global energy mix. A significant number of countries are coming out with actionable roadmaps to develop (Green) Hydrogen-based economies. The South Asian region has a significant potential for transitioning to Green Hydrogen in the mid-to-long term both from the perspective of domestic self-consumption as well as integration with the global trade routes, as they mature. The panel discussion would encompass, inter alia, the potential role of the region in the global Hydrogen value chain (including Electrolyser production), business and financing models, policy & regulatory support (including standards & certification) needed to facilitate favourable economics for Solar Energy-based Green Hydrogen, the role of existing energy producers (including oil & gas), identify investment opportunities for transitioning from fossil Hydrogen to Solar Energy-based Green Hydrogen.