Amidst pressing urgency to develop clean energy solutions for growing energy demand, the much-anticipated Hydrogen Valley Innovation cluster project kicked off from Gujarat. The first stakeholder’s consultation meeting was held in Ahmedabad earlier this week involving stakeholders from academia, industry, and scientific fraternity.

The project aims to develop a localised hydrogen value chain where it can serve end sectors or applications in the areas of mobility, industry, and energy.

The first meeting held on April 21 was facilitated by start-up incubator iCreate in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

The Hydrogen Valley Innovation Cluster in Gujarat will be a part of India’s commitment to develop three clean Hydrogen Valleys by 2030.

It looks to explore aspects of policy and framework along with unique partnerships to further R&D in state-of-the-art hydrogen technologies.

Also, one of the priority goals for the project is to reduce hydrogen production costs to unlock cost-competitiveness of all hydrogen applications. iCreate’s capabilities in identifying and incubating technology innovations and start-ups in collaboration with industry will hold the key for its success.

About the initiative

Hydrogen Valley Platform is a global initiative to optimise hydrogen demand and supply by onsite generation and utilisation.

The H2 Valley’s objectives will be achieved through cohorts of clean hydrogen valleys to combine a complete hydrogen value chain (production, storage, and transportation) with the aim of reaching critical scale and unlocking learning curve effects.

Ranjith Krishna Pai Scientist & Director at Climate Change & Clean Energy Division, DST-GoI presented the guidelines for setting up Hydrogen Valley Innovation clusters. Economist and corporate advisor Sunil Parekh, who is a Board Member of the FICCI National Executive Council, served as one of the co-chairs for the event.

Pai said, “We believe that with breakthrough innovations and widespread adoption, we can unlock cost-competitiveness and achieve a successful model for the Hydrogen Valley Innovation clusters across India.”

Immense potential

Padmashri G D Yadav, Emeritus Professor of Eminence and former Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Chemical Technology delivered the keynote address on “Role of research and innovation in accelerating the Hydrogen Economy.” From the Gujarat government, Sandip Sagale, Industries Commissioner highlighted the immense potential of the hydrogen ecosystem in not only addressing energy challenges but also creating abundant opportunities for stakeholders, particularly in the MSME sector, and generating new job prospects in the near future.

Avinash Punekar, CEO, iCreate said, “iCreate is proud to be leading the Gujarat Hydrogen Valley Consortium, which will be integral to meeting India’s commitment to reduce the Emissions Intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by 2030.”

Corporate groups such as Reliance Industries Limited, Welspun Enterprises Limited, Essar, Adani Group, Hypower Systems, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India; MG Motor India besides the State PSUs and R&D institutions like CSIR – Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI), and IIT Mandi participated in the event.

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