By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAR 20, 2024: THE 41st Steering Committee Meeting of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE), being hosted by India in New Delhi during March 18 - 22, 2024, began its formal proceedings on March 19, 2024. The second and third days, i.e., March 19 and 20, 2024 have been reserved for formal proceedings of the 41st Steering Committee Meeting, which is being held at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi.

On the first day of formal proceedings of the Steering Committee, Vice Chair, IPHE, Dr. Noe Van Hulst in his opening remarks appreciated India's National Green Hydrogen Mission and also lauded the hospitality and gracious welcome extended by India for IPHE delegates.

In his welcome address, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ajay Yadav stressed upon the significance of using Green Hydrogen to decarbonise the economy and the need for collaborative actions in this regard.

IPHE delegates from Austria, Chile, France, European Commission, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, UAE, UK, US, Singapore and South Korea, besides delegates from host country India, participated in the Steering Committee meeting and discussed a wide range of issues concerning deployment of Green Hydrogen and its derivatives. The committee touched upon initiatives being taken for Green Hydrogen at international level, including in Glasgow Breakthrough Agenda, Hydrogen Energy Ministerial, Clean Energy   Ministerial, H2 Initiative, Clean Hydrogen Mission Innovation, G7 Hydrogen Action Pact, G20, COP28, International Energy Agency, etc., and discussed opportunities to collaborate with these international initiatives to meet IPHE goals and objectives. [The mission of IPHE is to facilitate and accelerate the transition to clean and efficient energy and mobility systems using hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across applications and sectors.]

The Committee deliberated upon the progress made by various working groups (WGs) and task forces (TFs) and suggestions including next steps were provided by IPHE Delegates for further strengthening the work of these WGs and TFs. The IPHE has WGs on "Regulations, Codes, Standards & Safety (RCSS)" and "Education & Outreach". The TFs are on "Hydrogen Skills", "Hydrogen Production Analysis", "Hydrogen Certification Mechanisms" and "Hydrogen Trade Rules". (More on IPHE WGs and TFs can be found here). The committee also highlighted the role of WTO framework in facilitating international trade in Hydrogen.

The proceedings of the committee also included review of IPHE vision and roadmap of work in the short and medium term. The proceedings of the committee will continue for the next day, i.e. March 20, 2024.

The first day of the five-day Steering Committee Meeting was organised as IPHE Academic Outreach at IIT Delhi, on March 18, 2024, where the conference delegates provided valuable insights into the future of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Read more here.