Solar for Green Hydrogen
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) launched a new programme on Green Hydrogen in its Fourth Assembly held virtually on 20 October 2021. The objective of this programme is to accelerate Green Hydrogen production and utilization in ISA Member Countries.
Hydrogen is being widely welcomed as one of the key technologies for fighting climate change and achieving net-zero carbon emissions. It can act as the key that unlocks energy transition even in the most critical and hard-to-abate sectors, such as refineries, fertilizers, steel, cement, heavy-duty vehicles, aviation, and dispatchable back-up power.
Given the immense cost potential held by the technology when produced with solar energy, it is imperative that stakeholders around the world, including the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), keep abreast with the developments in the emerging green hydrogen space. As and when the technology gets commercialized, the countries should be able to replicate these projects on a fast-track basis.
Keeping these in mind, and given ISA’s capabilities, its involvement in the technology could lead to a wide range of beneficial outcomes for its Member Countries and for the world at large.
1. ISA will track the developments in the green hydrogen space and strengthen its Analytics and Advocacy portfolio on the subject.
2. ISA will offer Capacity Building and Programmatic Support to the countries and regions that are yet to take their first steps in this space. ISA has planned publication of thought-leadership papers, case studies/ applications and position papers as a first step. In the short-to-medium term, these will be further utilized to develop partnerships with corporate entities and for bringing technical experts onboard, which could further strengthen the position of ISA in this field.
3. Going forward, ISA could go on to offer programmatic support to its Member Countries for adoption of green hydrogen, which could involve activities such as preparation of cross-sectoral policies, target setting, demand creation & demand aggregation, and providing implementational assistance.
Going forward, ISA plans to set up demonstration projects which can then be scaled-up and replicated across the world