India and Saudi Arabia sign agreement on clean hydrogen

India and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding on clean hydrogen and supply chains on Sunday, 8 October.

The MoU was signed by India's Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh, who is in Riyadh and his Saudi counterpart Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud on the sidelines of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Climate Week.

The MoU aims to establish a common framework for cooperation between the two countries in the co-production of clean hydrogen and renewable energy, as well as the establishment of safe, secure and sustainable supply chains for materials used in this field.

The energy ministers also decided to hold B2B (business to business) business summits and regular B2B interactions between the two countries to create full-fledged supply chains and value addition in the aforementioned areas of cooperation in the energy sector.

Singh is leading a delegation to the MENA Climate Week being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 8-12 October 2023.

It will discuss climate solutions ahead of COP28 and is being hosted by the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, speaking at a session titled "Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement (GST) Regional Dialogue: Highlighting enablers and technologies for ambition and just and inclusive transitions" on the first day of the MENA Climate Week, the Indian Energy Minister said the event is of immense importance to explore and share opportunities to shape the future of energy production, consumption and sustainability on a global scale.

"India having almost 17 per cent of the world population and being the world's fifth largest economy, is taking significant steps to reduce emission intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by the year 2030 and to achieve the goal of Net Zero by the year 2070," he said.

Singh also said that green hydrogen is a promising alternative to accelerate India's energy transition.

"The government of India has launched the National Green Hydrogen Mission for harnessing hydrogen energy and has approved an initial outlay of $2.3 billion for this Mission," he informed the gathering.

The minister urged the MENA countries to join the Global Biofuel Alliance to promote international cooperation in the field of sustainable biofuels and realise the full potential of the alliance, as reported by IANS, a partner of TV BRICS.

Green hydrogen is a type of hydrogen that is produced using renewable energy sources and processes that do not emit carbon or other greenhouse gases. This type of hydrogen is considered environmentally friendly because its production does not cause pollution and helps to reduce carbon emissions, making it an important component of sustainable energy and the fight against climate change.