Two consortiums from India—IoC-ReNew-L&T and HPCL-ACME—are among the bidders for Germany’s around $985 million green hydrogen import tender.

In December last year, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action launched the procurement procedure for the import of green hydrogen under the H2Global programme.

Delivering his valedictory address at the international conference on green hydrogen (ICGH 2023) on Friday, Oil Minister H S Puri said, “PSUs under MoPNG have targeted to produce more than 1 million tonnes (MT) of green hydrogen by 2030. We have not restricted ourselves to activities only within India as we see that a consortium of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and ACME has submitted bids in response to green hydrogen/ ammonia related tenders in Germany and Oman”.

Sources said the other consortium from India consists of state-run oil marketing behemoth Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), ReNew and L&T.

“It is too early to comment on Germany’s tenders. So far, only the bids have been opened and bids are being evaluated. The process is yet to conclude. Too early to say anything,” said a person in the know.

businessline contacted HPCL, IoC, ACME, ReNew and L&T for a response. Their responses are awaited.

ICGH 2023 was organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Office of Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Green hydrogen tender

In December 2021, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action approved a Euro 900 million (around $985 million) funding instrument entitled H2Global. The idea is to purchase cheap green hydrogen products on the world market and to sell them to the highest bidder in the EU.

The rationale is that the exercise will support the global market ramp-up of green hydrogen, while the hydrogen exporters gain security for their investment decisions through long-term purchase contracts, and the importers gain access to green derivatives. The large purchase contracts incentivise investment in renewable energy and the production of hydrogen-based ammonia, methanol and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

At present, three tenders for procuring ammonia, methanol and electricity-based sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) are under the programme’s evaluation stage. The first deliveries of these sustainable hydrogen derivatives to Germany and Europe are expected by end-2024.

In the 2023 federal budget, the German Government also plans to provide a further Euro 3.5 billion (around $3.84 billion) for new auction rounds to cover periods up to 2036.

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