HCEE INDIA 2026: India-Europe clean energy trade hinges on reliability, infrastructure, delivered costs

European countries are deepening clean energy partnerships with India, focusing on supply reliability, infrastructure readiness and delivered prices as they explore opportunities for renewable hydrogen and ammonia trade, while expanding technology cooperation.

Industry and policy experts at the S&P Global Energy Horizons Clean Energy Expansion India Conference 2026 in New Delhi on Sept. 24-25 discussed the next steps needed to advance clean energy trade.

"We concluded this partnership, which covers a wide range of areas that we were already working on -- trade and investment, energy and climate, health, agriculture, water management," Huib Mijnarends, deputy ambassador of the Netherlands to India, said in a fireside chat.

"There is also a new element in it, and that is security ... [it is] broader than just green hydrogen, but we are talking about different ways of providing clean energy to the Netherlands and Europe."

India and the Netherlands agreed in May to elevate relations to a strategic partnership and adopted the 2026-2030 roadmap, covering renewable energy, renewable hydrogen and an India-Netherlands green and digital sea corridor.

The EU's revised Renewable Energy Directive requires at least 42% of hydrogen used in industry to be renewable by 2030. The EU has a non-binding target to produce 10 million metric tons/year of renewable hydrogen by that date, and import a further 10 million mt/y.

Prioritizing trust

Europe prioritizes production methods, trusted supply relationships and environmental standards alongside price, Hans-Joerg Hoertnagl, Austria's trade commissioner and commercial counselor to India, said during the fireside chat.

"It is important to understand there is a major change going on in internal trade with the EU," Hoertnagl said, highlighting Austria's previous dependence on Russian gas.

Hoertnagl said the continent imported the cheapest energy product, but "now we look at how it was manufactured," which involves considering "human rights" and "environmental standards."

In addition, infrastructure readiness remains critical to establishing an India-Europe trade corridor, with adequate port capacity, storage facilities, logistics networks and shipping connectivity, industry experts said.

European "buyers do not look at one specific thing -- they look at the complete value chain behind a molecule," Daljit Singh Kohli, India representative of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, said during a panel discussion at the event.

Kohli said European buyers will evaluate suppliers' ability to reliably deliver the required volumes, the competitiveness of delivered prices in Europe and the robustness of supporting infrastructure.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed the India renewable hydrogen term contract at $3.19/kg on Sept. 24, down 0.9% from a month earlier.

Policy uncertainty a concern

Michael Whiteley, global head of clean hydrogen and chemicals at HSBC, said uncertainty around European regulations and demand mandates cast a shadow over project financiers in the nascent clean energy market.

He said the relevant H2Global tender required suppliers to deliver the product to a designated European terminal, while many Indian developers preferred to sell on an FOB basis, leaving shipping and logistics to another party. The Asia lot, part of Hintco's second H2Global supply-side auction, covers a 10-year contract for RFNBO-compliant renewable ammonia or methanol delivered to Northwest Europe, with an annual contract value capped at €58.7 million ($67.3 million) and total funding of up to €484 million over the contract term. Bids closed July 16.

"There is some uncertainty now, and that is something that we cannot really deal with," Whiteley said during a panel discussion. "India has got really great potential for low-cost molecules, and Japan and the EU are looking likely for the import of those molecules. But how does it get to be? Where is the import infrastructure in the EU? And who is picking up for that?"

Earlier in 2026, India's AM Green signed a long-term binding offtake agreement to supply up to 500,000 mt/y of renewable ammonia to Germany's Uniper, with the first shipments expected as early as 2028 from its Kakinada project in Andhra Pradesh.

Technology supply, manufacturing

India and the EU concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement on Jan. 27, creating a broader framework to expand trade, investment and industrial cooperation, including in sustainability.

"Looking forward to the future, especially now with this free trade agreement, we see more potential," Hoertnagl said, adding that there is potential for more Austrian companies to establish factories in India in partnership.

For instance, in Austria, most cement plants use alternative fuels produced from industrial and household waste. "That technology we want to offer to India," he said.

Hoertnagl said Austria has a network of 300 to 400 small and medium-sized enterprises, including companies specializing in environmental technologies, that could find business opportunities in India.

Austrian engineering group ANDRITZ operates two hydropower equipment manufacturing facilities in India through ANDRITZ Hydro Pvt. Ltd., located in Prithla, Haryana, and Mandideep, Madhya Pradesh.