Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ken Saito and the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, held a High-Level Hydrogen Business Forum to deepen their cooperation regarding hydrogen business and technology development in the framework of the EU-Japan Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on Hydrogen signed in December 2022 and the Japan-EU Summit Meeting of July 2023.
Minister Ken Saito and Commissioner Kadri Simson agreed to cooperate on supply and demand-side policies in clean energy sectors and to properly evaluate non-price elements such as principles of transparency, diversity, safety, sustainability and reliability. They confirmed that work will begin in the fields of wind, solar and hydrogen, with plans to expand in the future. Especially, they reiterated their strong common interest in supporting investment and deployment of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen.
In this regard, during the Forum, some cooperation documents were signed to promote collaboration between various actors in the hydrogen field.
As a next step, they will work to formulate a joint working plan to continue deepening the cooperation in the hydrogen field. Especially, based on the recent policy developments regarding hydrogen both in Japan and the EU, which include supporting schemes established by the Hydrogen Society Promotion Act in Japan and the European Hydrogen Bank in the EU. Likewise, further information exchange will be undertaken concerning the standardisation work on hydrogen (for example, electrolysers, large-scale liquefied hydrogen tanks and refuelling infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles) and regulatory requirements concerning the secure and rules-based international trade of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen.