Japan and the European Union have reached an agreement to collaborate on policies aimed at fostering both demand and supply for clean hydrogen, according to a joint statement released on Monday. This partnership also includes cooperation on advancing technologies for the development of this new fuel.
For Japan, hydrogen is seen as a cleaner alternative to liquefied natural gas (LNG), forming a crucial part of the country's strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Similarly, hydrogen is considered by Europe as one of the options to reduce reliance on Russian fossil fuels.
“Hydrogen will be very soon an internationally traded commodity, and close EU-Japan cooperation will be essential for promoting renewable and low-carbon hydrogen globally, and ensuring that standards and regulations converge,” commented Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy, during a briefing with reporters.
Simson further emphasized the importance of hydrogen in European energy policy, stating, “Hydrogen is an important priority for European energy policy, and hydrogen will help us to get rid of the remaining Russian fossil fuels. But it also, in the long term, helps us to decarbonize our industry.”
To support the transition towards hydrogen, the EU aims to produce and import significant quantities of renewable hydrogen by 2030, necessitating investments in infrastructure to stimulate demand for the new fuel.
Japan, on the other hand, plans to invest 3 trillion yen ($19 billion) over the next 15 years to subsidize the production of clean hydrogen, according to reports from Nikkei. Additionally, Japanese trading house Itochu Corp announced on Monday its feasibility study for building a hydrogen and ammonia supply chain in Kitakyushu, a future offshore wind hub in southern Japan.
