EU and Japan step up cooperation on hydrogen

With the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to encourage innovation and create a global hydrogen market, the EU and Japan have increased their cooperation on hydrogen.

The EU and Japan will collaborate to produce, trade, transport, store, distribute, and use renewable and low-carbon hydrogen in a cost-effective manner as leaders in the field. The collaboration will aid in creating a globally regulated, open, and free trade and investment distortion hydrogen market. Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura both signed the Memorandum in Tokyo.

According to the EU-Japan Green Alliance, both sides have already agreed to attain climate neutrality by 2050 and speed up the transition to renewable energy. Energy security and the green transition can both benefit greatly from hydrogen. The Memorandum outlines a number of areas where governments, business entities, academic institutions, and local government bodies in the EU and Japan would be urged to interact, including:

• Policies, regulations, incentives, and subsidies, including at the international level to work towards common standards and certification;
• Best practices and lessons learned in renewable and low-carbon hydrogen research, development, applications, and demonstration projects;
• Project development including in the context of multilateral cooperation initiatives, with a view to supporting other countries around the world;
• Education, upskilling, reskilling, and vocational education and training, including via exchanges.

Energy issues like energy security, nuclear power, liquefied natural gas (LNG), offshore wind energy, electricity market structure and energy technology are all covered in the extensive energy discussion between the EU and Japan. The long-term goal outlined by both parties is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, and more collaboration on methane emissions is also being discussed. Hydrogen was emphasized as a significant area of future cooperation when the Green Alliance was founded at the EU-Japan Summit in May 2021.