EU, Japan enhance cooperation to spur international Hydrogen market

The European Union (EU) and Japan have recently intensified their cooperation on hydrogen with the signature of a MoC to spur innovation and develop an international hydrogen market. As frontrunners in hydrogen technology, both the parties will work together for sustainable and affordable production, transportation, and distribution of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen, according to their press statement.

The cooperation will also help to establish a rules-based and transparent global hydrogen market without distortions to trade and investment. The memorandum was signed in Tokyo by Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura.

Both parties have already committed to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and to accelerate the clean energy transition, as outlined in the EU-Japan Green Alliance adopted last year. They believe that hydrogen can make a crucial contribution to both the green transition and energy security.

The MoC identifies a set of areas in which governments, industrial players, research institutions and local authorities in the EU and Japan will be encouraged to cooperate. They are as following:

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

At the EU-Japan Summit in May 2021, a Green Alliance was established where hydrogen was highlighted as a key area of future cooperation. Both sides have a well-developed energy dialogue and have set the long-term ambition of being climate-neutral by 2050.