EU, Japan agree to cooperate on hydrogen standards, regulatory requirements

Japan and the EU have agreed to cooperate on standardization and regulatory requirements for the secure and rules-based international trade of renewable and low carbon hydrogen, they said in a joint statement June 3.

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 for hydrogen business and technology development in the framework of the EU-Japan Memorandum of Cooperation on Hydrogen in Tokyo.

"Close EU-Japan cooperation will be essential for promoting renewable and low carbon hydrogen globally," Simson said at the Japan Energy Summit and Exhibition earlier June 3. "The market is ready and this is the moment to speed up things and make some additional efforts to allow it to take off."

Simson said the EU was committed to providing the right incentives to help the industry seize opportunities arising from the development of renewable and low carbon hydrogen.

The standardization and regulatory work between the two regions will involve electrolyzers, large-scale liquefied hydrogen tanks and refueling infrastructure for heavy duty vehicles, among others, their joint statement said.

"The Forum discussed industrial cooperation, finance and supporting measures, and research and development, with the participation of Japanese and EU energy industry top executives," the statement added.

The meeting saw several organizations in Japan and the EU sign cooperation agreements and joint undertakings aimed at promoting collaboration in the field of hydrogen.

As a next step, the parties will work to formulate a joint working plan to continue deepening the cooperation based on the recent policy developments 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, the statement said.

"They will exchange information on the functioning and participation requirements under the two schemes, keeping in mind the importance of building a resilient and sustainable supply chain," they said.

Japan and the EU underscored the importance of working with like-minded partners to build and strengthen transparent, resilient and sustainable supply chains as widely as possible, and agreed to establish a working group on Japan-EU Clean Energy Industrial Policy Coordination.

"We are now attracting more investment in clean hydrogen than the US and China combined," Simson said at the Japan Energy Summit and Exhibition. At the first auction of the EU Hydrogen Bank, 132 bids were received from 17 European nations, she noted.

As much as 6 million mt of hydrogen offtake commitments are under discussion in the EU, she added.

Japan is the EU's closest strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific region and a key ally for the implementation of the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, released in September 2021, the website of EU says.

Platts, a part of S&P Global Commodity Insights assessed Japan hydrogen produced via alkaline electrolysis at $4.90/kg May 31, up 1.7% from a month earlier.

It assessed Netherlands hydrogen produced via alkaline electrolysis (including capex) with grid only power at $5.16/kg May 31, up 14.7% on the month.