Taiwan and the U.K. brought together more than 100 UK and Taiwanese hydrogen and fuel cell companies with 11 companies presenting to explore possible areas for collaboration. The UK and Taiwan’s respective hydrogen trade associations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), committing to improving bilateral engagement, supporting skills development, education and outreach activities and coordinating industry-related information and events.
This is just the right time for the UK and Taiwan to come together and explore closer collaboration on this fuel of the future. UK-Taiwan collaboration is growing fast in low carbon energy development, especially offshore wind. Taiwan’s domestic fuel cell industry which is already a vital part of global hydrogen supply chains is increasingly strong and innovative.
– John Dennis, Representative of British Office Taipei
Emerging UK-Taiwan collaboration opportunities in technology include the deployment of hydrogen in medium-to-long distance public road transportation, the production of green hydrogen from offshore wind, and partnering on project opportunities in third markets where the UK and Taiwan share a common interest.
Low carbon hydrogen has a critical role to play in our collective transition to net-zero, with the potential to overcome some of the trickiest decarbonisation challenges facing our economy. Today, low carbon hydrogen technologies remain at a relatively early stage of deployment. This makes international collaboration especially important, to help mitigate early-stage development risks and create larger shared markets for the deployment of low carbon hydrogen.
Moving from the “energy transition” to the “net-zero transition” by 2050, Taiwan has included hydrogen energy in the decarbonisation plans to effectively reduce carbon emissions in the energy and industrial sectors. In addition, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has established a “Hydrogen Energy Promotion Group” to expand the promotion of the application and development of hydrogen energy. We will continue to pay attention to the global development trend of hydrogen energy and actively promote the decarbonisation of energy and industry.
This MoU will help to share experience from the deployment of zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell buses, the production and local use of hydrogen in, and the demonstration of hydrogen from offshore wind for heating and cooking, replacing carbon-intensive fossil fuels.
To reach net-zero emissions by 2050, hydrogen would be one of the most crucial projects in the near future. Taiwan has completed hydrogen and fuel cell technology supply chains, which international collaborations could be greatly promoted. The MoU could bring endless possibilities for more mutual collaborations, making Taiwan’s hydrogen industry well-prepared for a better future.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, Taiwan and the U.K. has also collaborated in innovative technology of renewable energy. More than 200 industry practitioners with more than 16 companies shared best practices in offshore wind farm Operations and Maintenance (O&M), smart grid and innovative floating offshore wind technology. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Taiwan’s largest shipbuilder and flotation energy company and a British floating wind developer, focusing on collaboration on floating wind technology development in Taiwan.
With rapid offshore wind expansion and ambitious energy transition, Taiwan has the potential to become a leader in the Asia Pacific region in the offshore wind industry. The UK government is investing in technologies to bring more green energy into the UK grid system. The UK government is committed to sharing this innovation with Taiwan.
The UK and Taiwan agreed to cooperate on the UK-Taiwan carbon reduction pathway in the energy sector, as well as to co-organise a series of energy innovation workshops focusing on floating offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies.
