China-Europe H2 Workshop | 2021中欧氢能产业研讨会
2021-06-29 | All chapters
On 29th June, the China-Europe H2 Workshop, jointly organised by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and China Hydrogen Alliance, was held successfully in Suzhou and online. The workshop was a vital part of NEA’s International Dialogue on Energy Transitions 2021, as well as an annual flagship event of the China-Europe Energy Innovation Cooperation—Hydrogen Work Stream, aiming to build an international platform for technological and industrial exchange, and promote cooperation on hydrogen industry. More than 500 people participated, including Chinese and European authorities, international organisations, local government officials and key industry players.
Wang Xiang, executive vice mayor and member of the Standing Committee of Suzhou Municipal Party Committee; Xu Ziming, director of the Energy Efficiency and Energy Storage Division, Science and Technology Equipment Department, National Energy Administration (NEA), along with Bettina Schoen-Behanzin, vice president of the European Chamber, delivered opening remarks respectively. The opening speech was hosted by Liu Wei, Secretary General of the China Hydrogen Alliance. Executive Vice Mayor Wang Xiang emphasised the importance of hydrogen energy in achieving China’s carbon neutrality goals, citing it as a clean, efficient, and sustainable green energy source. The city of Suzhou attaches great importance to the development of hydrogen energy industry and has accelerated the deployment of related enterprises, R&D institutions and fuel cell vehicles. Director Xu Ziming indicated that the carbon neutrality target is a major decision made by China to achieve sustainable development. Currently, hydrogen energy has not been fully deployed and is still being explored, but the NEA will consider China's national development needs as the next step to adhere to low-carbon principles and construct a system that incorporates the utilisation of hydrogen. Vice President Bettina Schoen-Behanzin said China is already cooperating with the EU in several climate-related areas such as clean energy, decarbonisation technologies, green transportation and carbon trading. Drawing upon foreign expertise in green energy and policy around the world will help China achieve its decarbonisation targets and industrial upgrade. She also emphasised the future opportunities for EU-China collaboration and developments within the energy sector.
During the workshop, the Chinese edition of the Green Hydrogen Cost Reduction Pathway was released, while topics on strategic initiatives for the development of renewable hydrogen for China and Europe were discussed. Mickaël Naouri, vice chair of Energy Working Group at the European Chamber, delivered a detailed keynote speech on the role of liquid hydrogen for transportation and storage. Xu Zhonghua, national chair of Energy Working Group, moderated the panel discussion on how the government and enterprises promoting the development of renewable hydrogen could cooperate. Pierre Vialettes, vice chair of Aviation and Aerospace Working Group actively participated in the panel discussion. Other member companies of the European Chamber such as Snam, Linde, Siemens Energy, Thyssenkrupp and Bureau Veritas also provided speakers for the workshop.
The closing remarks were delivered by the European Chamber’s Shanghai Board Member Roberto Donà. China and the EU are highly complementary in the fields of clean energy and industrial manufacturing, with a solid foundation on cutting-edge technologies. The European Chamber, along with China Hydrogen Alliance and other key industry players look forward to working together to promote China-Europe collaboration in the hydrogen industry.