The signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation on low-carbon hydrogen with Singapore signals the start of greater collaboration between the two countries as they transition towards low carbon economies, says Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods.

The cooperation agreement between New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and the National Climate Change Secretariat was signed today by Minister Woods and Dr Tan See Leng, Singapore’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry.

“This memorandum builds on the Singapore-New Zealand Enhanced Partnership signed in 2019 and marks the start of a journey between our two countries to collaborate on the production, deployment and research into a new hydrogen economy,” said Megan Woods.

“Hydrogen is a key future fuel option that will help us meet our climate goals by enabling us to decarbonise transport and industry applications in particular that will be hard to electrify.

“New Zealand has an abundance of renewable energy that could be used to produce hydrogen, potentially for export, so this cooperation between us and Singapore, one of our most trusted, reliable, and long-standing partners in Asia, is significant.

“Sharing knowledge about hydrogen, both from its use and deployment through small demonstration projects up to large scale construction, will assist both countries to transform our respective energy and transport sectors. Cooperation around the research and development of new hydrogen technologies will also create excellent opportunities for both countries,” said Megan Woods.

The cooperation agreement is the second hydrogen arrangement signed by New Zealand following the 2018 memorandum with Japan.

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