TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Senior energy executives from Houston, Texas, USA, known as the “energy capital of the world,” met today with Japanese energy sector colleagues to discuss achieving Japan’s national decarbonization goals by creating a “hydrogen society.” Japan emphasizes clean hydrogen as a next-generation energy source but lacks the domestic resources to achieve that vision without international cooperation.
The Center for Houston's Future (CHF), a Houston-based economic development organization and leader of the U.S. Gulf Coast’s clean hydrogen strategy, today co-hosted “The Japan-U.S. Gulf Coast Clean Hydrogen Round Table” with the Japan Hydrogen Association (JH2A). The JH2A has about 450 Japanese companies, local governments, and research institutes as members.
The meeting brought together energy experts from the public and private sectors of Japan and the U.S. to discuss this topic. CHF and JH2A also signed an MOU at the event, pledging cooperation. At the MOU signing ceremony held at the beginning of the event, Brett Perlman, CEO of the Center of Houston’s Future, and Hiroshi Fukushima, Secretary General of JH2A, served as signatories.
Roland Berger Japan, led by Managing Partner Yuzuru Joe Ohashi, sponsored and supported the event.
The Japan-U.S. Gulf Coast Clean Hydrogen Forum is part of a series of regular Trade and Investment Missions conducted by the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP), the largest chamber of commerce in the Greater Houston Area. This is the first visit to Japan and South Korea to promote a collaboration on hydrogen energy.
This Forum was held to build relationships against the background of a Japanese-U.S. collaboration and commercial transactions in the clean hydrogen business. The participants exchanged views on Japanese and U.S. energy policies, technology development, social implementation efforts, and more.
Brett Perlman, CEO of the Center of Houston’s Future, highlighted the growing interest of the U.S. Gulf Coast, one of the world’s leading hydrogen-producing regions, in the Japanese clean hydrogen market, commenting:
"More than 20 energy companies based on the U.S. Gulf Coast are participating in this visit, including major clean hydrogen suppliers, international EPCs, infrastructure companies, clean hydrogen equipment suppliers, and trading companies. This illustrates our shared understanding that collaborations with the Japanese market are essential to realizing a clean hydrogen society, including trade, technology alliances, and building global supply chains. As the world's energy capital, we seek to become a central player in promoting decarbonization in the U.S. and the world. CHF is committed to working with Japanese businesses, government and NGOs to realize the vision of a hydrogen society."
Hiroshi Fukushima, Secretary General, JH2A, commented on the significance of the MOU, stating:
"We are pleased to have signed this MOU with the Center for Houston’s Future, which plays an important role in the energy transition toward decarbonization in the United States and worldwide. With this, JH2A has now signed MOUs with 12 overseas organizations. JH2A will further strengthen its relationships with the industry's international community and work with the public, government, local governments, and industry to ensure that Japan can quickly build a hydrogen value chain and hydrogen society."
John Cypher, Vice President, International Investment and Trade with the Partnership, commented on the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship:
"Japan stands as Houston's seventh largest international trading partner, with trade between our regions nearly tripling over the past decade. This remarkable growth underscores not only the strength of our economic ties but also highlights Houston's pivotal role as the energy capital of the world. As we continue to foster these dynamic trade and cultural relationships with Japan, we pave the way for future collaborations that will drive innovation and prosperity for both our regions."
Koji Toyama, Partner, Roland Berger Japan, provided his view on the market, commenting:
"In recent years, hydrogen, considered a promising player for global decarbonization, has moderately slowed down in its expansion due to challenges such as rising costs. Given the circumstances, a closer look is required to ensure the economic viability of hydrogen businesses while continuing the important efforts in the medium to long term.” He continued: “Roland Berger has accumulated knowledge based on many hydrogen projects worldwide. We are working with clients worldwide on hydrogen energy, which is an unavoidable theme toward decarbonization. We will continue supporting clients’ commercialization and ensuring the viability of hydrogen utilization in all aspects of the business. This includes the decarbonization of companies, support of the management function for new businesses establishment, growth generation, and restructuring the portfolio to foster the transformation of Japanese companies."
CHF, JH2A, GHP, and Roland Berger will drive the momentum created and shared at the Japan-U.S. Gulf Coast Clean Hydrogen Round Table and timely foster and capture various opportunities to develop the hydrogen market and realize the hydrogen society.
About Roland Berger: Roland Berger is one of the world's leading strategy consultancies with a wide-ranging service portfolio for all relevant industries and business functions. Founded in 1967, Roland Berger is headquartered in Munich. Renowned for its expertise in transformation, innovation across all sectors and performance improvement, the consultancy has set itself the goal of embedding sustainability in all its projects. Roland Berger's revenues stood at more than 1 billion euros in 2023. https://www.rolandberger.com/en/
