Hydrogen Week 2024 energises international cooperation
Designed to be a catalyst of collaboration, New Zealand Hydrogen Week is focused on how we can power the future of energy together.
Our researchers are making international connections to secure New Zealand's future in the global hydrogen economy.
This week we are hosting pivotal workshops with our international research partners, welcoming visitors into the new GNS Hydrogen lab, and hosting the highly anticipated New Zealand Hydrogen Symposium 2024.
Workshops to direct the future of international hydrogen research
Hydrogen Week has started with a series of workshops on January 29th and 30th.
On the 29th research leaders from Japanese universities discussed future directions for our collective research efforts to align with the 2018 Japan - New Zealand Memorandum of Cooperation for energy collaboration.
The workshop was chaired by John Kennedy and Mr. Ohira Eiji from New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) with presentations from GNS Science’s Dr Prasanth Gupta, Dr Jingjing Liu from The University of Auckland, Professor Chris Bumby from Victoria University of Wellington, Dr Yoshiyuki Kuroda from Yokohama National University, Dr Tatsuoki Kono from The University of Tokyo, and Professor Katsumi Yokomoto from Kyushu University.
It’s clear that not only do we need hydrogen research to focus on better efficiencies, but for both countries we also need to help our industries and power companies feel sure in their commitment to the future of a hydrogen economy.
On the 30th, researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA), Australia's CSIRO, University of Auckland, University of Canterbury, University of Newcastle, and Victoria University of Wellington discussed key technical advances in Hydrogen research. The value chain workshop was supported by Royal Society of New Zealand’s Catalyst Seed Fund(external link).
New Zealand Hydrogen Symposium
From January 31st to February 2nd, we are hosting the second New Zealand Hydrogen Symposium at the Oceania Events Centre at Te Papa in Wellington.
This international research symposium is bringing together over 200 delegates from around the world, with half of the presenters being international leaders in hydrogen research and industry. Specifically, the symposium is covering various themes across the energy system, including the production, storage, distribution, and utilization of green hydrogen, along with whole-of-system considerations and the techno- and socio-economic effects of the emerging hydrogen economy.
Meeting the needs of industry
To ensure we are setting the direction of our research to match what it is needed, we hosted a dedicated discussion session with key industry and commercialisation leaders.
The session featured speakers from USA's PlugPower(external link) and CleanTech(external link), Liquium (New Zealand)(external link), NZ Growth Capital(external link), Hyundai NZ(external link), Fabrum(external link), Mitsui(external link), Hiringa(external link), and GNS Science's first spin-out company focused on improving catalytic membranes, Bspkl.(external link)
It's evident with today's discussions that hydrogen has made significant progress just in the last year. Today we have over 200 attendees working together on a range of the challenges we face - no doubt we will see exponential growth in 2024
Hydrogen Week 2024 was made possible through the support and sponsorship from the MacDiarmid Institute, University of Canterbury, The University of Waikato The University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand Product Accelerator He Honoka Hauwai | German-NZ Green Hydrogen Centre and the New Zealand Hydrogen Council.
