Media Release
For Immediate Use
28 November 2019
NZ seeks to use its renewable energy resources to develop large-scale liquid hydrogen exports
As New Zealand looks to decarbonise its total energy system, plans are already afoot to export New Zealand’s abundant
renewable energy via large-scale liquid hydrogen.
This week private sector consortia from New Zealand and Korea, supported by their respective governments, signed a
letter of intent (LOI) to investigate the feasibility and core technology required to develop a liquid hydrogen supply
chain for green hydrogen to be produced and liquefied by renewable electricity in New Zealand and imported into Korea
for distribution to consumers.
The signing ceremony took place at the New Zealand Ambassador’s Residence in Seoul, with New Zealand’s Minister of Trade
and Export Growth Hon. David Parker representing the New Zealand Government, and Dr Linda Wright, CEO of the New Zealand
Hydrogen Association representing the New Zealand private sector consortium members. Also present were Korean National
Assembly respresentatives and government officials, key private sector industry representatives, the head of the South
Korean SEA LH2 Consortium, Professor Daejun Change, as well as H2Korea Chairman Moon Jae-do.
Dr Linda Wright says, “while the opportunity for New Zealand to export green hydrogen from its abundant renewable energy
resources is in its infancy, the signing of this LOI by private sector companies and supported by the respective
governments, clearly indicates the potential for New Zealand to become a major exporter of green renewable energy in our
Asia-Pacific region.” “Countries like Korea will struggle to decarbonise their energy systems with their own renewable
energy resources and will need to import green hydrogen to power their energy intensive manufacturing based economies.
New Zealand has been a major exporter of food resources for a very long time, but it took the invention of refrigeration
for agriculture to really create the wealth we enjoy as a country today.
“Liquid hydrogen is the refrigerated equivalent for green energy. If we can effectively harness the renewable
electricity generated from our abundant wind, geothermal, solar and hydro resources and store it for transportation,
then we can add large scale green hydrogen to our export portfolio.
Linda Wright says the export of green hydrogen can play a big role in reducing total global greenhouse gas emissions,
while at the same time, the development of a hydrogen economy in New Zealand will advance our own transition to zero
emissions through the decarbonisation of our heavy vehicle transport fleet and industrial process heat, which are both
heavily reliant on imported fossil fuels.
The LOI was formally signed by both Minister of Energy and Resources Hon Dr Megan Woods on behalf of the New Zealand
Government, and Professor Daejun Chang, head of the South Korean SEA LH2 Consortium, as well as private sector members
of the New Zealand consortia.
“Once the evaluation of the technical and economic feasibility has been completed, it is hoped that the initiative will
lead to a more detailed project involving the engineering and concept design of key facilities and rigorous economic
analysis,” Wright says.
The New Zealand consortium includes Contact Energy, K One W One, Refining New Zealand and the New Zealand Government,
while the Korean consortium represented by LATTICE Technology, comprises six commercial Korean companies including
KOGAS-Tech, KOMAC and KOMIPO.
Ends