HSEO’s Key Takeaways From Clean Energy Task Force Meeting

At its 15th Annual Clean Energy Task Force meeting hosted by the Okinawa Prefectural Government (OPG), the Hawaiʻi State Energy Office joined the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (MITI), Okinawa Electric Power Company, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Hawaiian Electric, Ulupono Initiative, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Hawaiʻi Green Growth to discuss international cooperation on clean energy innovation in the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S. Department of Energy provided a summary of the U.S. Clean Hydrogen Strategy. Okinawa provided detailed updates on its initiative to achieve carbon neutrality for its thermal power plants. The group also received a demonstration of hydrogen fueling facilities for power plants and vehicles.

MITI shared comments by Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida during his visit to the United States, highlighting a shared goal to accelerate the clean energy transition through a new high-level dialogue on how Japan and the U.S. are implementing our respective measures through the Inflation Reduction Act and Japan’s Green Transformation Promotion Strategy; a dialogue aimed at accelerating energy transition progress this decade by promoting complementary and innovative clean energy supply chains and improving industrial competitiveness. To this end, Japan recently created a Japan Climate Transition Bond to promote energy efficiency measures, renewable energy sources such as green hydrogen and ammonia and zero-emission thermal power plant generation.

It was encouraging to learn that many of the solutions discussed are being aggressively pursued in both Japan and Hawai‘i. By sharing best practices and synergies in clean energy policy and deployment, Hawaiʻi and its partners in Okinawa can more confidently and effectively make progress on our energy transition objectives.