THE Hunter region’s future for global investment attraction and industrial growth received a boost on 31 January, with Investment NSW bringing Japan’s Ambassador to Australia and the Japanese Consul General in Sydney to Newcastle and the Hunter Valley.
Port of Newcastle welcomed the Ambassador, His Excellency Shingo Yamagami, his wife and delegation, where they received a presentation on hydrogen and diversified trade.
Acting CEO at Port of Newcastle, Nick Livesey said, “Japan is Port of Newcastle’s largest trading partner and today we were able to present to the Ambassador our plans for a Hydrogen Hub in Newcastle and its export potential.
“The Ambassador and his wife also received a helicopter tour of the port, where we were able to highlight future opportunities for growth in diversified trade.”
The delegation was joined by Fumitake Uyama, managing director of Idemitsu Australia, who has partnered with Port of Newcastle and Macquarie Group’s Green Investment Group to jointly study the feasibility of a hydrogen hub.
Mr Uyama said, “Idemitsu Australia is proud to be part of today’s visit by the Japanese Ambassador to the Port of Newcastle as part of our involvement in a study to examine the feasibility of bunkering and exporting green hydrogen and ammonia to Japan.
“Idemitsu brings decades of expertise in exporting to Japan and South East Asia to help develop a strong supply chain for green hydrogen and ammonia to these key export markets.”
Investment NSW senior trade and investment commissioner to Japan, Mike Newman, said, “We met with Hunter business and industry leaders as well as research leaders in hydrogen energy last year, and it was clear to our team then that the Hunter was a region ready to leverage its global freight and transport infrastructure to capitalise on growing international interests in trade, energy, and the visitor economy.
He said there is “significant interest” in how the Hunter region is making its move to scaled renewables and clean energy like hydrogen as a baseload alternative to coal.
“Japan is very interested in the journey the Hunter is on to support a transition to a clean energy economy,” Mr Newman said.
The Japanese delegation visited several Hunter businesses and received briefings from the Hunter Hydrogen Taskforce, Hunter Hydrogen Technology Cluster NewH2, Orica, Newcastle Airport and Ampcontrol.
