Outline of the EC-METI/NEDO officials’ meeting on EU-Japan cooperation on energy technology R&D

In June 2008, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Directorate-General for Research of the European Commission (EC) agreed at the ministerial level to strengthen the partnership between Japan and Europe concerning energy technology R&D. Since then, both sides have been working toward carrying out cooperation in the areas of photovoltaics, power storage and carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS).

To review the progress of this EU-Japan cooperation on energy technology R&D, an EC-METI/NEDO officials’ meeting was held on October 15-16.

Background

METI and the EC reached an agreement to strengthen the partnership between Japan and Europe concerning energy technology R&D in June 2008.
In line with this, an EU-Japan Joint Strategic Workshop on Energy Research and Technological Development was held in Tokyo in March 2009, resulting in an agreement to designate photovoltaics, power storage and CCS as the areas of cooperation. To review subsequent developments, an EC-METI/NEDO officials’ meeting was held on October 15-16, 2009.

Outline of the meeting

Date

Thursday, October 15-Friday, October 16, 2009, in Naples

Organizers

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Directorate-General for Research of the European Commission

Chairpersons

• Kazuhiko Hombu, Director-General for Natural Resources and Energy Policy, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
• Raffaele Liberali, Directorate-General for Research of the European Commission

Summary of results

Joint activities between Japan and Europe

The parties of the meeting discussed how to promote overall cooperation as well as cooperation in the designated three areas and agreed on the following joint actions.

(1) Photovoltaics
It is intended to start working on the coordination of schemes for a coordinated call and a researcher exchange to be launched in 2010.

(2) Power storage
Both sides will hold an expert meeting possibly in the first half of 2010. They will also explore the possibility of cooperation regarding a pre-competitive next-generation battery and integration of storage on the grid.

(3) CCS
For short-term cooperation, an expert meeting will be held in the first half of 2010 in order to speed up cooperation, particularly on non-competitive aspects such as safety of storage. For long-term cooperation, both sides will explore the possibility of cooperation on R&D in pre-competitive areas.
- The parties agreed to formulate an administrative arrangement to facilitate the development and implementation of EC-Japan cooperation at an operational level.
- The parties agreed to hold EC-METI/NEDO officials’ meetings to assess the progress made in the implementation of the cooperation and to develop further actions.

Cooperation among Japan, Europe and the U.S.

- On the basis of the common areas of bilateral cooperation that were noted, it was proposed that trilateral efforts might initially focus on technologies for CCS, smart grids, and photovoltaics.
- The parties agreed to explore the options for parallel calls in areas of common interest and to follow up on options for trilateral cooperation at the next officials’ meeting.
- The parties recognized the importance of a coordinated approach towards energy technology cooperation with emerging and developing countries and agreed to exchange relevant information.

• Chairs' Summary for Naples Meeting (PDF:83KB) (original text in English)

Release Date

October 26, 2009

Division in Charge

Energy Strategy Office and General Policy Division, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy

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