After participating in the opening ceremony of the REIF 2023 event, which is taking place in the city of Koriyama, in the Japanese prefecture of Fukushima, the Basque Minister for Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, Arantxa Tapia, visited the stand where 8 Basque hydrogen and wind energy companies are participating.
The event began with a ribbon cutting ceremony in which Councillor Arantxa Tapia participated with authorities from Fukushima Prefecture. Afterwards, he visited the stand of the Basque Energy Cluster, which focused on the capabilities of the Basque sector in the wind and hydrogen fields, represented respectively under the brand “Wind Energy Basque Country” and the “Basque Hydrogen Corridor”. Eight Basque entities are taking part in the stand: Ampo, Erreka, H2Site, HWS, Idom, Ikerlan, Tecnalia and Petronor, precisely in its capacity as president of the Basque Hydrogen Corridor.
Following the unfortunate incidents of the Fukushima tsunami and nuclear accident in 2011, Japan selected the prefecture to spearhead the deployment of renewable energy and hydrogen in the country. This has meant that the region is heavily involved in the development of these alternatives in Japan, with numerous unique initiatives (for example, it was the hydrogen supplier for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021), which constitutes an opportunity for collaboration for Basque companies, some of which are already beginning to define alliances as a result of the visit made the previous year to the same event.
The Basque Energy Cluster’s stand will also show the progress of various technological development projects that Basque companies and technology centres are developing in collaboration, both in the wind power sector and in hydrogen, including KONFLOT, control co-design of floating renewable energies.