A hydrogen project in Uzbekistan won the Japanese science and technology promotion fund – SATREPS
Uzbek-Japan Innovation Center of Youth (UJICY), Kyushu University of Japan (KU) and its related institution, International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) have jointly been awarded SATREPS (Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development) program, which is a Japanese government program funded by Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for promotion of international joint researches aimed at solving global issues.
In the Republic of Uzbekistan, achievement of carbon neutrality by using renewable energy sources is the important national strategy and hydrogen is one of such sources. Japan has also been contributing to transferring its innovative energy technologies and experiences to Uzbekistan for long.
UJICY, KU and I2CNER have initiated close communication with Ministry of Energy and already started preliminary research and selected the following four (4) edge-cutting technologies, all of which consider carefully environmental impacts and utilize the resources available of Uzbekistan as much as possible;
In-situ hydrogen generation utilizing abandoned oil wells
Development of Perovskite solar cells under Uzbek climate
Steam electrolysis hydrogen generation using waste heat from industry
Photocatalytic hydrogen generation using waste slug from mining industry
After concluding an agreement between the both countries, the project will go on for five (5) years and JPY 500 million (USD 3.5 million) is granted for research activities, purchasing experimental equipment and training for Uzbek young scientists.
In this Project, National Research Institute for Renewable Energy Sources under Ministry of Energy, National University of Uzbekistan and Navoi State University for Mining and Technology are also participated as collaborate organizations.
As the goal, the Project will provide the government of Uzbekistan with technical proposal on hydrogen generation with economical evaluations, and will create human resources who will lead the country to the future’s hydrogen society.
