The Taiwan–Australia Roundtable on Low-Carbon Technology and Energy Supply Chain Resilience was successfully held in Perth, Australia, on May 29. The event was co-hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia and the Australia Centre for International Trade and Investment (ACITI).
The forum brought together approximately 80 participants from government, industry, and academia across Taiwan and Australia, with a focus on hydrogen technology development and industrial collaboration. Alex Liu, Non-Resident Fellow with the Energy Resilience Research Program at DSET, participated in the roundtable and presented key findings from the policy report titled “Beyond Import / Export: A Brief on Taiwanese Investment in Australia’s Hydrogen Industry Chain.”
Opening remarks were delivered by Ambassador Douglas Yu-tien Hsu, Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia; Mr. Li Chun-li, Acting Director-General of the Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Taiwan; and Dr. Wang-Long Lee, Director-General of the Department of Foresight and Innovation Policies, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Taiwan. Each highlighted how deepening bilateral cooperation on low-carbon technologies not only enhances Taiwan–Australia relations but also accelerates Australia’s Future Made in Australia strategy for revitalizing domestic manufacturing.
In his presentation, Alex Liu noted that although Australia possesses strong hydrogen policies and abundant renewable energy resources, it faces challenges related to water resource stability. Taiwan, on the other hand, offers complementary strengths in fuel cell module manufacturing, water treatment, and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) integration. These synergies could form the basis for deeper industrial collaboration along the hydrogen value chain.
The DSET report recommends that future Taiwan–Australia cooperation should expand beyond green hydrogen (or ammonia) import/export trade into joint R&D and commercial applications of critical technologies. This includes demonstration projects involving Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) and Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC), particularly in the deployment of hydrogen-based Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) technology for low-carbon steelmaking. Such collaboration would not only support Taiwan’s energy transition and hydrogen deployment goals, but also contribute to shared carbon reduction targets in the steel sector.
The policy report “Beyond Import / Export: A Brief on Taiwanese Investment in Australia’s Hydrogen Industry Chain”will be formally released in July 2025.
