Chief Executive John Lee will conclude his duty visit to Kazakhstan on Wednesday night, before continuing his Central Asian tour in Uzbekistan.
The visit by the SAR delegation comes as Kazakhstan accelerates its decarbonisation drive, having committed to the Paris climate change treaty and a 2060 carbon neutrality target.
“Our government is putting more effort on that. We have a lot of projects going on,” said Nurxat Nuraje, head of the renewable energy lab at National Laboratory Astana.
With petroleum reserves expected to be depleted within 50 years, he said the Kazakh government is “paying more attention to develop new technology like renewable energy technology”.
Nuraje, who attended the International Hydrogen Development Symposium in Wan Chai last month, believed there is plenty of room for cooperation.
“We learned that Hong Kong has become a very important hub for the development of hydrogen and renewable energy,” he said.
“Hong Kong has a very good transportation system, also a capital investment system.”
Fellow researcher Yerbolat Magazov went further, suggesting Hong Kong look into developing a trading mechanism for green hydrogen.
“The actual role of Hong Kong as a hub would be to make it not as an energy material, but as a valuable asset,” he said.
“Special frameworks, taxonomy, legislation — so hydrogen can be traded as a stock material.”
Their laboratory in the Kazakh capital has already demonstrated the potential of clean energy, after building a system last year that converts solar energy into hydrogen.
Mainland company Zhejiang H2-Bank Technology was a key partner, supplying critical components such as electrolysers and hydrogen storage systems.
But Magazov acknowledged they need to drive down costs before green hydrogen can really take off. It remains three to five times more expensive than “grey” hydrogen, which is derived from fossil fuels.
“The biggest problem is bankability,” he said. “Lots of people have lots of money, but they need to be sure that in the future, green hydrogen will be profitable. Right now, if you calculate, it’s a non-profitable thing.”
This, according to Magazov, is where the Hong Kong brand comes into play.
“If Hong Kong trusts this country, everyone can also trust. That allows future investors to put money and investments into this particular market,” he said.
With global energy markets remaining volatile, Magazov felt that Central Asia and China should forge closer ties.
“It’s better to make allies which are close to each other,” he said.
“China, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries should bring together. In the future, if something happens, we’ll be independent of others.”
