The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE)’s Vice Minister Kang Kyungsung met with Western Australia’s Premier Roger Cook on September 8 in Seoul to discuss measures for cooperation in energy areas like CCS (carbon capture and storage), clean hydrogen, ammonia, green steel, critical minerals, and natural gas, as well as a Korea-Western Australia memorandum for understanding (MOU) in energy cooperation.

A number of Korean firms like SK E&S and GS Caltex plan to carry out carbon dioxide for storage in Western Australia’s depleted natural gas reservoir. MOTIE’s Vice Minister Kang requested the Australian Parliament’s support in accelerating necessary procedures, such as ratifying the amendment to the London Protocol for enabling carbon dioxide transportation across borders.

Moreover, the vice minister mentioned that Korea’s Samsung Construction & Trading (Samsung C&T) is currently pushing a pilot project for green hydrogen production in Western Australia’s Northam area, and asked for swift approval for the project development.

Lastly, as a follow-up measure to the letter of intent (LOI) signed between MOTIE and Western Australia this January, both sides agreed to advance the LOI to an MOU during the upcoming 32^nd Korea-Australia Joint Committee on Energy and Mineral Resources in October.