Japan and Slovenia deepen hydrogen ties with new agreements

Japan is to support Slovenia in developing hydrogen capabilities, under two new governmental and private agreements aimed at strengthening the Central European nation’s energy sovereignty.

A memorandum of cooperation (MOC) was signed between the two governments to establish supply chains, promote technology development, and share information for clean hydrogen and derivatives.

Slovenian electricity operator ELES and gas operator Plinovodi will also evaluate ways to couple the country’s electrical, gas and hydrogen systems alongside Japanese electrical engineering firm Yokogawa, under a separate MOC.

It could see Yokogawa lead a feasibility study into integrating hydrogen into Slovenia’s energy infrastructure, and culminate in a hydrogen demonstration project.

Further details remain thin, and a timeline for the collaboration has not been revealed.

Aleksander Mevar, CEO of ELES, said the MOC will play a key role in the “emergence of a hydrogen-based economy,” adding that insight gained could support moving Slovenia, and wider Europe, towards a “more resilient, flexible and sustainable” energy system.

Slovenia’s National Energy and Climate Plan bills hydrogen as an important element of its future energy system, particularly for hard-to-abate sectors, which rely entirely on imports.

With no domestic natural-gas production, its consumption is supplied mainly from Austria, Italy, and Croatia. The IEA’s gas documentation, however, notes that its supply patterns have been affected by the Russia-Ukraine war.

With a low-carbon electricity system already in place, integrating hydrogen could reduce its import reliance. Lacking the scale and accumulated experience of major hydrogen markets makes international technology partnerships attractive.

Slovenian Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Jernej Vrtovec, slated Japan as “one of the leading countries in the field of hydrogen technologies,” when welcoming the collaboration.

The International Energy Agency estimates that Slovenia is targeting €223m ($257m) of investment in hydrogen infrastructure by 2030, alongside its goal of 100MW of electrolyser capacity.

In April 2025, Plinovodi of more than 50 Slovenian companies aiming to drive the country’s shift from natural gas to hydrogen.