Japan’s biggest hydrogen supplier Iwatani Corp and five other firms said on Wednesday they will study the feasibility of building a green liquefied hydrogen supply chain between Japan and Australia that could produce 100 tonnes a day by around 2026.
Green hydrogen is a zero-carbon fuel made by using renewable power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. It is increasingly promoted as a way to decarbonize emissions-intensive long-haul transport and heavy industry.
Green hydrogen projects are also key to helping Japan meet its target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Iwatani and three other Japanese companies – Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, Kansai Electric Power Co Inc, and Marubeni – signed a memorandum of understanding with two Australian energy infrastructure firms, Stanwell Corp and APT Management Services Pty Ltd, for the Central Queensland Hydrogen Project.
The project will produce hydrogen on a large scale using renewable energy, liquefy it at the Port of Gladstone in Queensland, Australia, and then export the liquefied hydrogen to Japan.
It aims to produce and supply low-cost hydrogen reliably over the long term, with goals of producing at least 100 tonnes of hydrogen a day around 2026, and 800 tonnes a day from 2031, they said in a statement.
The current production volume of liquefied hydrogen in Japan is up to 30 tonnes a day.
