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 decarbonise 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 Corp - 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.
The use of the 235-hectares Aldoga site, a hydrogen production base secured by Stanwell in the Gladstone region, and a site of about 100 hectares in Fisherman's Landing to be acquired as a hydrogen liquefaction and loading base, will be considered for the project, they said.
The project will also consider supplying green hydrogen to meet local demand.
The feasibility study will focus on examinations of production technology for green hydrogen, construction of hydrogen liquefaction plants and liquefied hydrogen carriers, associated finance and environmental assessments, and commercialization models.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
