Japanese refiner Eneos has invested in US firm MVCE Gulf Coast's low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia project, with an eye towards exporting low-carbon hydrogen to Japan from the US Gulf of Mexico.
Eneos did not disclose the investment amount, but announced on 11 January that it signed an equity investment agreement with MVCE on 17 November 2023.
The project will produce low-carbon hydrogen, ammonia and methylcyclohexane (MCH) in the US Gulf of Mexico. Eneos plans to study the feasibility sending hydrogen from the project to Japan using MCH as a hydrogen carrier, targeting to complete it this year.
Construction of output facilities is to start in the mid-2020s. Commercial production of 220,000 t/yr of low-carbon hydrogen involving carbon capture and storage is to start by 2030. Eneos did disclose how much carbon the project expects to be able to capture.
Eneos is looking to export a part of the output to Japan, but exact figures are unavailable.
MCH will be produced by combining hydrogen with toluene, enabling hydrogen to be shipped in liquified form without a need to store it at high pressure and very-low temperatures. Eneos declined to say where the toluene will come from.
Eneos sees MCH as key for transporting hydrogen to Japan as it can be shipped and stored in the same way as crude and oil products, using existing tankers and storage tanks. This significantly reduces transport costs compared with those for ammonia and liquefied hydrogen. It plans to launch a MCH production plant in Brisbane, Australia during the April 2025-March 2026 fiscal year.

