Japanese LPG and hydrogen supplier Iwatani plans to start trial blending hydrogen with LPG for use in households in the northeastern Fukushima prefecture by January 2025.
Iwatani, together with local gas supplier Soma Gas, will deliver a blend of 90pc LPG and 10pc hydrogen to 80 households in Fukushima's Minami-Soma city. Existing infrastructure such as pipelines and gas equipment will be used for the demonstration, Iwatani said on 22 January.
Iwatani is looking to roll this out to other areas in Japan if the demonstration is successful. It is also eyeing the use of green hydrogen from the Fukushima hydrogen energy research field (FH2R) for the project. FH2R started up a 10MW electrolyser in March 2020 to produce 1,200 Nm³/hr or around 900 t/yr of hydrogen using power generated at a 20MW solar unit.
Iwatani was looking to mix 20pc of hydrogen with a type of city gas comprising just LPG and air during a feasibility study for the project. But it has reduced the ratio to 10pc for the demonstration because blending with 15-20pc hydrogen will require modifying existing gas equipment. The company wants to continue using existing infrastructure to minimise costs. Iwatani will also use conventional LPG for the demonstration instead of city gas, but did not give a reason for this switch.
Iwatani will receive financial support from state-owned research institute Nedo until March 2026, like it did for the feasibility study between December 2021 and March 2023.
Iwatani did not provide any specific timelines, but it is aiming for commercialisation after 2026. The company also declined to say how much CO2 emissions it can cut by blending LPG with hydrogen.
Iwatani plans to spend ¥178bn ($1.25bn) on hydrogen-related projects in the five years to the April 2027-March 2028 fiscal year in anticipation of further demand growth.
