Japanese firms mull floating hydrogen infrastructure

Four Japanese companies will co-operate to develop a floating green hydrogen production and supply infrastructure project at a key Japanese port, hoping to tap growing demand for alternative marine fuel and help achieve the country's 2050 decarbonisation goal.

Japanese shipbuilding venture Nihon Shipyard has teamed up with bunker supplier Mol Techno-Trade, industrial gas supplier Taiyo Nippon Sanso and engineering firm Kobelco Eco-Solutions to explore hydrogen production on a ship using renewable power and to supply the produced hydrogen as a marine fuel for coastal shipping. The partners plan to start examining the floating green hydrogen project, named the SeaEra, in April.

Green hydrogen is produced from renewable power and water using renewable energy and water electrolysis. Japan has pledged to become a decarbonised society by 2050, while hydrogen is considered the key carbon-free energy source with its demand forecast to hit 20mn t/yr by 2050.

Output and supply of hydrogen onboard is expected to be suitable as a fuel for coastal ships, which have relatively short operating distances, and help reduce the domestic shipping industry's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions leading to 2050, according to the firms.

The SeaEra project also aims to work with a carbon-neutral port proposed by the transport ministry for establishment at six key domestic locations. One of them, the Yokohama-Kawasaki port, has attracted a cross-industry group of Japanese firms to launch a hydrogen-fuelled passenger ferry in 2024.

The companies added that the SeaEra project will also consider utilising the proposed floating hydrogen infrastructure at an offshore facility development project or as a business continuity planning measure to address any onshore energy supply disruption in case of a natural disaster. The project partners plan to work with Japanese classification society ClassNK and Tokyo University's advanced science and technology research centre to develop a floating hydrogen production and supply method.

Mol Techno-Trade, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines, has formed a joint venture to develop a hydrogen-fuelled passenger ferry in the country's Seto Inland sea off Hiroshima.

Nihon Shipyard was launched in January this year by Japan's two leading shipbuilders Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United (JMU), targeting potential global demand growth for more environmental friendly vessels, such as those using hydrogen and ammonia. Imabari and JMU have been separately exploring ammonia business opportunities, including a floating ammonia storage and regasification barge.

Kobelco Eco-Solutions, majority-owned by Japanese steel mill Kobe Steel, has developed and commercialised a high-purity hydrogen oxygen generator, eyeing the arrival of a hydrogen society. Taiyo Nippon Sanso has been building hydrogen refuelling stations including mobile stations across the country and has worked with chemical firm Showa Denko to develop technology to produce high-purity hydrogen using ammonia for fuel-cell electric vehicle use.

By Rieko Suda